This is the Meriwether Mansion
in the heart of the
St. Louis
Arts District.
This mansion is an Inn now.
Tim and I stayed here Saturday night
and walked not quite one block to see The Avett Brothers in concert at The Fox Theatre.
Location, location, location!!
in the heart of the
St. Louis
Arts District.
This mansion is an Inn now.
Tim and I stayed here Saturday night
and walked not quite one block to see The Avett Brothers in concert at The Fox Theatre.
Location, location, location!!
This mansion was built in 1884 by Elizabeth Avery and Minor Meriwether of Tennessee.
Minor was a descendent of Meriwether Lewis of Lewis and Clark.
Many other similar mansions/townhouses were built in this neighborhood by wealthy people in the 1880's in what was THE MOST FASHIONABLE DISTRICT of St. Louis at the time... Midtown.
Midtown was fashionable because it was farther away than the "inner city" of St. Louis and was much more peaceful and bucolic.
Minor was a descendent of Meriwether Lewis of Lewis and Clark.
Many other similar mansions/townhouses were built in this neighborhood by wealthy people in the 1880's in what was THE MOST FASHIONABLE DISTRICT of St. Louis at the time... Midtown.
Midtown was fashionable because it was farther away than the "inner city" of St. Louis and was much more peaceful and bucolic.
You climb these stairs when entering the Grand Center Inn.
By 1900,
many of these mansions and townhouses turned into commercial office spaces, almost like a mini downtown, due to the increase of streetcar lines.
And because of THAT....gasp!!....streetcars and an increase in people...
the wealthy then moved out
and moved west.
And then most of these mansions and townhouses turned into apartments during the depression years.
And they stayed that way.
By 1900,
many of these mansions and townhouses turned into commercial office spaces, almost like a mini downtown, due to the increase of streetcar lines.
And because of THAT....gasp!!....streetcars and an increase in people...
the wealthy then moved out
and moved west.
And then most of these mansions and townhouses turned into apartments during the depression years.
And they stayed that way.
And eventually, by the 1970's, all these beautiful mansions in this once peaceful and bucolic neighborhood were taken over by pimps and drug dealers.
The Meriwether is on the left. On the right is another mansion, converted into "Grandel Square Hotel". Both mansions had been overtaken by drug dealers and pimps and had families with babies living in squalor with dirty mattresses and no heat. In the early 70's there was a fire in the right hand building and it was demolished.
Which left the Meriwether mansion all by itself.
Which left the Meriwether mansion all by itself.
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Some folks out of Houston, Tx, purchased the building in 2005.....
.....and began renovating.
See the stairs on the right? Those were the stairs to the mansion that burned down.
The Meriwether Mansion became a stand alone building in this once bucolic area.
.....and began renovating.
See the stairs on the right? Those were the stairs to the mansion that burned down.
The Meriwether Mansion became a stand alone building in this once bucolic area.
Today,
the mansion is quite lovely again.
It is operating as an Inn.
Not a bed and breakfast,
but an "Inn".
There is a difference.
This is the greeting room inside the Inn.
A bit austere.
Two nice European gentlemen run this Inn and it has everything you need but is definitely scaled down.
....not "opulent" like it was before.
Oops, they forgot to put clothes on the lady in the entry.
That chandelier is gorgeous though.
Simple Inn-like dining room.
The rooms are simply decorated...although I will say we had the least expensive room...there were suites that were twice as much as ours.
Again,
at his Inn, you are paying for
location, location, location...
one block from 12 galleries and museums, Broadway musicals, jazz clubs, cabaret shows, symphonies and film festivals.
This Inn is only one of two places providing lodging in Grand Center,
the formal name of the
Art District.
Yup.
European.
So after we checked out our digs,
we walked the one minute up to the Arts District and they were a TON of people milling around....
And kid performers on stages....
This kid was dancing...the crowd was loving it.
And other adorable, talented kids on another stage.
Man the music was AWESOME!
Ya can't miss the Fox Theatre building....
We had to quick jump into the box office to pick up our tickets...
See The Avett Brothers up there on the side there?
Yup, that's who we were seeing that evening.
But we needed to grab a bite to eat....
and Dooleys Beef and Brew House fit the bill.
