Since beginning this "Cakeway to the West" adventure last week, I have done a lot of planning and research. I have assemble an Excel spreadsheet of all the cakes based on their locations. This way I can hit multiple cakes at once by knowing which cakes are close to each other. I've decided I don't just want to find and take a picture with each cake, but I want to have an adventure/experience associated with it. I want to know why it is important to St. Louis and what it has to offer! Since yesterday was a beautiful day in St. Louis (about 70 degrees and sunny all afternoon), I decided it would be a perfect day to walk on down to the Central West End and do some cakehunting. My first stop was the Chase Park Plaza!
This hotel is known for its elegance and grand style. The experience I had at this place was actually a few years ago. I have a couple friends from Normal, IL that also go to SLU with me. Freshman year, before we all had cars at school, our parents took turns carpooling to and from school for breaks. One break, my friend's mom took us out to lunch before bringing us back to campus. We ate here at the Chase Park Plaza! I remember it was absolutely delicious and it was a fun afternoon to sit and have a nice meal with friends! Thanks for the experience Cindy!
Apparently cakehunting was the thing to do yesterday because I followed a couple groups of people to each of these cakes! My original plan was to take a "selfie" with each cake, but I decided I needed to work on talking to strangers, so I have decided that I have to ask someone to take my picture at each cake. The conversations I've already had by doing this have made the experiences special already! People are so enthusiastic about this city and about sharing their experiences with the cakes they've seen around town. People are always willing to take my picture and love to hear how many cakes I've already seen (which sounds pathetic right now considering it's 3...). Even just the few experiences I've had have already forced me to break out of my comfort zone, and it has definitely been rewarding!
Back on topic... The next cake on this cakehunting day was down the street from Chase Park Plaza at the World Chess Hall of Fame!
The story here is stretching it a little... First of all, I hate that the world's largest chess piece is donning a Cardinals jersey (that's what I get for living in Cardinal Nation I guess...) but I countered it by wearing my Cubs hat all around town! Second of all, I don't actually know how to play chess or have any desire to play chess... So my story is going to go with the restaurant that this cake is located by! Lester's Restaurant is a sports bar right across from the Chess Hall of Fame. I've been to the restaurant a couple different times and it is absolutely delicious. One time in particular was when a few friends came to visit SLU for Relay for Life, exactly a year ago. These friends and their families came to St. Louis to Relay all night long. We went hung out all weekend and had a great time! After Relay on Sunday we went to Lester's and enjoyed a nice meal on their outdoor terrace.
I had barbecue pork and cole slaw and it was SO GOOD, but the best part was having an opportunity to spend time with friends and enjoy the Central West End! I remember we were all super busy with schoolwork because it was nearing the end of the semester, and the out-of-towners were crunched for time to get back to school. Despite the stress we were able to let it go and relax for a short time. We got to catch up on each others lives and just enjoy the beautiful day. That whole weekend was a huge blessing in a time of stress! (A post about Relay for Life itself coming soon)
I had one more cake visit to the Cathedral Basilica after Chase Park Plaza and the World Chess Hall of Fame, but it deserves its own blog post! I figure you're probably bored of reading by now, so I'll give you a chance to take a break! Stay tuned for more adventures!
3 down, 247 to go!
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