This and That

 Fort Zumwalt back in its day certainly had to have some water source.  Today Lake Whetsel can be found in the park, and it is located over a natural spring.

We had the three grandchildren with us and they had gotten quite restless touring the historic buildings. They had very little patience learning about events which happened 200 years ago!   Walking around the lake was a more interesting adventure for them.  There were ducks in the water which they enjoyed watching, but I was intrigued by some beautiful bright red tropical-looking plants growing at the water's edge.

By doing some research on her i phone, my daughter discover that the plant is called lobelia.  We also enjoyed seeing the last few roses growing behind the Heald house.

What a beautiful dog rose, again we discovered the plant's name by referring to the phone  You may notice a patch of dark blue behind the flower.  It is part of a bridal bouquet of silk flowers which our grandson found- I have no idea how we missed that pretty object when admiring the rose!  It must have been dropped after a wedding at the Heald house.  The house can be rented out for special occasions.

 

Fort Belle Fontaine is located in the northeastern corner of St.Louis County, so it was a short trip over to Alton, Illinois.  I wanted to see the statue of "Alton's Gentle Giant" again and John wanted to see Amtrak's new train station.  Robert Pershing Wadlow was the tallest man in the world.  He lived from 1918 to 1940.  At his death he was eight feet 11 inches, and weighted 490 pounds.  The owner of a furniture company noticed how uncomfortable Robert was sitting in a chair so he had a special one made to fit Robert's dimensions.  A replica of that chair is pictured below. 

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