Exploring St. Louis: A Family Adventure Guide

 Arnold (00:00:00) - Have you ever wondered what to do with your kids? Where's the best place to get pizza? I've got age gaps with my kids. I don't know what to do with them. We'd love to do outdoor kinds of things. So where can we go? We've got a great book for you today to give you some answers. Called Best Mom Saint Louis and Tara Smith is here to talk about it on Saint Louis and Tune. Welcome to Saint Louis, Antoon, and thank you for joining us for fresh perspectives on issues and events with experts, community leaders and everyday people who are driving change and making an impact that shapes our society and world. I'm Arnold Stricker, along with Mark Langston and Mark. Good morning sir. Good morning or good afternoon, depending upon what time you're listening, I know.

Mark (00:00:56) - Good evening. Good evening. Yeah. No, I'm doing well. How about yourself?

Arnold (00:01:01) - I'm just the. My headache is fading now that I've had probably the fourth cup of coffee.

Mark (00:01:06) - And some Zyrtec.

Arnold (00:01:07) - Yeah, something to get that fog out.

Mark (00:01:09) - Of my head. It is that time of year. So can I give a tease for later on in the show? Tease away. Okay, so we usually do what today is the National Day International be kind to Lawyers Day. Oh so we're going to we'll talk about that I need.

Arnold (00:01:22) - To look up some lawyer.

Mark (00:01:23) - Jokes now I know it. What did I know? What is Shakespeare saying. Kill all the lawyers. Know something like it was he did.

Arnold (00:01:32) - Only when you need him.

Mark (00:01:33) - You know. Okay.

Arnold (00:01:34) - All right, well, here's one thing we can do in our return to civility. And, folks, many times you get together with family or friends or other kind of colleagues, or maybe it's a reunion or maybe it's a wedding or something. Propose a toast or a round of applause for the host or organizer at the next party or event you attend. It's a great way to collectively honor someone. A toast doesn't have to be long or brilliant. Simple and sincere goes a long way.

Arnold (00:02:06) - Thank you. Thank you very much.

Mark (00:02:07) - That's right.

Arnold (00:02:09) - He does propose a toast. Not toast. Not a toast of saying something. Not the bread that's in the toast.

Mark (00:02:16) - Are okay, which I burn.

Arnold (00:02:18) - All the time. Or a round of applause for the host or organizer. We did that the other day. Our son. He's personal story here. Our son is engaged and her parents came. They've been over here and we had a toast to the new couple and to the parents. And it was fun.

Mark (00:02:39) - Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's.

Arnold (00:02:40) - Yeah, it's an honoring kind of thing.

Mark (00:02:43) - The host with the most. Yes. So give him a nice round of applause.

Arnold (00:02:46) - So some things to do. We try to return to civility and let you know out there that we live. Sometimes it seems like in an uncivilized society and we should be very civilized. So it's kindness goes a long way.

Mark (00:03:00) - We had the eclipse yesterday, and one of the interviews, I think, at one of the stadiums was a lady said, I feel so connected to everyone in the stadium because we all experience this together and you don't hear that very often.

Mark (00:03:15) - I don't think you know where I feel connected to other drivers on highway 40 or whatever. But yeah, it was refreshing to hear someone say that they were connected with their fellow humans.

Arnold (00:03:29) - Yeah, it's unusual because sometimes activities like that are the things that really bind people together, right? And they're the kinds of things that bind families together is when you do things together. And Tara Smith is here in studio, she is going to talk about her book. That's just a tremendous resource, folks, not only if you're a resident of Saint Louis, but maybe you live out of the city, maybe in the surrounding communities, maybe you live out of state and you're listening to this show and you're coming to Saint Louis. This is a great resource for you. Or maybe you're not even thinking about coming to Saint Louis. Maybe you live in the far reaches of our country or even overseas, because people do listen overseas. And this might give you ideas to do with your kids. But Tara has been a mom blogger for over 15 years.

Arnold (00:04:14) - I think she was probably one of the first bloggers in the Saint Louis area, and she's the voice behind Scene dandy.com. Her blog has been featured on news for a Great Day, Show Me Saint Louis, and in Good Housekeeping and Farmhouse style magazines. She hikes, she travels with her husband and four children. She crafts. She loves eating out at her favorite local restaurants, and I think probably one of the most important things. She's a mom. Taxi service now. Do you charge tips to your kids?

Tara Smith (00:04:41) - I know they need to start paying up for sure.

Arnold (00:04:45) - Welcome to Saint Louis and Tara.

Tara Smith (00:04:48) - Thank you. Thanks so much for having me.

