In which we go to St. Louis and the first order of business is food

We spotted the arch before we even crossed into Missouri. This makes sense, though, since it is situated right along the Mississippi River, and it's 630 feet tall. Truth be told, though, I didn't anticipate being able to see it so long before we reached it. It made the last bit of driving in Illinois seem to last forever.

Our hotel (more on that later) was located right next to the arch. So, as soon as we found our hotel, we set about looking for a place to eat. The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Park leads right into Kiener Plaza, which is another park with some very pretty water fountains. One entire side of Kiener Plaza is lined with restaurants. There is a Hooters, TGI Fridays, and some other chain restaurants. I recognized everything except Caleco's. So, to Caleco's we went.

When we first walked in, I was a bit unsure if the venue was going to be suitable for the kids. But the hostess assured me that kids ate there all the time. There were high chairs, a kids menu (the boys ate french fries, grilled cheese and a cheeseburger), outer-space-themed placemats to color, triangular crayons, and kids cups full of chocolate milk. So, obviously kids did eat there. And all of this seemed like enough to distract the boys from all the nude photos of women on the walls. Plus, there were two HUGE aquariums full of fish to look at, and there was a giant model train set up all over the ceiling of the restaurant. Lex loved the train, and every time that it drove past he was happy, but then he was sad when it was out of sight. It was a bit of a roller coaster for him emotionally. We ate right next to the baby grand piano, and I am pretty sure that the ketchup finger prints all over the side of that beautiful instrument were left by my children. Oops.

I ordered a lunch portion of lasagna. It came with a house salad, and that was delicious, but nothing special. The lasagna, though, was covered in cheese. A dinner plate-sized oven dish was placed in front of me containing a single square of lasagna in the center. Then, the entire dish was completely covered in at least an inch of mozzarella cheese that had been perfectly browned in the oven. It was way more cheese than I could have possibly eaten, like ever, but I loved it.

Then the hostess gave the boys some balloons when we left as a reward for being good during lunch. This pretty much sealed the deal, and Caleco's was now the best restaurant ever, as far as they were concerned.

Boys with Balloons in Kiener Plaza