Day 6  St Louis Missouri.
   After such a superlative day in every way; sites, weather, history, hotel NOT, it's hard to focus on the brightest points but these two shine out.
   Perhaps some of you know that I earned my MFA equivalent in Florence Italy at the top mosaic restoration school in the world, Pietre Dure a few years back (quite a few).  So any chance I get to look at tesserae jerks my chain.  When the tour driver this morning pointed out this gorgeous church from 1912 and stated "with the largest mosaic in the world" I balked and said "St. Marco?" but he insisted.  Actually, he and Wiki are wrong.  The Basilica of St. Louis doesn't have the world's largest mosaic (St. Marco in Venice still holds the title by 300m squared at 8,000) but certainly the largest by far in the US and one freakin fine batch of tile if ever there was one.
   The side chapels were actually done by TIFFANY but there's a whole bunch of other famous artists that got busy with the glue and glass and the subject matter runs from early Byzantine to late 19th century modern.  Every inch of the upper walls and ceilings is mosaic and even in bad light, the glistening, gilded glow (say that fast) is really beautiful.  What a find!  And then there's all those GORGEOUS 19TH C houses around Forest Park AND EVERYTHING IS FREE in this city....the zoo, the art museum, parking!!!  
   Of course I had to make the pilgrimage to Bellefountaine Cemetery.  Am I the only person that finds great peace and happiness stumbling around graves, especially OLD graves?  Anyway, THIS cemetery is chockablock full of civil war heroes/dunces from both sides.  But whilst I was happily snapping pix of General Price and Poke, I stumbled on something for my homies in Utah.
   So often places get named after so and so from who the hell knows where or why but THIS guy actually earned it.  Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville (April 14, 1796 – June 12, 1878) was a French-born officer in the United States Army, fur trapper, and explorer in the American West. He is noted for his expeditions to the Oregon Country and the Great Basin, and in particular for blazing portions of the Oregon Trail.  Then he was called back into service in 1861 as a recruiter for the Missouri Union troops.  But he most certainly spent a lot of time moseying thru Utah and now we know where he's planted.  Just a bit more useless information to help you win Bar Trivia.  
   Hope you're enjoying my silly ramblings...there's just so much to see and explore here.  Wish you were here.  hugs from the road.