You must have seen and felt it today; the relatively balmy high temperature of 56º F with bright sun, beautiful blue sky and fluffy white clouds floating languidly past. It was a perfect day to go wandering in America’s premier urban park, so I walked the three short blocks from my studio to the Delmar Loop and took the Loop Trolly. The two cars I rode today, number one and number two, are replicas of 1903 model street cars built in the 1990’s, so while they look new, it’s a 1903 new that they look.
It starts at the University City Library and takes you east on Delmar to DeBaliviere, where it turns south and terminates in Forest Park next to the Missouri History Museum. From there I walked past the visitor center, Dwight Davis Tennis Center, across a bridge and past the Boathouse to the suspension bridge that leads to Picnic Island. It was along this path that I spied the turtles sunning themselves (they will be torpid tomorrow, hiding from the cold down in some comfortable mud in a state of hibernation that is called brumation).
The humans, of course, were out in force, many accompanied by canids of various sizes, usually restrained by a leash, in compliance with the law. I watched and wandered, sharing my happiness with any and all I met.
The trolly comes by every twenty minutes and runs on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, though it has already been forestalled by snow and other weather conditions. Tomorrow’s forecast is for snow again, so this weekend might not be the best time for you to mosey down the the West End and try the trolly for yourself.
The Loop trolly serves the Delmar Loop and Forest Park, at the History Museum.