Cake 111-Lyon Park/United States Arsenal

Found October 26, 2014

Located across the street from Anheuser-Busch Brewery, Lyon Park was established in 1869. when an Act of Congress granted an eleven acre section of the Saint Louis Arsenal to the City of St. Louis under the condition that they would use it to build a monument to Brigadier-General Nathaniel Lyon. You cannot access the Arsenal Grounds as it is currently an active United States Air Force facility. 

http://www.thecivilwarmuse.com/index.php?page=lyon-park-and-the-st-louis-arsenal

Cake 110-Lemp Mansion

Found October 26, 2014

Lucky for me this location offered a nice description of their cake, so I didn't have to research quite as much. :)

For even more history and details about the interior of the mansion, click here. 

Cake 109- Chatillon-DeMenil Mansion

Found October 26, 2014

This mansion was built by two different families in two different styles.  The first portion was built by in 1849 by Henri Chatillon in a four bedroom brick farmhouse style. He was a guide and hunter for the American Fur Company in St. Louis before settling in the area with his wife. Chatillon sold the house in 1856 to a  wealthy Frenchman, Nicolas DeMenil.  DeMenil came to St. Louis in 1834 and married Emilie Sophie Chouteau, a descendant of St. Louis' founding family.  In 1861, they hired an English architect to turn the farmhouse into a Greek Revival Mansion. When Interstate 55 was being planned in the 1960's they discussed tearing the house down, but the Landmarks Association bought the property from State of Missouri Highway Commission and began restoration in 1964. 

http://www.demenil.org/

Cake 108- Off Broadway

Found October 26, 2014

Off Broadway is a bar and music venue.  For over 30 years they have hosted a variety of genres in their building and pride themselves on sound quality.  Both touring groups and local artists love to perform this venue.  

http://www.stl250.org/cake-off-broadway.aspx

Cake 107- Cherokee Business District

Found October 26, 2014

The Cherokee Business District is home to over 50 independently owned businesses that operate over 7 blocks along Cherokee Street. The street gained its popularity when electric streetcar lines crossed nearby in the 1890's.  

http://www.stl250.org/cake-cherokee-business-district.aspx

Cake 106- STL-Style

Found October 26, 2014

STL-Style has been creating a line of apparel that caters to the native St. Louisian since 2001. There T-shirts began by referencing neighborhoods and inside-jokes, and the line took off.  

For more info, click here. 

Cake 105- Jay International/South Grand

Found October 26, 2014

The South Grand Avenue is the most diverse area in St. Louis.  Jay International Foods was the first grocery store to offer foods from around the globe in St. Louis when it opened in 1975.  They continue to be family owned and operated.  I really enjoyed the detailed city skyline painted on the base of this cake.

Cake 104- Tower Grove Park

Found October 26, 2014

Tower Grove Park came into existence October 20, 1868 after Henry Shaw conveyed his land to the city. The park is a unit enclosed by four city streets and contains 289 acres.  It is the second largest park in the city.  The park is home to picnic pavilions, tennis courts, a cafe, a playground and wading pool, ball fields, and also offers carriage rides.

http://www.towergrovepark.org/index.php/history/historical-overview.html

Cake 103-Compton Hill Water Tower

Found October 26, 2014

Built in 1898, the Compton Hill Water Tower is the youngest of three remaining pipe-water towers in St. Louis.  In 1901, 423 pipe water towers were located across the nation, but as of 2008 only seven remain standing.  The other two St. Louis towers are the Bissell Tower and Grand Avenue Water Tower.  The tower was built to disguise the stand pipe interior.  The stand pipe helped to control dangerous surges in the city pipes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compton_Hill_Reservoir_Park

Cake 102- SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center

Found October 26, 2014

SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center is a not-for-profit 195 bed inpatient and outpatient pediatric medical center.  It is the nation's only free standing Catholic Children's hospital and has provided care for children since 1956.  It also serves as a teaching school for neighboring Saint Louis University School of Medicine and Nursing. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_Glennon_Children's_Hospital

Cake 101- The Grove

Found October 26, 2014

The Grove is an up-and-coming business district in St. Louis and is home to a growing number of public art pieces. They are also the first area to install an overhanging neon sign to mark the entry of the business district.

The Grove is home to independently owned restaurants, nightlife, retails and services, and is a thriving center for LGBT, artist, and cycling communities. Each year residents take part in St. Louis Pride Fest.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grove,_St._Louis

Cake 100- Lambert St. Louis International Airport

Found October 25, 2014

WHOO HOO! Cake 100 was found with my parents when they visited this weekend!  Only 150 more to go!

I chose to find this with my parents because my dad is awesome at navigating airports.