Arnold (00:04:50) - Now, why is Saint Louis a great place to raise a family?

Tara Smith (00:04:55) - Saint Louis is is so great. We have so many options here that are economical for the family because they're free. We have a fabulous park. Forest Park has everything that we could want in a park and the zoo is free. The art museum is free, the Missouri Historical Museum is free, the Missouri History Museum is free.

Tara Smith (00:05:21) - Just and just the nature scape. You can explore outside, outdoors, in the park. So, it's just great. We also have a great science center that's free, right? So when I hear people talk about coming even to visit Saint Louis, they go to all those places, right? And they're just like, this is phenomenal. Saint Louis is just must be amazing for a family. And I'm like, it, it is. It's amazing. And we need to really be more touristy of our own city. We live here, so people come here to experience it and we need to be experiencing it ourselves.

Arnold (00:05:59) - So what was the motivation behind the book? Was it just accumulation of things with the four kids and their varied ages?

Tara Smith (00:06:06) - I know I have been blogging about Saint Louis and things that we do here because that's part of our life, honestly. The publisher reached out to me and asked if I would write the book, and they wanted to do a book for moms, and they heard about me through my blog.

Tara Smith (00:06:25) - They reached out and they asked if I would write it, and I said, let's do it. I hadn't ever I thought about writing a book at different times in my life or or writing. I like to write, obviously, if I have a blog, but it wasn't really in my plans. About a year and a half ago, the owner of the publishing company reached out and said that he was looking for someone to write this book. And I did it. And we're here.

Arnold (00:06:54) - Do you have a background in journalism or writing or English?

Tara Smith (00:06:59) - So I did take some journalism classes, like at the beginning of college, but like most students moved things around and switched what I majored in. I ultimately have a degree in psychology, okay. And I did my emphasis, like my support work was in community health, okay. In that sort of thing. I worked just clerking, like in a children's E.R. for five years. So I was more into the medical side of things like before I had kids.

Tara Smith (00:07:26) - And that still is a passion of mine. I still, but I think it's something that you can take into motherhood and working with your kids. Absolutely. Being a mom. So I was looking for ways to just stay connected at home as a stay at home mom. And blogging just came about like around the same time as when I started having kids and everybody had a blog. I don't know if you remember, like everybody had a blog spot. Yep. Yeah, we all had blogs, everyone. And it was pre Facebook like we didn't at that point in time. You had to be a student to have a Facebook account, right? And so all of my friends from college, we all had blogspot accounts. It was how we kept in touch with each other. We had post pictures of our kids and our of our families. And so basically it was we were pre-social media. That was our social media, I think.

Arnold (00:08:19) - Was it Myspace was the first one or something like that?

Tara Smith (00:08:22) - Yeah, yeah, Myspace was out.

Tara Smith (00:08:24) - I think we could have Myspace. Did they still.

Arnold (00:08:26) - Exist?

Mark (00:08:27) - I don't think so. I know it's.

Tara Smith (00:08:29) - Still kind of there. Yeah, Myspace is gone. I don't know.

Arnold (00:08:34) - You know, I look at the table of contents here and this is just crazy because folks, it's like best ropes course, best place to introduce kids to live theater. Best place to see Santa. Best bike trail. Oh, best place to learn all about Lewis and Clark. How did you come up with these?

Tara Smith (00:08:56) - A lot of it. We did some research, my husband and I. This was a a labor of love together.

Arnold (00:09:02) - Experiential.

Tara Smith (00:09:04) - Yeah. So we just experience from from our lives like what we do with our own kids experiences. From what I know from my own childhood growing up in Saint Louis, I pulled from things that my grandparents took me to, things my parents took me to family also, just like researching. I have a brother that lives in Saint Charles, and so he and his wife were very influential in terms of what's something good in Saint Charles that because I wanted to include Saint Charles, because it is.

Tara Smith (00:09:39) - While it's not Saint Louis or Saint Louis County, it is very much part of our community. I just I wanted to include Saint Charles. I wanted to include places on the Illinois side because whereas they come here to experience things in Saint Louis, I go over there to experience their world as well. And so I was able to pull from my brother to be like, hey, what's a good park that you like to go to? And then of course, I visited it and saw it for myself, and I was like, this is a great park. And so it was very much just an I included that in the dedication. It was very much just I had a lot of support from family and close friends.

Arnold (00:10:22) - I was wondering how you narrowed this down, because each one of these I'm looking at folks right now, the best place for animal lovers. And it's Lone Elk Park, the world bird. Sanctuary and Suzanne Park. And then you go to the next page and it's the best place for something else.

