What I Love About Missouri... (St. Louis, Washington: transplants, school, shoppers)

[Carlidin]

Hillman - I too know the loss of a child as we lost our beautiful Grandson Cole in 2002. You always wonder what he would have been like but only God knows that now and someday we will get to meet him. Our greatest comfort was that he was in the arms of Jesus and being watched over by my dear father who had gone to be with the Lord just a few months earlier.

Speaking of the smells of Missouri, we are now in the midst of Lilac season and the gorgeous smell of them is everywhere. Plus the smell of fresh mowed grass means Spring is truly here.

[Lake Junkie]

Originally Posted by misplaced1

I don't know if I mentioned it before but what I really love in Missouri are the smells of the plants. The trees and grass and flowers. The moist air helps with that.

I am back in very dry air and though we live in the trees, near the forest, it is high desert and it is dry and dust is the main outdoor scent you'll notice.

I grew up in a much more lush, moist climate and I never have had much love for dry desert air.

Well you'd LOVE it here right now...it's been raining/overcast/drizzling for days & days...everything's greened up and we're all keeping a skeptical eye on the lake levels...

(((((Love to all who've lost someone.)))))

[misplaced1]

Originally Posted by Lake Junkie

Well you'd LOVE it here right now...it's been raining/overcast/drizzling for days & days...everything's greened up and we're all keeping a skeptical eye on the lake levels...

(((((Love to all who've lost someone.)))))

We are trying to be out late next week. Our plans keep being pushed back but there is no time left to wait. I'm hoping we'll have enough dry weather so we can get some yard work done. I can't wait to see and smell everything again!

[Lake Junkie]

Originally Posted by misplaced1

We are trying to be out late next week. Our plans keep being pushed back but there is no time left to wait. I'm hoping we'll have enough dry weather so we can get some yard work done. I can't wait to see and smell everything again!

Pulling weeds is so much easier when it's raining/been raining......although the neighbors do look at you funny.

[ShadowCaver]

Originally Posted by Lake Junkie

Pulling weeds is so much easier when it's raining/been raining......although the neighbors do look at you funny.

Hmmmm,,, why does the thought of wet tee shirt contests come to mind...

Anyhow back on topic here - http://www.byways.org/explore/byways/2247/ for an idea of seeing part of this great state.
For more in-depth, and "official" info, don't forget to check out: http://www.visitmo.com/

[ajf131]

Originally Posted by Lake Junkie

Well I have lots of friends originally from St Louis so I know what you're saying is true...they would never consider themselves rednecks.
But what is redneck-edness?
I know when I first moved from CA to small town MO, it was explained to me, "You can call us hillbillies, but don't call us hicks!"
So...any thoughts on the diff?

Yeah...the definition of redneck traditionally as I recall has its origins with the Hatfields and McCoys...I dunno, most people dub them white trailer trash...racist, mean, etc...hillbillies I always thought of as scaled down rednecks meaning just normal people that live in trailers. Hicks is a derogatory term generally...redneck can be the same way...hillbillies are a friendlier term I guess. I dunno..a true hillbilly to me is someone who lives in the isolated countryside and in the hills or mountains, and no, not necessarily a southerner. Most true U.S. hillbillies in my opinion exist in almost all of Appalachia, from Upstate New York down to Alabama, and in the Ozarks. Maybe the Pacific Northwest and in the Rockies too. it's all subjective though, but it seems like this is the overall accepted view from what I've gathered.

[ajf131]

In any case, what I was going to say about Missouri was that its central location makes it a great state. You see every type of weather, and you can drive to just about any region of the country within a reasonable time period. Missouri's varied topography is also something I like.

[Alicia Bradley]

Yeah, the variety is what I would say, too. There are big cities (KC and St. Louis - the latter having history going back to the 18th century, which is quite rare in the U.S.!), both of which have FANTASTIC restaurants in every type of cuisine, lovely neighborhoods, museums, gardens, and enormous amounts of excellent shopping - which always seems to surprise visitors from other regions, oddly. Then there's weird St. Louis-specific history (with its own dialect and historical immigrant populations - and the Arch!) and K.C.'s (and St. Joseph's) "Wild West" sort of past (and jazz music! and barbecue!). Southerners, Northerners, mountains, valleys, forests, prairies, hiking, biking, rafting (and even boating - and sailing! - on the larger reservoirs), hunting, fishing, caving, exploring. Everything you could possibly want to do in the U.S. is available in Missouri, more or less.

[kshe95girl]

Originally Posted by Alicia Bradley

Yeah, the variety is what I would say, too. There are big cities (KC and St. Louis - the latter having history going back to the 18th century, which is quite rare in the U.S.!)

There is a village within an hour of STL that has more 18th century history and buildings than the Lou.....(the old-timers on this forum know which town I mean)

[Jill61]

I love the diversity. The diversity of the people, the diversity of the landscape, the cityscape and the countryscape. The diversity of the culture and of the history.

We're American Indians
We're descendants of slaves
We're French fur traders and miners
We're Spanish settlers
We're George Washington Carver & Marlin Perkins
We're Chuck Berry & Samuel Langhorne Clemens

We're the Gateway to the West
We're Jesse James' hideout
We're Ha Ha Tonka State Park
We're the elegant Fox Theater
We're Silver Dollar City
We're Gates Barbeque and the City of Fountains

We're the Onondaga Caves
We're Lake of the Ozarks
We're Augusta wineries
We're Central Missouri corn fields
We're the Mighty Mississippi, the Missouri and 84 others, large and small

We are the heartland.