It wasn't nearly as difficult to find this cake as I thought it would be, and my dad was able to use the 5 minute drop off parking located just outside of door 4 on Terminal 1, although door 3 would have been even closer.  Then it was just a quick jog down the hall to see the big display they had with flags that matched the exhibit at the Missouri History Museum.

Lambert Airport is one of the most historic airports in the United States and is named for Albert Bond Lambert who learned to fly with the Wright Brothers in 1911. In 1920, Major Lambert leased 170 acres of farm land in St. Louis County to serve as an Air Field. When the lease expired in 1925, Lambert bought the field and created a mail service between Chicago and St. Louis with Charles Lindbergh as the chief pilot of what would be the predecessor of American Airlines.

The City bought the airport in 1928 and became part of the first Transcontinental Air Service and in 1933 the first passenger terminal was built.  During WWII McDonnell Aircraft Company worked at Lambert to expand military production.  Lambert became one of the first airports to offer jetliner service in 1959. By 1971, the airport became Lambert-St. Louis International Airport and the runway and terminal were further developed. In 1998, Terminal 2 was added.

http://www.flystl.com/AboutLambert/History.aspx

Cake 99- Chess Center

Found October 19, 2014

Had to wait until the evening with this one since the traffic was so crazy.  I couldn't find a parking spot on my own so I needed Andrew to drop me off and come back to pick me up again.

The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis is an educational organization that is recognized as a premier chess center in the country and one of the best in the world. The Chess Center features a world-class tournament playing hall, classroom, library, and casual play area.  They opened in 2008 and are also home to the World's Largest Chess Piece, shown in the pictures below.

https://saintlouischessclub.org/about-us

Cake 98- Holocaust Museum and Learning Center

Found October 19, 2014

Having gone abroad and studying the Holocaust in Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic, I'd be very interested to return to this museum and see the displays they have.  The Holocaust Museum and Learning Center opened in 1995 and houses a 5000 square foot display about the chronological history of the Holocaust and personal accounts of Holocaust survivors who emigrated to St. Louis.

For more info and museum hours, click here.

Cake 97- Youthbridge Community Foundation

Found October 19, 2014

Youthbridge Community Foundation is a nonprofit that seeks to help other non profit St. Louis orgainizations, especially those focused around children and youth. They have been working to help the community since 1877.

http://www.youthbridge.org/

Cake 96-YMCA of Greater St. Louis

Found October 19, 2014

The YMCA of Greater St. Louis is celebrating its 160th birthday.  The Y is the largest childcare provider in Missouri and hundreds of children also enjoy time at the summer camp. The YMCA has 17 branches in the St. Louis community.  I loved being back in a Y, as I spent many years on the YMCA swim team.  It brought back good memories to walk in and smell that pool.

I love how the cake had three levels incorporating in different sports.  The basketball on top, baseball in the middle and pool at the bottom.

http://www.stl250.org/cake-ymca.aspx

Cake 95- Creve Coeur Lake

Found October 19, 2014

I had to take a nice (although stinky fish) walk along the lake to get to this location due to the fact that the closest parking area was blocked off for a Spina Bifida walk/run.  Creve Coeur Lake Memorial Park is located in Maryland Heights in St. Louis County and is the largest park in the county at 2,145 acres of land.  Creve Coeur Lake is also the largest natural lake in all of Missouri. The park holds picnic facilities, a golf course, and disc golf course, athletic fields, and an archery course.  A bridge at the south end of the park connects St. Louis County with St. Charles County.  An asphalt trail was placed around the lake during the bridge project, which also connects over the Missouri River to reach the KATY Trail.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creve_Coeur_Lake_Memorial_Park

Cake 94- Centennial Greenway/KATY Trail

Found October 19, 2014

This cake is located at the intersection of the Centennial Greeway/St. Charles Trails and KATY trail.  The Centennial Greenway Trail will one day the KATY Trail all the way to Downtown St. Louis while passing through Creve Coeur Memorial Park and Forest Park.  How exciting!  This path also connects to the St. Charles County Heritage Museum mentioned in the previous post.

http://www.stl250.org/cake-centennial-greenway.aspx

The link below shows what has been completed so far of this path.

http://www.greatriversgreenway.org/greenways/centennial-greenway.aspx

Cake 93- St. Charles County Heritage Museum

Found October 19, 2014

I took Sunday's adventure by myself instead of having Andrew chauffer me around the city.  It was pretty fun to explore on my own, but I was sad he couldn't see all the cool cakes with me!

St. Charles County Heritage Museum opened in 2010 and has displayed an exhibit about transportation evolving on the rivers, rails, and interstates in the county.  