Arnold (00:10:38) - How do you narrow it down to like 3 or 4?

Tara Smith (00:10:42) - That was hard, I bet, because it was very hard. So maybe I need to write another book of all the honorable mentions or just. But then I just I feel like there's so many great places, honestly. And this book is going, I wrote it. So it's going to be from my perspective. So somebody might have another location that they like to go see animals and they might be like, I think this one's better than what I picked. But ultimately I wrote the book, so I had the final say on on what? Right.

Arnold (00:11:15) - And you visited all these places too.

Tara Smith (00:11:17) - Yeah. And so ultimately it's, you know, it's going to be something that obviously, Susan Park near and dear to my heart. I remember going there in my own childhood. I love seeing the animals there that they have and taking my kids there now. And but it's also one of those locations that say somebody that lives out in Saint Charles may have never heard of because it's a South County kind of staple.

Tara Smith (00:11:45) - I think ultimately, I just had to pull from my own experiences on what I find to be the best. Yeah.

Arnold (00:11:53) - As I think about you describing your personal experiences growing up with your parents and grandparents, what were some of those things that that you remember specifically? Wow, that was a great trip. That was a great trip. That was a great trip. Give me your top three from you growing up.

Tara Smith (00:12:10) - Local places.

Arnold (00:12:11) - That would be in.

Tara Smith (00:12:11) - The. Okay. So top three. I have fond memories of going to see Santa at the front snack mall. Okay, and is that.

Mark (00:12:21) - Your favorite place for Santa? I just it.

Tara Smith (00:12:24) - I included it as one of the best Santas.

Mark (00:12:27) - Is that.

Tara Smith (00:12:27) - Okay?

Mark (00:12:27) - So I was.

Tara Smith (00:12:28) - Curious. He's always been very best. I think probably costume. And I mean, I've seen a lot of Santas with my little kids and, as my kids were growing up and, just the whole setup and the chair that he's sitting in and just the decorations, it's very much an immersive experience of the holidays, I think.

Tara Smith (00:12:51) - And and so that was that. I included that in the book because it's a fond memory of my grandparents taking and getting pictures of me with that particular Santa. I also love Union Station, and I love how it's changed over the years. Fond memories of going to Union Station as a kid, and we're talking way back because I have a picture of they had a stand up when President Reagan was president, and you could take your picture and pretend like you were like it was in black and white. You could pretend like you were taking your picture with President Reagan at Union Station. And so I have this picture from when I was a child with President Reagan. Right. And I met Ronald. I thought, yes, he was totally flat, but the way images were back then, you had no, it looked like we were just together. And I thought I was the coolest kid in the third grade. You were. But I loved going down to Union Station and going and walking the halls and hearing the stories from my grandparents about when it was a thriving train station.

Tara Smith (00:14:04) - And that was just very much part of my childhood. So I love how Union Station has been revamped today to be what it is. It's a great destination for families. It has a good mix of history versus modern day. So it's that's a place that I feel like needed to be included in the book, because it's very much part of Saint Louis, part of our, our history.

Arnold (00:14:30) - Now. One more.

Tara Smith (00:14:32) - One more.

Arnold (00:14:33) - Yeah, I had three.

Tara Smith (00:14:34) - From my childhood.

Mark (00:14:37) - I'm holding you to,

Tara Smith (00:14:38) - Well, another one that I would be pulling from when I was a child would be if you go to Buder Park now, not everybody's into remote control airplanes, but they are cool to see. I didn't grow up flying them, and I wasn't really a airplane kind of child, but my grandfather used to take me to Buder Park to watch the. There is a club still in effect. They fly the remote controlled airplanes at Buder Park. They have a whole field dedicated for flight, and you don't have to be a member of the club.

Tara Smith (00:15:19) - You can go and watch people fly their planes there. And because it's dedicated for the airspace, right. So it's they have it, it looks like it feels like you're on an at an airfield, but it's for small planes. But. Some of these planes are pretty good size like I don't know. Yeah. Have you seen.

Mark (00:15:36) - That? Yeah. Some of them are pretty big.

Tara Smith (00:15:38) - That they build. Yeah. And they go up and they I.

Mark (00:15:41) - Mean as big as a table or something. They're big.

Tara Smith (00:15:43) - They are big. And so it was just, it was a really just a fond memory of seeing something that just was. Wow. And even as a kid, not really when I was a girl. And so I not that girls can't be interested in planes, trains and automobiles, but that wasn't really my thing. And, and but I was always I was amazed. I just thought that it was really neat. And a lot of people don't know that it exists. And Buder.

