Lia (of the Michigan Koski's) came to spend the weekend with us after speaking at a conference in Chicago. We recently learned that she had never been to St. Louis. What? She's traveled all over the world but had never seen the Arch? The Arch that was designed and built by a Finlander? Well, we had to take care that pronto!
So we piled in the van and headed south, only to meet up with a huge traffic back-up right before the bridge. Note to anyone going that way in the next few months, they're working on the bridges...take 270, trust me.
But before we encountered that cluster, we stopped in Farmersville, Illinois (pop. 768) to visit the grave of my 2nd great grandfather, Robert Grace. It was Robert who came over from Ireland during the Famine to become a successful farmer and father to seven children. To my delight, his tombstone gives the date and location of his birth...Kilkenny, Ireland which is on our itinerary for the big June trip. However, what I was most interested in was the inscription below his name. But alas, the elements have blurred the writing so much over the years that it is unreadable. I attempted a rubbing but all I ended up with were fingers covered in charcoal. My last attempt at reading it is this photo and if anyone can make out the inscription, let me know!
We had a great time in St. Louis, went up in the Arch (on a beautiful, sunny day),stopped in at the Old Cathedral, wandered around The Loop and ate at Fitz's...the shakes, burgers and beers were awesome! Unfortunately, we arrived at the zoo just as it was closing. We'll have to save that for another time.
Hope you enjoyed your weekend and let's say a prayer the warm weather sticks around for awhile.
2 comments:
It says "One day you will have a red-haired great granddaughter who will journey to your homeland and find that everyone looks like her."
Love you. Sandi
Really? Is that what it says or are you just once again, teasing the youngest because she's so gullible?
I'm looking forward to being among the pale and pasty.
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