Saint Louis is more than an arch

 The past weekend/Labor Day, I went up to Saint Louis to visit my friend who goes to Saint Louis University. She is a pretty adventurous and active friends so she proposed that we go to Forest Park to go paddle boarding. We are notorious for doing random outdoor activities together like running a half marathon without training, walking a marathon for fun, and one day backpacking in Europe(if our dreams come true), so I was excited for the next day's activities. Because of the rain, the shops were not open. However, that did not stop us from exploring the beauty of Saint Louis! From the arch to the beautiful flowers along the streets, the city was quite enchanting. I instinctively took picture of things that caught my eye and made me awe. I noticed that I was more present and not constantly checking on my phone like I usually do every day. I walked around looking at my surroundings and for once saw text messages sent to me more than ten minutes ago because I was not checking. I have always made excuses for myself that what if someone needed me and I did not respond to justify the constant checking and addiction I have to my phone. However, in the day I spent exploring the city, no message I received was in imminent need of response. I realize more now how conditioned I am to the chime of my phone and buzz of my watch. I went to a Pitbull concert over the weekend, and in the wise words of Mr. 305 himself, "use technology but don't let technology use you. Live life to the fullest. Don't let life live you." Although corny, what he said was accurate and necessary. I often get caught up in daily to-dos and google calendar schedules, breezing past friends and ending conversations abruptly because "I do not have time." It was great being able to have absolutely nothing on my to-do list for the day and go with the flow. Just one day and I noticed a better mood and less anxiety. I took pictures to capture moments rather than to complete the assignment for this class. Something I have loved from these nature experiences is that it pushes me to explore more than just the touristy areas of a new place. It opens up an entire new aspect to everything explored showing me that there is much more to see and much more than meets the eye of the social media beholder. Oftentimes, the places I discover through social media tend to be flooded with people and overrated. My favorite part of this city ended up being the one not every tourist goes to...the park. 




The first picture was taken in forest park, a beautiful park that reminded me of Central Park but with less city surrounding and more of a peaceful environment. There were also lots of wedding photoshoots going on because it was labor day weekend, and it made me happy to see all the bright faces

The second picture was also taken in the park during our walk around the whole park! I really loved the Mint plant and black-eyed susans! Mentha is the genus of plants in the family Lamiaceae. I loved how it attracted so many bees and butterflies that camouflaged into the leaves and colors of the flowers. 

The last picture was taken on the way to the concert because I thought the sunsetting was so beautiful. 

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