Arnold (00:16:12) - Park is it's.

Tara Smith (00:16:13) - Like Valley Park. Okay. It's before you get to Lone Elk Park, okay. Tucked in there, there's like a roundabout now, right, to get back in there okay.

Arnold (00:16:24) - All right. This Arnold Stricker with Mark Langston of Saint Louis In Tune. And we're talking to Tara Smith about her book, Best Mom, Saint Louis, which contains a multitude of the best places to the best playground, the best place to take someone from visiting from out of town, the best place for something you've never done before. So a question is, most people in Saint Louis have or haven't done what? Most people in Saint Louis have done this and most people in Saint Louis haven't done this. What do you think.

Tara Smith (00:16:56) - Most people have not taken like a canoe raft boat ride down the Mississippi. That is an option that people have. Another can I give you too? Oh yeah. A lot of people haven't done the trolley ride that goes around the city. We tourists do that when they come, and I know when I go to other cities, I like to take their trolley rides.

Tara Smith (00:17:21) - Right. Or London, everybody has to go on the big red bus, right? The double decker.

Arnold (00:17:26) - Bus and sit up on top.

Tara Smith (00:17:27) - Yes. And take all the pictures and just. I'm in London, but but nobody thinks to do. There's a trolley ride downtown that you can go around to all the different. It will go by. It'll go by like Millionaire's Row. It goes in front of the cathedral, the the old courthouse, like things like that. It just it goes around and and you can take that as a Saint Louis tourist that lives here, tour your own city, experience these sorts of things a day. Yeah, for sure. A day in a staycation. No. We can just see what we have to offer here in in Saint Louis. You live here. You don't have you don't have to travel. Yeah. A lot of people, you hear don't ever go in the arch.

Arnold (00:18:14) - That's true. Yeah.

Tara Smith (00:18:16) - They live here. It's been or they did when they were little and they just don't even remember their parents took them and then and so go up in the arch, see all those things.

Tara Smith (00:18:26) - I think the things that people have done, a lot of families go to the magic House. That's just it's a nostalgic place. It's been around for a long time. Everybody knows about it. Kids love to go there. Anything in Forest Park, right? Everybody goes to Forest Park.

Arnold (00:18:44) - Everybody goes to the.

Tara Smith (00:18:45) - Zoo, everyone goes to the zoo. And for good reason. It's like one of the best zoos in the country. Right. And and if you find a parking spot, you don't have to pay, like, for it. It's totally free not to say anything bad about the zoos parking lot, but. But free.

Mark (00:19:03) - Is free is.

Tara Smith (00:19:04) - Good. And I like parking down by the World's Fair pavilion. And I like the walk. It's a nice it's a nice walk, right, to get to the zoo. So there's nothing wrong with the free parking.

Mark (00:19:16) - No.

Arnold (00:19:17) - So I, I'm a I'm a little philosophical here in drawing some of your psychological background here. Okay. All right.

Arnold (00:19:24) - We're going to we're going to mine into that the importance of doing activities like this in the lives of children. Why is that important and how important is it?

Tara Smith (00:19:39) - Well, I'm going to be pulling from more common day, I think, from when I was rather when I was in college, which was quite a few years ago. But now kids have more screens. They have. Back when we were younger, they had we had a television and it only had certain channels, and that's just what it was. Now, even my own kids, we have a multitude of streaming channels on our television. Our kids have tons of video games, they have tons of devices. They even books are on a device now, right? And ultimately getting them outside and exploring. It's hard for parents because the kids, we ask our own kids, hey, we're going to go take a hike. We're going to go do something today. Oh. Can we just stay home like they just want to rest or relax? And really, it's not rest or relax.

Tara Smith (00:20:38) - It's they want to play video games or they just want to sit and relax on the couch, but vegetate, totally vegetate. They all have something on the television playing that they're not even watching because they're playing a game on their cell phone or their or their tablet. And if you walk in the room and they've got the television going, if they've got their game going, and it's like, why do we have all this stuff on? Because you can only focus on one thing at a time. Or maybe that's just me.

Arnold (00:21:08) - They would they would say, I know what's going on in the show and I know what's going on in the game, you know? Yeah. It's amazing. Yeah.

Tara Smith (00:21:14) - I think even the places that aren't outdoor places that are in this book, it's a way to get your kids engaged with you and out and visiting places with you and talking, because even just a road trip, sometimes my kids, they'll still want to be on their devices in the car. And so we can't even communicate in the car.

