Exploring Downtown Cape

In those short weeks before we made our move out to the midwest, between the purging and the packing, I was doing feverish research on our new hometown. I thought about all of the things I enjoyed about Fredericksburg--our walkable proximity to downtown and to a handful of different parks, the library and its storytimes, the coffee shop, our CSA, the farmers' market, my moms and babies group--and I began to search for those kinds of things in Cape. Behold the power of the interwebs, y'all. And more specifically, the power of Facebook. I was able to find numerous little connections to our new locale--the public library, the downtown merchants' association, the natural food store, a couple of family farms, and a farmers' market--all on Facebook. I "liked" them, and they kept me posted from far away on the haps in the Cape area. It was a neat little meet-and-greet of sorts, and it went a long way towards making our new city feel less foreign.

Last Saturday, Cape Girardeau Public Library posted that they were hosting a pumpkin carving event, and since returning some books was already on our to-do list for Saturday, I eagerly suggested that Arlo "carve" his pumpkin while we were there. Only, when we got there, there was no such event to be found. A quick inquiry at the check-out desk revealed that the pumpkin carving was scheduled for Sunday. So, the lesson is: while your Facebook feed is handy, it is only handy when you read the dates correctly. Whoopsie.

 

We were so stoked to carve our pumpkin that we took a picture on the way into the library. These smiles are before everyone realized that I had botched the dates. Hehe. Oh well.

Not about to waste our trip to the library, we let Arlo explore its play area for the little ones. Isn't this the neatest set-up? He had a great time!

Here is our baby toddler, mid-walking. (Yes, I dressed my kid like a hayseed. We were at a farm earlier in the morning. We have pictures to share of that soon.)

Turning big gears, making big noises, having big fun.

After a little romp at the bibliotheque, we headed down to the banks of the mighty Mississippi River and took in the murals along the river walk.

There are about a bajillion murals, just so you know.

And afterwards, we stepped into the local microbrewery to see what they offer in terms of tasty pints, and found that they had several seasonal brews on tap. Nick had a harvest ale, and I had a pumpkin ale. As we took this picture he turned to me and said, "This picture is not appropriate for the blog." But then, Arlo adorably raised his sippy cup in a cheery toast as Nick snapped it, and I couldn't resist posting it. Sorry, Nick! We sat on the second floor and watched barges slowly float down the river, sipping our brews (and Arlo his water), and it was a lovely way to end the afternoon.