The mansard that almost killed me...

I run about 10 miles a week, divided between two 5 mile runs. This past Sunday, with temperatures in the upper 70's and humid, I decided to go for a longer run, just to prove to myself at age 40 that I could do it.

I run during the winter on the YMCA treadmills, frequently 7 miles. But running outside in the humidity for 7 miles is a little different. The first run in the summer heat is brutal, and upping my mileage by 2 miles was probably stupid. I ran from my house in Soulard all the way over Sidney, through Tower Grove Park to Kingshighway and then back. About 7 miles. By mile 6.25 I was about to die. I was on the stretch of Sidney between California and Jefferson and there were no trees, I was running uphill and kept looking for something that would give myself permission to stop running (red light, police barricade, chatting with a friends, ANYTHING!).

Saw a mansard in the distance. An oasis of sorts. A weird mansard next to the Bank of America at the city's most confusing intersection of Jefferson/Gravois/Sidney. I stopped and took a picture of a mansard.

This appears to be an art deco addition on the front. It is easy to miss because the house is hidden behind a tree. Goodness do I hate that door. After my badmansard break, I kept running and arrived home so sweaty that all the kids wanted to feel my calves because they were so wet and shiny.

Also featured is a great carriage stone on Sidney Street. I wonder if this is even a carriage stone, or a fancy hitch. A carriage stone is a big rectangle piece of marble or limestone plopped in the front of city homes, usually right by the front walk. The stones would allow the passenger of a horse-drawn coach to exit gracefully. They were installed when the houses were built, usually between 1870 and 1910. Once the automobile arrived people didn't need carriage stones anymore.

Some remain in place in the city of St. Louis in their original spot between the sidewalk and the street, others have been moved into gardens (they make great benches for kids to play and for grown-ups to read) and others were discarded (buried, put in the alley or broken into pieces). I am not sure I've ever seen a top part with a bar. Maybe there was a separate stone and this was the hitch. Or this could be the stone and the hitch together. I have no idea. Ideas regarding my miserable run and the carriage stone appreciated.

Forest Park v. Tower Grove Park: We're all winners here

End of year kindergarten trip to playground.
Kay vogue-ing after soccer practice last fall.
Children's Concert Series, Piper Palm House, last summer.
Swimming in Victorian wading pool. Free admission. Lifeguard on duty.

Tennis lessons. Park also features St. Louis' only grass courts.
You know those green gates that keep cars off some of the streets? Don't run under one because you may bang your head like Audrey here and need stitches in your scalp.
Audrey climbing.
Gus on ruins about a year ago.
Kay, Mimi and I at St. Margaret Easter egg hunt.

Stupid to even debate which is better- how lucky are St. Louis is to have these two wonderful parks. Actually, St. Louis has many wonderful parks anchoring its neighborhoods. John and I first lived in an apartment at 4504 Laclede at the intersection of Taylor and Laclede. Forest Park was our pre-child playground. I'd start the day with a 5-10 mile run (!). Amy Z. and I would ice skate on Sunday nights. Beer fests, softball, picnics, Boathouse happy hours (even before it was rehabbed), Jewel Box weddings- all were in our backyard. Now that I think of it, in high school John and I would drink vodka and Mountain Dew in Forest Park on Art Hill, so our Forest Park days go way back.

We bought our first house about 10 years ago on Mississippi in Lafayette Square. Lafayette Park is about 1/50th of the size of Forest Park. Even though it is much smaller, it felt more 'ours.' We worked in the rock garden with neighbor Rebecca who refused to use Round Up (she still won't- I do, albeit sparingly). I ran the .9 miles around the park numerous times to eek out a decent run. More drinking- sometimes at the summer concerts, but mostly just cocktails and walking the dogs. RIP Bear, our 110 pound dog that pulled me like a water-skier over Lafayette Park's pebbly roads.

I'll always remember my friend Colleen R., whom I did not know at the time, pulling up and asking, "Hey, were moving here from Kansas City- are there any kids that live in this neighborhood?" To which I replied that I sure did hope so because I was pregnant with one. When Kay was born we pushed her through the park and met up with the handful of other moms at the playground. Colleen still lives in the same house she bought 10 years ago and is a hostess supreme and is one of my favorite people. By the time I was pregnant with Audrey, the Lafayette Square house was on the market and we were on our way to Soulard.

Soulard has no single central park- there are three smaller parks- Market Park, Pontiac Park, and teenie-tiny Aboussie Park on 13th. I go to all of them. Kids love exploring Aboussie Park on evening walks. The Pontiac playground and nearby garden are newly renovated and worth the trip. When I run, I usually loop the brewery a few times and do a few loops of hilly roller-coaster park, Lyon Park.

We're getting to the end and it is this: Tower Grove Park is my grown up park. Originally plotted along with the Missouri Botanical Garden, it is a privately maintained park available to the public. The groundskeepers are so considerate that they turn off their equipment when you walk by so as not to disturb you.

We're in TGP at least once a week: School field trips, tennis lessons, school picnics, soccer, t-ball, Easter egg hunts, family bike rides, brunch at Cafe Madeleine at Piper Palm house. The beauty of TGP is that while I'm doing my mommy thing in TGP, other folks are happily doing their things. Old dudes resting on benches. Birdwatchers. A gay kickball league. Bosnian and Mexican kids playing soccer. Weekend Farmers Market. Urban family reunions. Good times for all- just the way Henry Shaw must have hoped for.

Rome of the West has a lovely post on TGP and its history. Click here.