Tara Smith (00:21:36) - But once we get to our destination, we're exploring, we're seeing things. And I think that in itself is fundamental for families just to have that togetherness. And build that bond.

Arnold (00:21:52) - I think that's a very important point. You make that togetherness in the communication because some parents find it difficult, especially with some kids at certain ages, to have some kind of dialogue back and forth. And I want to explore that a little bit more. We're going to, we're going to take a short break here, but we'll come back and we'll talk about what that that communication should be like and what that interaction has been in your family and how you've nurtured that. This is Arnold Stricker with Mark Langston. We'll be right back for our next segment. You're listening to Saint Louis and tune on the US radio network. This is Arnold Stricker of Saint Louis Intune on behalf of the Dred Scott Heritage Foundation in 1857, the Dred Scott decision was a major legal event and catalyst that contributed to the Civil War. The decision declared that Dred Scott could not be free because he was not a citizen.

Arnold (00:22:49) - The 14th Amendment, also called the Dred Scott Amendment, granted citizenship to all born or naturalized here in our country and was intended to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court decision on July 9th, 1868. The Dred Scott Heritage Foundation is requesting a commemorative stamp to be issued from the US Postal Service to recognize and remember the heritage of this amendment by issuing a stamp with the likeness of the man, Dred Scott. But we need your support and the support of thousands of people who would like to see this happen. To achieve this goal, we ask you to download, sign and share the one page petition with others. To find the petition, please go to Dred Scott Lives. Org and click on the Dred Scott petition. Drive on the right side of the page on behalf of the Dred Scott Heritage Foundation. This has been Arnold Stricker of Saint Louis Intune.

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Audience MC (00:25:10) - Magic of radio.

Mark (00:25:14) - You got a good face for radio?

Arnold (00:25:15) - Yeah, absolutely, I even shaved.

Mark (00:25:21) - You missed a spot. Yeah, it's called a goatee.

Arnold (00:25:25) - Welcome back to Saint Louis In Tune with Arnold Stricker and Mark Langston. We're talking to Tara Smith. She's the author of Best Moms Saint Louis, and it is an amalgamation. How about that word, Mark? It is an amalgamation of the best places to do whatever you need to do with your children and your family in Saint Louis. And we were talking before the break about communication and interaction with kids and family. And when you go on these kinds of activities, what is really important? Or let me back up. How have these activities? Nurtured communication, I don't know.

Tara Smith (00:25:59) - I know the book doesn't really. It gives pictures of my kids, but it doesn't really give their ages. So with my kids, my family of four kids, I have a sophomore in high school. I have a 12 year old, I have a ten year old, and I have a three year old. So that is there seven years between the youngest and the next one and and a little bit of a gap between the sixth grader and and the sophomore in high school.

Tara Smith (00:26:23) - So with having different ages, they do their own thing. Now at this point. And even the little ones, she's had to learn how to like, share with other little kids because nobody wants her things. They're just like, we don't want your toys. We don't want your stuff. Like at my house. Like her siblings are like, that's your stuff. Like we don't. And so they in order to be able to, like, have them have some sibling camaraderie, I think these activities help to create that. If we're walking, hiking in the woods, they're they're helping their little sister. She struggles a little bit with walking. And so they they come and they want to hold her hand and help her along and or pick her up and give her a piggyback ride. The oldest, they like to imagine and play Dungeons and Dragons as they walk, right? Just pretend as they're going through the woods. And it's so fun to see these different age groups of kids coming together that when we're at home, they don't want to talk to each other, they don't want to.

Tara Smith (00:27:27) - They'll play board games and things like that. And we always tend to sit around and chat a little bit at dinner. But but to see them like out together and laughing and having fun, that's something that's building a relationship with them that they're going to be carrying on, I think, into adulthood.

Arnold (00:27:46) - Absolutely. So are you the best mom in Saint Louis?

Tara Smith (00:27:49) - Absolutely not.

Mark (00:27:53) - That's what the book says, though I.

Tara Smith (00:27:55) - Know the book says that. But if you notice, the mom on the cover has two kids, I have four, and she's blonde and I have brunette hair. even if it comes out of a bottle, it started out brunette like, I am not a blonde. I am not the best mom. I'm just a mom. But I think everybody, honestly, I think every mom is the best because they have a big job. And so ultimately, this book is called Best Mom Saint Louis because the reader is the best mom these places. When you take your kids to these places, your kids will be declaring that you're the best.

Arnold (00:28:38) - That's so cool, mom.

