Citygarden

I've already told you about the Botanical Gardens and the City Museum. I'll spare you the gushing over The Magic House, an incredible children's museum that we had to drag Chloe out of. But in order for you to really understand why I feel like cheating on Memphis right now, I have to tell you about Citygarden.

First, you have to understand that downtown St. Louis starts at the Arch, which is beautiful but does not take up a lot of space on the ground, meaning tons of grassy park areas around it. Then there is an old courthouse or something, then a couple of blocks with fountains and an amphitheater. And THEN, after all that, there is a three-acre urban garden right there in the middle of downtown. It's amazing.

There are 24 pieces of sculpture scattered among gorgeous landscaping and fountains. My children LOVED the art, loved getting wet in the "spray plaza," loved wandering through the flowers and shrubs. And I loved that so much land in the middle of downtown that was dedicated to a public park and public art. I just really couldn't get over it.

All the up-front costs were handled by the Gateway Foundation, in partnership with the City of St. Louis which owns the land. Let's just say, even if I win the lottery, I won't be able to fund the Memphis City Garden on my own. But someone in this town's gotta have $50 million burning a hole in their pocket, don't they?

When it comes right down to it, yes I might envy St. Louis and their Bush Stadium and their kid-friendly museums and their NFL team and their Monsanto-funded gardens. But it doesn't make me want to move- it just makes me want to light a fire under someone here in town. There are so many projects that need funding! Until I win the lottery, I guess I'm stuck doing things like begging Pepsi for the quarter mil needed for our skatepark. It's a start, right?

Whole slideshow here.