Turtle Park, St. Louis, Missouri (Dogtown-Forest Park)

Remember to click to see pictures larger
Exit 34A, Skinker and Clayton Roads is the spot. The walk bridge you see is at the intersection of Tamm and Oakland Avenue's in St. Louis, Missouri. Some will argue this is Dogtown, some will say it's the far southern end of Forest Park. At the very least it is were the two neighbors join and come together.
Cute little turtles lining the walking paths make a good place for children to sit.
And who could resist climbing on such a large repile? Seriously, there are children of all ages here. Climbing, walking, photographing.
Funny the small children didn't seem to be afraid of this large creature with it's mouth opened. These fantastic cement sculptures are the work of a local artist, Robert Cassilly on land donated by Mrs. Sonya (Sunny) Glassberg.
And yes, the park is in-fact named Turtle Playground. In August of 1996 it was officially opened. There's parking on the street and plenty of place for bikers, walkers and those with strollers on a sunny afternoon. You could try your hand at identifying a Snapping Turtle, Soft-Shelled Turtle, Mississippi Map, Box Turtles or a Stink Pot as they all reside here in cement form. There's even a long snake which makes a place to sit, or climb along side the walkway.

With the covered walkway over the freeway there's easy access to the park. Though I must admit this is the first time we've actually visited the park; we've seen the large turtles from the freeway many many times in our travels there. Take time, get off the freeway and enjoy it; it's well worth the effort.

The park is open daily til 10 pm and is free!

Pack Traveling Wine Glasses

You might be scratching your head right now as you look at this picture and wonder what's the lady showing me a picture of a broken wine glass for? Nah, it's not broken; it's packable. Is there such a word as packable? If not, I think there should be. The picture on the left is what it looks like broken down, packable. Takes very little room.

Step 2, the glass on the right is what you'll see when you turn and pull the stem portion out. Note the screw area on the top of the stem, and that same area on the bottom of the bowl. That's how you put it together. Easy and quick. Simply screw it together.
This picture shows your very nice non breakable packable stemmed wine glass. This is a must for your all traveling needs. I pack 2 of these wine glasses oallthe time when I travel. They're light weight so not an issue even if flying vs car traveling. These 2 are new ones hubby purchased for me on one of our recent traveling excursions. After many years, many miles and lots of vacations the ones I had were scratched and didn't look nice. Though they are still quite usable and have made their way from our traveling/vacation box to our football tailgating box.

I highly recommend these to ease all your packing troubles. I dislike drinking wine from a paper cup in a hotel room, or worse a Styrofoam cup. The other added advantage is a non breakable glass when sitting at the pool side, on the beach, or relaxing from a patio or balcony in our travels. And since it's reusable, it far more environmental friendly than those Styrofoam cups and glasses in the hotel rooms.

Even if you're not a wine drinker, these would be handy and nicer to drink from than the Styrofoam and paper often in hotel rooms.

I won a contest!

I entered a blog contest and won! Am pretty excited, cause I never win anything. So, I wanted to share my excitement with you, and tell you all to travel over to Clara's blog and check it out.

My winning gift is red, has wheels and is something I'll be able to use traveling. When it arrives, I'll photograph it; but for now....drum roll

Anyone care to quess?

AND speaking about contest, don't forget to get yourself entered in mine. If you don't enter, you can't win. And everyone loves to win. And let's face it, everyone loves a winner. Picture yourself with a big bright W for winner on your forehead instead of big fat L for Looser. I know you know what I'm talking about.

Click on my Traveling Suitcase badge in the sidebar to find out everything you need to do to enter. Tick Tock, the clock's ticking so don't delay; enter today.

And if you're here from EC, click on my badges (again in the sidebar); so you drop twice more on my other blogs. Just got them registered today.

Souvenir's when Traveling

A souvenir (from French, for memory), memento or keepsake is an object a traveler brings home for the memories associated with it. Souvenirs include clothing such as T-shirts or hats, postcards, refrigerator magnets, miniature figures, household items such as mugs and bowls, plates, ashtrays, egg timers, spoons, notepads, and paintings plus many others.

The above is the Wikipedia definition for Souvenir. We all buy things when we travel, things to help us remember the vacation and the fun associated with it. I tend not to buy nick nacks or trinkets; but items I need or items that I will use repeatably. The pink fleece purchased in Savannah because the weather was colder than expected and I needed another layer. So, it's useful...serves a purpose. I had been looking for a fleece, have plenty of sweatshirts but no fleece so; this is an item I was going to purchase anyway and didn't therefore spend extra money.

The Vera Bradley purse is also an item I had been wanting, needed a new purse and would have purchased anyway. But, I think the prices are crazy and so hadn't purchased one. While vacationing in Hilton Head, hubby saw a sale sign and so.........got this baby at 50% off which makes it reasonable to me.

So, I've purchased items I needed, items I wanted, items I'm using and will continue to use and have meaningful souvenirs; but nothing to dust or get broken when knocked off the table or counter. This handy tip will save you money, but still give you the opportunity to purchase a special something in your travels. Stir clear of the tacky little knick knack souvenir shops, you'll be glad you did.

DON'T FORGET TO GET IN ON MY CONTEST, YOU CAN ENTER THROUGHOUT THE MONTH OF MARCH, CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT THE CONTEST