Tara Smith (00:28:40) - I know they're going to say that because they're going to be like, you took them to these places. I'm giving you the ideas of where to take your kids, but ultimately you're going to be the one that's taking them to these places. I'm not taking them to these places. I have to drive my WI mom taxi service. I've got to take my kids all over the other places. So I'm sorry, but I can't take your kids to the places for you. You're going to be taking the kids to these places, and they're going to think that you are the best and you are the best. You're doing these things with your kids. You're building time and spending with them. And ultimately, this book can be for aunts, grandparents, uncles, dads. Because just because you're a dad doesn't mean you can't be like a mom. Everybody, even people without kids, can be a mom to someone. Yeah, right.

Arnold (00:29:34) - It could be best family, Saint Louis.

Mark (00:29:35) - Oh, yeah. Yeah. That's right. Tara, how old are your kids now? Are they?

Tara Smith (00:29:40) - Oh, yeah. So I have a sophomore in high school, so he's turning 16 on Sunday, so we have first time driver in our house. Okay, I've got a sixth grader. She's, 12 years old. Fourth grader. He's ten. And then the little one is three. And so she'll be going to preschool in the fall.

Mark (00:29:58) - That's quite a that's quite a spread is.

Tara Smith (00:30:01) - Yeah, it really is. And so ultimately the little one is going to be one day she'll be like an only child.

Mark (00:30:08) - Yeah. Oh yeah yeah yeah many.

Tara Smith (00:30:09) - Years from now. But one day.

Mark (00:30:11) - So are you going to write another book when. For adolescents.

Tara Smith (00:30:15) - I know like things. I mean I do include in the book ideas for moms of like, best things for teenagers to do. Okay, granted, there's only, you know, the three, places, but, I mean, I would like to do a guidebook for kids.

Tara Smith (00:30:31) - I think that's in my wheelhouse. I think it's in the back of my mind. If I did some type of a guidebook that's for kids, maybe more, with illustrated illustrations in it and written in a way for kids to enjoy, I think. I don't know, graphic novels are huge for kids right now. I would I think I could see myself writing a guidebook for kids. Another thing that I. Thought About doing is just a book about day trips from Saint Louis, because there are so many great locations that would be good, and that was really hard for me to narrow down on day trips, because there are so many great places that are within driving distance to just go for the day. So I think I could definitely see myself doing a book full of just day trips only. Nobody steal my idea before I before I write it.

Arnold (00:31:24) - Okay, we'll cut that part out of the.

Tara Smith (00:31:26) - Air, but I might have a head start on writing it. So it's who gets to the finish line first.

Arnold (00:31:32) - So biggest surprise in the book.

Tara Smith (00:31:34) - In terms of location. So I was really surprised to find and I noticed the street as I was driving here to your studio. Is that Selena? Okay, so on Selena, there is a old warehouse building. You would never know that this is inside it. You walk up to the door and you see this little sign and it says Ramp riders. And so then you walk in the door and you go up these stairs up to the very top, and you're like, where am I? It is an entire skate park inside an old warehouse, like skate park, like the ramps that you see on those competitions on television, they're huge. And usually they're outside. Right? This is inside an old skylight like warehouse. And it's just huge ceilings, huge ramps, just fun graffiti and art that's on them. Like inside the in the building, there's a skate shop so people can buy skateboards, they can buy inline skates. They even have BMX bikes and they repair them there.

Tara Smith (00:32:41) - They have classes that kids can take. They have special days that are set aside that just kids can be there or less experienced people on the ramps, so that way they're not getting run over by the hardcore ramp riders. But yeah, it's called ramp riders. And it's it was for someone who doesn't I don't skateboard, I've never skateboarded, but for someone like me to walk in and I was really impressed. And then they have some tables and chairs so you can go in and sit down, eat a snack and watch some of these amazing things. Amazing, talented people. There was a girl when I was looking around just to get a feel for it. For the book, there was a girl that plays on a roller derby team in Saint Louis, and so she had like her pads on and her helmet. Right. But she also, in addition to roller derby, she likes to do trick, like skating, like off of ramps, like on your old school four wheel skates. She was going up these ramps and like, doing flips in the air, doing spins, doing things that you would see, the spins that she was doing.

Tara Smith (00:33:55) - Now, my oldest daughter does figure skating. And so I very much around that world. A lot of my life is around that world these days. So part of the taxi service is going to the rink several times a week. Yeah. To see this, this woman on, on roller skates doing these like axles in the air, I it was just really impressive. And so I can see that it's just very much there's a whole culture behind skateboarding and BMX biking and inline skating. But to be able to have and scooters, they kids can take scooters and go on these ramps as well. So there is a fee to get in. Okay. And but they do like these punch cards. So you can purchase a bunch of punch cards to get in. I'm sure the prices are always going to be changing because everything's price wise is fluctuating, especially right now. But they have punch cards that you can go, and if you take your child, they will not charge the adult that's with the child.

