The original bad mansard

 At the corner of Mansard and Union Road sits the mecca of bad mansards.  The street is called Mansard.  And- the kicker- the whole place is named the Monreale Condominiums.  

Come now- tout ensemble- avec your best accent Francais, dit "mon-ree- all."

Where to find such a classy place?  The intersection of Union and Reavis Barracks Road in south county, of couse, right behind the Shell Station.


Looks like the place has been spruced up a bit.  Roofs are updated and there is a companion mini-mansard in each back yard which is evidently the place to stick your satellite dish.

I find myself at 55/Reavis more often than I care to admit.  6th grade girl's soccer.  Out little city team has been placed in the south county team because there were only TWO teams of 6th grade CYC teams in the "open" division (meaning the team has club soccer players).  And there was only ONE city team in the "closed" division (no select players).  So instead of having a city league of just 3 teams, the CYC put us in south county.

Let's do the math.  That means there are only, at most, SIXTY or so sixth grade girls in the entire City of St. Louis who are playing CYC soccer.  Disclaimer- St. Roch plays in a county league so they probably have 20 or so playing too.  But still.  The numbers are screwed up. And sad because it's not just soccer.  It's basketball and softball and volleyball too.  Disappointing trend.  No one wants to be on a team anymore.  And I sure do hope the thousands of other sixth grade girls are doing something for exercise.

CYC divisions are supposed to be changing in Spring 2013.  There won't be a city division any more.  We will either merge with the South Central division (Mary Queen, Holy Redeemer, etc) or with South County.  So looks like I'll be driving either 44 or 55 a lot more to get to games.    And I hope I find some mansards along the way.

check out the sophisticated landing pad for the dish.

Here's Kay winding up.  She had two goals but this wasn't one of them. She was pissed she didn't have a hat trick.

Carbondale

Duplex:  new porch, bad window placement.    This particular model mansard is pretty prevalent in mansard apartment complexes.  There is always lack of window in the middle of the side elevation (or front, depending on your point of view). I am guess there is a wall running between the two units bisecting the duplex?

It looks like a weird block head person with eerily wide set eyes.  Or draw lines from window to window to make an "X".

How come no one told me about this on ramp?

Eastbound Highway 40/64 at Boyle and Papin.  Why was I not informed of this on ramp?  I consider myself a knower of city traffic things.  Back ways.  Shortcuts.  Routes to avoid.  So then why after living in the city since 1996 was I unaware and completely oblivious to one of the most awesome on ramps ever?  Does everyone else know about it and kept it a secret, much like my reluctance to tell others how cool the 22nd exit is?

I still drive like it's 1996:  avoid Kingshighway, take Forest Park, merge into 40/64.  Cut over 3 lanes of traffic to exit at Jefferson or 6th.

What a fool I was.  Here was Boyle and Papin under my nose the whole time.

And so it's clear how stupid I've been- from 1996-1999 I lived in the CWE less than a mile from this on ramp.

I love this entrance so much.  I pick Otto up from K-9 Athletic Club (yes, I send my dog once  a week to doggie playtime) and jump right on that highway to the ominous Last Missouri Exit.  And even though I make this drive with a 70 pound slobbering dog riding shot gun, it is a wonderful ride.

Hannibal

 Tuesday I found myself driving to Hannibal without my good Mother's Day camera.  Drat. My boss asked, "hey, can you go to Hannibal today?  The case is set at 11 and I know it's 8:30 am and it's a 2 hour 15 minute drive, but could you handle it anyway?"  I wasn't worried about preparing for the case.  Rather, I was all "Hannibal has a TON of bad mansards and I am not going to have my good camera."

So if Huck Finn needed his teeth cleaned or a payday loan, he would have gone to these two bad mansards.

Freaky mountain bad mansard

Mountain mansard!  This place is called "Tabernasty" in Fraser, Colorado.  Fraser isn't very far from Tabernash.  By the name you'd think it was a adult entertainment place but it's not.  Glassblowing and tattoos.  Only in Colorado.