The cake was decorated with many photos of forms of transportation all centered around the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.

http://www.stl250.org/cake-stcharles-heritage-park.aspx

Cake 92- Green Center

Found October 18, 2014

Mr. Aubrey Green built the current Green Center headquarters as his family home in 1932.  In the 1970's the City of University City bought seven acres of land, including the Green home to develop Kaufman Park, but the portion that contained the home was leased back to Mr. Green, where he resided until his death in 1995. When the city once again took possession of the house in 1995, there was much debate about how to use the house.  In 1998, the lease was signed to use the Green Center as a place for Environmental Education and the Arts. 

http://www.thegreencenter.org/

Cake 91- Mercantile Library

Found October 18, 2014

The Mercantile Library was established in 1846 and is the oldest library west of the Mississippi.  

Today it serves as a research library whose collections concentrate on Westward Expansion and the history, development, and growth of the St. Louis area, as well as the American rail and river transportation experiences.

http://www.umsl.edu/mercantile/

Cake 90- University of Missouri St. Louis

Found October 18, 2014

The University of Missouri St. Louis is one of four universities in the University of Missouri system.  It also is home to one of 17 optometry schools in all of North America.  University of Missouri St. Louis has the largest enrollment of any university in the St. Louis area. The University also contains three libraries and has to Metrolink stops on campus, and also owns and operates St. Louis Public Radio.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Missouri%E2%80%93St._Louis

Cake 89- Express Scripts

Found October 18, 2014

Express Scripts is the largest pharmacy benefit managing organization in the United States.  It is headquartered in St. Louis.  It began in 1986. 

I loved how the center of the cake looks like a giant prescription bottle.  How cute!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Express_Scripts

Cake 88- Ferguson Station Depot

Found October 18, 2014

I have to admit that I was very nervous to make the trip to Ferguson after watching all the riots and looting and protests that have taken place since August 9th, but I must say that Ferguson is an adorable community and that one event has given it a bad name that it doesn't truly deserve.  Consider this post a little bit of Ferguson Joy!

In the 1850's William Ferguson agreed to deed a strip of his farm land to the North Missouri Railroad, on the condition that they build a depot on his land and make it a regular stop. This stop became a center of activity in the area, and Ferguson sub-divided his land and sold lots to business and homeowners.  The railroad depot continued to be the hub that the city grew around.   The depot was Ferguson's first meeting place for churches, voters meetings, and even the fire whistle as there was always an engine at the station to provide a whistle.  A telegraph at the depot also connected them to the world. At its peak the station was served by 42 trains in a day and 24 hour freight service on 8 tracks. Passenger use ended in 1960 and the use by the signal crews ended in 1988.  In 1991, the city purchased the building for $1. Since then the building has been restored and features historic displays and Whistle Stop Frozen Custard Shop.  The cake is located just beneath the depot in front of a beautiful waterfall along Ferguson City Walk.

The depot is seen above the waterfall

http://www.fergusoncity.com/141/City-History

Cake 87- Taille de Noyer

Found October 18, 2014

When arriving here, I was disappointed to see the cake behind a fence, and noticed that the house is only open three hours a week on Sundays.  After reading about this historic house online, I'd love to go back and tour it.  This historic home houses the Florissant Valley Historical Society and is believed to be one of the oldest remaining homes in St. Louis County.  The original log cabin portion of the house dates back to 1790 when it was built on a 350 acre walnut grove by French trader.  Florissant is now the 6th most populated community in Missouri.  The structure was moved from its original location in 1960 and now rests behind McCluer High School, part of the Florissant/Ferguson school district. 

In 1805, the original log cabin was bought by John Mullanphy, an early merchant and trader who became St. Louis' first millionaire. The original cabin was given to his daughter Jane, and husband Charles Chambers as a way to move them back from New York.  They expanded the house in 1819 and moved in in 1820.  The Chambers had 17 children and the house grew with them until it became a mansion of 22 rooms.  The house was continuously occupied for 140 years until 1960 when the high school acquired the property and wanted to expand. The Historical Society opted to preserve the house and has been refurnishing and restoring the rooms of the house since 1965.

http://florissantoldtown.com/wp/links/florissant-valley-historical-society-taille-de-noyer/

Cake 86-Old St. Ferdinand Shrine

Found October 18, 2014

We nearly crashed a wedding for this one.  They were waiting to enter the church, and I must say the bride looked gorgeous!  Florissant is one of the oldest settlements in the state of Missouri, although the date is unknown. In 1787, Florissant was home to 40 people and 7 plantations. The town was known as "Fleurissant" by its French settlers, but St. Ferdinand by its Spanish rulers.  The cornerstone for the brick church was laid February 19, 1821 and was a gift from Mother Rose Phillipine Duchesne (visit her shrine here), who lived in the convent from 1819-1827 and 1834-1840. She helped to establish the first school in Florissant. 

http://www.oldstferdinandshrine.com/

Cake 85- Payne Gentry House

Found October 18, 2014

The Payne-Gentry House is the only restored historic house with a doctor's office.  The 19th century home still features many of the Payne family's possessions. 