Tara Smith (00:35:00) - So you can and you can take your own. If you're an adult who has your own skateboarder, has a scooter or whatever, you can take it out on the ramps and be doing it to with your child and they won't charge you. They are just going to charge you for the one time, one person coming on.

Arnold (00:35:16) - And I know things are tight for a lot of families and I think about, okay, a lot of these activities, maybe they cost things, they cost a little bit of entrance fee or something like that. And how many of these activities would you say that you have in the book are actually free? Now, I know we talked about Forest Park and Park, and a lot of the things in Saint Louis are free. But as you were researching the book and you put the book together, are most of these things free?

Tara Smith (00:35:42) - A lot of them are free. There's parks. There's like the best playground. So I did three of what I thought was the best playground. But then there's certain playgrounds that have the best zip line.

Tara Smith (00:35:53) - And so I didn't want to. Include them and it's hard to find, like a free zip line. Where is a free zip line to go on?

Mark (00:36:00) - I couldn't tell you, but.

Tara Smith (00:36:01) - There are certain playgrounds that have them. I don't want to. Yeah, I'll give you one.

Arnold (00:36:06) - Can you say liability? Yeah, yeah.

Tara Smith (00:36:09) - So I'll give you one. It's a Watson Trails Park has a free zip line in there. Down near the lake there's a separate little playground, and some people don't know it exists there.

Arnold (00:36:20) - It's a long zip line.

Tara Smith (00:36:22) - It's more short, shorter and of in length, and it kind of gets straight. But yeah, but it's a fun little. It's a disc that you sit on that kids can sit on. And so that's free. And ultimately I was able to include that by doing the free zip line, the best frees of planes. I was able to open it up to include more playgrounds, more parks in the area. And that way, because there are so many phenomenal playgrounds, like so many great playgrounds in Saint Louis in the entire area.

Mark (00:36:53) - Did the rocketship park make it on your list? Do you know what I'm talking about?

Tara Smith (00:36:56) - I do know what you're talking about.

Mark (00:36:58) - The one in Maplewood.

Tara Smith (00:36:59) - It's definitely an honorable mention.

Mark (00:37:02) - See there. Okay.

Tara Smith (00:37:03) - Wow, I like that. I do have that playground a lot.

Mark (00:37:06) - So they redid it. They had to redo it, I think.

Tara Smith (00:37:09) - Yeah, I think the old the old way that it was built was a little dangerous. And that's the air. It was really high. That's the liability issue that you're talking about there. I know there's the park out in Manchester that's being redone as well because it was just became a liability issue for sure.

Mark (00:37:29) - They built this.

Tara Smith (00:37:30) - I know, but we survived, right. We survived childhood on those equipment. I don't know how.

Mark (00:37:37) - We used to have a bicycle ramp in my backyard, you know, no helmet.

Arnold (00:37:41) - No pads.

Mark (00:37:42) - Underneath. No. We just hit that ramp and see how high we could go in our in our bikes. Yeah.

Tara Smith (00:37:46) - It's like there's also a lot of great hikes and hiking is free. There's our state parks are free. There's just a lot of nature preserves that are free to hike in. And so just exploring those places, it's there's just so many things that you can do with your kids that don't have a cost.

Mark (00:38:06) - So, Tara, I might be overwhelmed a little bit. I'll look at the booking. Oh, there's so many different things to do. Just picking where to start. Well, that might be a tough task.

Tara Smith (00:38:16) - It could be you can cross things off. I think my husband. So my husband had the idea once we were done, like finished with the book. He said that and I say we because this was very much a family effort. My kids, my husband, they had to go to a lot of these places, obviously with me. So this was a year long labor of love.

Mark (00:38:37) - So we're going to see this place now. Yeah, we're getting out.

Tara Smith (00:38:39) - On this hike now and you're gonna like it.

Mark (00:38:42) - You know.

Tara Smith (00:38:44) - And but we made it fun. We did. So ultimately though, my husband was like, once the book is released, we need to go through and a checklist and we're just going to go through and just check off as we do go to each place. Yeah. Again. And just check it off and just go down the line. And it might take us a long time to get hit all the places in the book, but goal is to revisit everything.

Mark (00:39:11) - I'll revisit. Okay, that'd be great. I think that's a good idea. And check them off, get the book and check them off as you go.

