Good Fences #10

Bellefontaine 090My fence this week is from Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri. My daughter and I spent a few hours here on our road trip from Seattle to North Carolina. If you like cemeteries this really is a worthwhile one to visit with many wonderful monuments and so much interesting history.

I’m joining TexWisGirl at Run *A* Round Ranch for Good Fences.

Thank you for being a fabulous hostess!

Looking Back ~ Bellefontaine Cemetery & Arboretum

Seajack 6 pentax-001

On the 5th day of our roadtrip Thursday May 1st we doubled back to St. Louis to visit the Bellefontaine Cemetery. Bellefontaine is the 14th great rural cemetery built in the U.S.A. Before rural cemeteries the dead were buried in family plots or churchyards. The first internment took place in 1850.  Because of the Cholera outbreak in St. Louis in 1849 and a devastating fire that killed many, the city needed a large cemetery.

Like Calvary Cemetery there are a lot of people buried here that were influential in the history of the U.S. Before I share about the people I’m going to share the beautiful trees and flowers we enjoyed.

Bellefontaine 154

Bellefontaine 007I’m a huge fan of dogwood and we were treated to many beautiful dogwood trees here. Katie and I left home just as my pink dogwood was starting to bloom.

Bellefontaine 015

Bellefontaine 016

Bellefontaine 017

Bellefontaine 021

Bellefontaine 033

Bellefontaine 061

Bellefontaine 039

Bellefontaine 040

Bellefontaine 097

Bellefontaine 141I’ll be sharing much more from this great cemetery in the future.

Today in Jacksonville Katie and I shopped for all the staples for her kitchen, all the basics for cooking and baking. Katie is making dinner for us tonight. She has been registered on an e-meals sight for a while now and you choose the meals that sound good to you and a shopping list is generated. It has been a handy tool to get Katie more comfortable in the kitchen.

It’s so nice to be in a residence instead of a hotel. Having internet makes a big difference, too. No T.V. yet but we are surviving nicely. Katie and Andrew have some interesting neighbors. Apartment life is so unpredictable! At least you know you aren’t in one spot forever especially if you are in the military. Did you know that active military members that receive any new orders are free to break any lease without penalty? That’s a very good policy.

What’s going on in your neck of the woods?

Sunday From the Road…

SeaJack #6 044

Matthew 6:25-34

English Standard Version (ESV)

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

SeaJack #6 070These verses have come to mind a lot on this 8 day road trip of ours, especially when we encountered some severe weather along the way. As I saw birds flitting about in the strongest of winds that made our car rock I thought that God was certainly watching over us, too.

SeaJack #4 031

SeaJack #4 032

SeaJack #4 008

 

P1050197

P1050142

Bellefontaine 017

Psalm 100:4

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
    and his courts with praise!
    Give thanks to him; bless his name!

SeaJack Road Trip Day #5

On day 5 we started in Illinois and backtracked to St. Louis, Missouri so we could investigate the Bellefontaine Cemetery. It was worth back tracking for. We spent about 3 hours at the cemetery and I’ll devote a whole post later to this beautiful place filled with so much history. When we were done at the Cemetery we headed east again to Illinois and then crossed into Kentucky and made it to our Tennessee destination for the night at 5:30. Here are a few shots from the road.

Bellefontaine 150

I have so much to share from Bellefontaine.

P1050150

Our day #5 on the road was Thursday May 1st. We started in Illinois, traveled back to Missouri, back to Illinois, then to Kentucky and finally ended up in Tennessee.

P1050154

P1050156

P1050158

P1050168

P1050177

Kentucky

P1050175

P1050182

P1050195

Tennessee

On Thursday evening we had dinner with Andrew’s best man’s mom in Hendersonville, Tennessee. We were given a nice place to lay our heads and headed out on Friday morning for Asheville, North Carolina via a scenic route that took us through Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg next to the Great Smoky Mountains.

We are thankful to be so far into our journey safe and sound. Tomorrow we stay put right here in Asheville. I’ll be sharing all about our time soon. We traveled from the central time zone to the eastern time zone today.

Hope May has started out well for all of you!

The 2nd Half of SeaJack #4!

After our fabulous barbecue lunch in Kansas City we headed on east to just beyond St. Louis for the night. We crossed from Missouri into Illinois.

P1050127

P1050128We crossed the Missouri River and in St. Louis we crossed the Mississippi River.

P1050132

P1050134

P1050138

 

SeaJack #4 053SeaJack #4 049

The Mississippi River.

SeaJack #4 041

P1050128

P1050141After we settled into our hotel in Illinois just outside of St. Louis for the night this restaurant was recommended to us for dinner. This is a one of a kind restaurant. We found out that this restaurant was featured on Man vs. Food. The portions are huge here so I ordered a small salad still feeling full from our huge lunch. These rolls are served at the table whether you order them or not with a wonderful butter cinnamon honey spread and just plain butter. The rolls were just the perfect temp and softness to please my palate. Delicious!

P1050140

I’m saving our stop at Calvary Cemetery in E. St. Louis and the Bellefontaine Cemetery for posts after I’m settled into our hotel at our final destination.

Today was day #5 and we are now in Tennessee. I’ll be catching up with my posts soon. We are staying with a friend of Andrew and Katie here. Tomorrow we continue east to Asheville, North Carolina where we will be spending two nights! I’m looking forward to two nights in one picturesque spot! Finally the weather has settled down for us and we have had no challenges on the road.