1856 Christmas Ball and St. Louis Roadtrip
I am having a fabulous time in St. Louis. I came with my friends Shaun and Amber Friday night and it took us until after 2a.m. to get here. Actually, we left later than planned and still managed to make great time. Thanks to um...Shaun for stepping on the gas the whole way down. ;-) Otherwise it would have been 3 or 4a.m. Anyways, Saturday was the 1856 Christmas ball at the Old Courthouse. It was simply fabulous. In the morning we had dance instructions until noon. Last year Deborah focused on German dances and she decided this year she would have a more in depth lesson on waltzing. I thought that was a good idea because I know a lot of people feel intimidated by that dance and really all you need is good instructions and a lot of practicing. Although, it always messes me up because I do a slightly different waltz than the one Deborah teaches. But I can understand why. It's definitely an easier waltz for beginners. I just tend to get confused and it's also hard for me to dance with beginners, because sometimes I have a problem with leading. oops.
After the dance workshop we went to dinner, which I kind of regret because it made the wearing of my corset a little more difficult as the night wore on. It wasn't too bad, though. Silvana, Frank and I went on a little jaunt after lunch and that helped. It has been really gorgeous down here. The weather is much too nice. Last year it was freezing.
We headed over to the courthouse a little before 2p.m. in just enough time to change, do our hair and miss the Grand March. Fine with me, that's one of the most boring dances. Although I did do it once up at the Winter Weekend ball in Minnesota and that was a ton of fun. But anyway... I'm very grateful to the two ladies who helped lace me into my ball gown. I wish these gowns weren't so hard to get into! I'm very happy with my new gown. It will probably be the last ball gown for quite awhile, so I better not gain anything between now and like 50 years. haha. No, I'll probably get some other design in my head and want to make another ball gown in two years. I'm horrible. I think this year was even better than last year. I felt like I got to dance a lot more than usual. And the guys are definitely improving! I'm so proud of them. I know it's hard for a lot of guys to get out there and dance. We girls just need to keep on encouraging them and not making them feel bad if they miss a step. Some of my guy friends have told me of girls making them feel pretty rotten when they didn't know how to dance very well. But I think our boys are coming along just fine and you know I believe they actually enjoy it! My favorite dance of the night was a polka three times around the room with Larry Brenton. He told me he was going to have to take short steps because he's getting too old for my leaps. haha. I don't leap!! And I don't think those were short steps! But wow, can Larry polka! We spun around so much I didn't know where we were when we stopped. It was pretty funny, but I'm happy he saved a polka with me. He's the best polka-er ever.
The Old Courthouse closes at 5p.m. so everyone rushed us out of there by 4:30. A little crazy, but I think the people working there wanted to leave. We went to the Seha Restaurant that Deborah reserved for us and had the whole restaurant to ourselves. The food was awesome and the chocolate cake was to die for. Suffice it to say I was stuffed and I was STILL in my corset. After dinner it was still early, so Frank, Silvana, Doug, Jeremy and I decided to go haunt a few historic houses. It was wonderful. We got our picture at both of the houses with my camera on timer. When we got to the DeMenil (sp?) mansion this guy came out and told us we weren't supposed to be there, but he took our picture and ended up talking to us for like half an hour. After that Doug wanted to go find a drink somewhere, so we headed to this classy drinking establishment. Everyone was looking at us and I felt really out of place. We sort of decided the next time someone asks us why we're dressed like this that we would tell them that we're part of a show that is going to air on PBS called the 1856 House. I didn't think we'd actually do it, though. After our drinks we went outside and sat on one of the tables to get some air. Silvana and I stepped inside to use the ladies' room and on our return we found a guy talking to Frank, Doug and Jeremy. They actually told this poor fellow that we were in the 1856 House. He was obvious drunk, so it was even funnier. He asked if we could watch sports or if we had exercise equipment or anything. He seemed to think that was just terrible that we couldn't watch football. haha. The guys were really playing with this person and he kept saying "really??? no wayyy!" with a look of awe on his face. I think he really thought we were actors or something. We told him to keep an eye out for the show and also to keep an eye out for Bad Blood. Hey, at least that's one program we weren't lying about. It was SO hard to keep from laughing. I wish I would have gotten my camera out and recorded all of it, but I didn't think about it until after. Oh yeah, and a few moments after he went inside one of his friends peeked out the door and said "NO WAY!!!" Then she started laughing and went back in. We thought we had better get out of there before anyone else came, plus it was getting late.
My time here is almost over, but it will also be good to get home. Yesterday my friends Shaun, Amber and I went out to the Washington area to sample some wine. I wasn't even going to purchase any but I ended up purchasing two bottles! I know my older brother loves it and other people in my family like it too, so we can all have a few drinks during Christmas. Hope my mom won't mind too much. She's not super fond of drinking. And I hope the stuff I got everyone will like. Hey, at least I like it, so more for me anyway! No, it will probably sit upstairs in my room for a couple of years if it was up to me to drink it all. I like it, but I'm definitely not a heavy drinker and only like to drink when I'm with friends. There were some pretty cool wineries, though. I got a few pictures, because the buildings were from the 1840s or '50s. I'm a sucker for old buildings!! Shaun and Amber just roll their eyes. They definitely don't see the beauty I see, but whatever.
So now I'm sitting here and it's past noon. Silvana had to go to work at 10:30 and I thought Shaun and Amber would want to go out by now. Guess not! It gives me some time to write a little update, though. Today we're gonna check out a coffee shop that Richard (the owner of the best coffee shop in Cedar Rapids) told us about. Then later when Silvana gets off of work she and I are going to go check out some vintage clothing shops. I'm excited! I love vintage clothing and St. Louis has some great little shops around. Someday I'd like to come here with my sister or a friend who likes to go shopping and we'll just spend a few days shopping around town at some of the boutiques and vintage shops.
I got lots of pictures and some videos I may upload on google video. I'll do all of that when I get home. We're planning to leave tomorrow morning. Hope everyone is having a lovely break!!