Click here for tour info.

Cake 84- Chuck-A-Burger Drive In

Found October 18, 2014

Chuck-a-Burger Drive is located in St. John, Missouri, just off the I-170 interbelt.  Chuck-a-Burger has been family owned and operated since 1957.  This year they held Cruisein's the last Saturday of each summer month (May-September).  

This place reminded me of a little diner we had in Cedarburg, named Wayne's, where they offered cruise in's every Thursday night.  

http://chuckaburger.com/

Cake 83- St. Joseph's Academy

Found October 11, 2014

I have driven past this cake before, but today was finally the day that I could get a good look at it!

St. Joseph's Academy began in a log cabin in the spring of 1836.  Very quickly, the Sisters of Carondelet realized that they cabin could not hold the number of students enrolled.  The first wing of St. Joseph's was built in 1840 and opened as a combined boarding and day school that housed the 94 girls enrolled in the program. In 1925, the academy moved to the newly constructed Fontbonne campus, where it remained for thirty years.  In 1954, the enrollment outgrew the space at Fontbonne and relocated to it's present location in Frontenac.  The facilities were enlarged in 1985, which added a four-story edition to the original building. As enrollment grew, in 2000 it became clear another addition was necessary.  This new construction provided a state of the art gym, a 700 seat fine arts theater, four new classrooms. a guidance department complex, and a student commons area.  For more on the story of St. Joseph's click here. 

This cake was decorated by '93 alum Laura Francis Genovese.  Similar to the University Lions Gates cake, it is titled "Where'd You Go to Highschool?"  High school pennants fill the cake with St. Joseph's pennant and motto "Not I, but we" prominently featured.

http://www.stjosephacademy.org/about/news/2014/03/269-sja-takes-the-cake/

Cake 82- The Magic House

Found October 11, 2014

How I wish it were acceptable for adults to visit this unique Children's Museum without having any children to visit with!  This place looks amazing!

The Magic House is St. Louis' Children's Museum. The Magic House opened its doors to the public in October 1979.  Over the years, the museum has grown from a small local museum, to one of national prominence.  Education is at the core of The Magic House, and encourages learning through hands-on experiences.

Cake 81- Kirkwood Train Station

Found October 11, 2014

This historic train station adds to the historic and quaint feel of downtown Kirkwood.  Visiting downtown Kirkwood reminded me of time spent the last two years in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.  In 2002, Amtrak was on the verge of closing the Kirkwood station to save money.  The City of Kirkwood offered to buy the station and find volunteers to staff the station so that they would not lose this wonderful gem located in their city.  Since April of 2003, the city has been able to maintain the use of the station.  For more details on services provided at the station, click here.

I love that the cake features an Amtrak train around the sides of the cake.

Cake 80- Edward Jones South Campus

Found October 11, 2014

According to its Cakeway to the West webpage, Edward Jones is one of the founding circle sponsor for stl250.  Edward Jones provides financial services for individual investors in the United States and Canada.  Edward Jones is headquartered in St. Louis.

Cake 79- Frank Lloyd Wright House

Found October 11, 2014

Sadly, you cannot see the house from the driveway where the cake is located, and the house is only available to tour  by reservation.

This Frank Lloyd Wright House is located in Ebsworth Park in Kirkwood, Missouri.  It was the first Frank Lloyd Wright House to be built in the St. Louis area and is notable because it still contains original Wright designed furnishings and fabrics.

http://www.ebsworthpark.org/

Cake 78- Barretts Elementary School

Found October 11, 2014

I initially wondered why this particular elementary school was chosen over all of the others in the area, but a quick visit to the school's webpage shows a school with a rich history. 

Barretts School was originally a log cabin school called Breen School.  After that burned down a one-room brick school house replaced it in 1895 and was used until the mid 1930's.  The school is named for the popular Barretts Station along the Missouri Railroad.  

Barretts is the original school built in Parkway and additions in the 1930's, 1950's, and 1980's have brought the building to it's current look.

Cake 77- AKC Museum of the Dog

Found October 11, 2014

Didn't have time to peak at the actual museum today, but think it would be interesting to explore at a later date.

The American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog is home to the world's finest art collection of art devoted to the dog. Here visitors can explore paintings, sculptures, drawings, and other works of art that display dogs throughout the centuries.  

For more info and hours, visit http://www.museumofthedog.org/about_us.html

Here are some more images of the various dogs painted on the cake. I especially liked the little paw prints all over the icing.