And of course I maintained my trim waistline by ordering this meal.
And beverage.
By now, it was getting dark and we ran back to the Inn to clean up....
we noticed this as we ran back...
I don't think the movie theater is operational yet, but the sign sure was pretty.
And about a half block in back of the Inn,
there was a movie playing on the side of a building.
These are the lights in the side yard of the Inn you stood under to watch the movie.
So we cleaned up real quick.
You know me... I put on a pretty dress, high heels, lots of makeup and curled up my hair real nice.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
What?
It could happen.
Anyway, we walked back to the district and right outside the Fox Theatre was this....
Yes, there was more food,
but I meant THIS...THIS was outside the Fox Theatre.....
A really good, energetic, young band....
And back behind them was this building lit up with super cool lights.
Note to self...
Dear Angie,
Next time in St. Louis, go to this Jazz Club.
As ever,
Angie
More performers outside
The Fox.
This young man had a crowd gathered around him.
We finally worked our way into the theatre where The Avett Brothers were going to be playing in a few minutes.
And by the way, the theatre is breathtaking.
Breathtaking.
Angie wanted to grab a glass of wine in the lobby.
But there were many people.
Fortunately they were nice people and Angie got worked up to the line real quickly due to some nice gentlemen and the fact that she is 5'2". Hehehehehe.
The ceiling of the lobby.
We had excellent seats.
I tried to take pictures of the architecture.
This isn't my picture,
this is someone else's.
THIS
is my picture.
I suck.
And the band came out and rocked da howze!!!!
Even when it was just the two brothers singing acoustically,
So nice.
The next day we got up, ate some Inn breakfast
(Inn food..bacon, potatoes and peppers, eggs...not three and five course breakfasts we're used to at B&B's) and took off back north to home.
By the way, I sound like such a well-traveled, hoity, rich person when I say that about B&B's; when in fact, I don't fly, I've never been accused of being hoity and I am the furthest from rich one can be. I po. I sell cars out of a former
chicken coop. Beat THAT :):):)
We did take several hours and stopped into Hannibal to check out what's going on.
Can I just say
I
LOVE
THIS
TOWN!
IT'S AWESOME!
How adorable are these two just a' strollin' down the street?!!
Lots of cute little shops line the streets....
And
of course Stud Muffin and I hit our fair share of antique shops.
Shadow, an 11 year old black lab,
greeted us at one of the shops. I loved Shadow!
She was so sweet!!!!
The streets are exactly as you would think of as the birthplace of
Mark Twain.
My Ma would love this fabric and quilt shop!
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And my mother-in-law will love this shop of which I took the following pictures.....
Tim's mom and dad will be visiting Hannibal in a couple weeks.
Care to sit for a spell with these folks?
This shop is full of mannequins,
but also dishes, furniture, books and other antique treasures.
This is the door that leads to the upstairs.
Once again,
Tim was creeped out by the upstairs of an antique shop...
I DON'T know why.
Do YOU???
Do YOU???
I myself,
LOVED this store,
but I have to admit,
the upstairs definitely had a, uh,......vibe to it.
LOVED this store,
but I have to admit,
the upstairs definitely had a, uh,......vibe to it.
But see,
there were also vintage lamps and cool fun stuff to experience too.
Well, I guess Tim DID have a point.
So eventually I high tailed it out of there too.
One of our last stops was this antique shop. It's been here for 44 years. The proprietor is 93 years old and has owned it the whole time.
She gets up and goes to work here EVERY SINGLE DAY, seven days a week.
She was awesome!
And so pretty too!
Reminded me of Tim's Grandmother.
I don't believe there's been much updating for 44 years too,
and that's what makes this shop so interesting.
The day was winding down and we needed to get home....
...so we stopped in this coffee shop for a quick coffee to go...
The back half of the coffee shop is for
sittin' and enjoyin'
with all those beautiful colors and artwork.
Finally, we heaved ourselves begrudgingly into the car and headed back north
to Frytown, Ia USA :):)
It was a fun, quick weekend and I'd do it again in a minute!!!
Okay, now I gotta quit playing on the computer and get back to work...selling an Impala shortly...
See ya next time!!!
Talk at ya soon!!!!