Tara Smith (00:39:16) - Yeah, and so families can do that. Get the book, take a highlighter, check it off as you go. Make your make a bucket list. And the book is.

Arnold (00:39:23) - Available at Reading Press. It's also available on Amazon. It's also available on your blog site.

Tara Smith (00:39:28) - It is at scene dandy.com. If you're local, I'm happy to deliver a signed copy.

Tara Smith (00:39:34) - Even I have some. I do have some book signings come up. Coming up. It's also at Barnes and Noble at All the Local here, and it's Barnes and Noble online, but also in the local Barnes and Noble stores around the area. Saint Peter's reached out to me. Their store is having me come in, on May 11th. And so they reached out. So I know that it's in Barnes and Noble, it's in Barnes and Noble and Ledoux, all the different locations. It's also in just your smaller bookstores that are local to us. And these are impressive bookstores. I included best bookstores in the book as well.

Arnold (00:40:12) - And one thing I like about it is really it could fit in your pocket, in your back pocket. It's a smaller book, it's a paperback. It's I'm going to guess that's six by nine and you're here your book signings Saturday, April 20th at Main Street Books. And folks, you need to check these out with the companies to make sure times don't change. That's 1 to 3 p.m. Main Street Books in Saint Charles.

Arnold (00:40:34) - Another book signing at Happy Up Ink on Maryland in Clayton, a book signing June the 1st at the landing hub in Pacific, Missouri, and a presentation and book signing at Betty's Books in Webster Groves. That's Saturday, June 8th. So you got April 20th, Main Street Books, May 4th at Happy Up. June 1st at the landing hub, May 11th out at Barnes and Noble, and June the 8th at Betty's Books.

Tara Smith (00:41:02) - Yeah. And this weekend. On this Saturday I will be at the novel neighbor on April, Webster Groves April 13th at 1030. And all of the book signings I didn't want to do, like a traditional book signing. I wanted to do like an event. So there will be a craft there for kids to do. Betty's books will be an educational, like where kids can come and learn about Dungeons and Dragons, because that's something that she does in her in her bookstore. She's the comic book store and graphic novels, and she has little gaming activities of Dungeons and Dragons. And I'm also going to be on the Women's Exchange in like Ledoux area and Clayton.

Tara Smith (00:41:47) - They are going to have me in for an event. It's like a royalty party where kids can sign up and with their moms, and to come and have it there, that's going to be on June 2nd in the morning. And so I just really expanded it from just your traditional book signings because people might not. My signature is not that awesome. So honestly, come for fun and have a have a fun event, heart and soul. And Ledoux is going to do a mother's day mingle. And that's going to be late afternoon on May 11th, and that's open to the public to come to and just explore the store, have some eats there and just have a good time. Now, do.

Mark (00:42:29) - You just sign and talk to folks, or do you have a little presentation you give and stand up in front of the.

Mark (00:42:35) - Crowd?

Tara Smith (00:42:36) - Yeah, at Kirkwood Library. I'm going to be doing one there for later in the summer. and I'll talk a little bit about the book, probably like a similar setup that I'm doing here with you today.

Tara Smith (00:42:50) - but also they're going to have a craft in another room for kids to do as well. They're at the library. So I was very I just I'm that type of a person from being a blogger and doing crafts with my kids. I didn't want to just sit behind a table and sign books. Yeah, because again, my signature is not that fancy, not a check. Yeah. So come and and just enjoy the day with your kids and maybe stop by one of the places mentioned to grab an ice cream treat or something after. And so come do a craft. Get the book. I'll sign it if you want me to. But but yeah.

Arnold (00:43:31) - All right. I have two things here. One is I want to let you know, folks, again, her blog site is seeing dandy, seeing dandy.com seen dandy.com. And you can check on the chocolate depression cake. It's not like you're depressed and you have to eat chocolate. It's a cake that was made during the depression time, but you can check that out.

Arnold (00:43:55) - I'm depressed. I got to eat chocolate cake. big question here. Do it.

Mark (00:43:58) - Every week.

Arnold (00:43:59) - Is, maybe there are some single moms. Single dads struggling. What do you tell them? Wanting to know? Like, gosh, I got to do stuff with my kids. I'm working. We're all worn out. Give them some encouragement.

Tara Smith (00:44:18) - When you're doing a great job because you are, you're doing it. You're making it work and your kids love you. And if it's tucking them in at night or reading them a book before you go to bed, they're going to remember that. They're going to probably remember that over taking them to honestly, to all the places in the book. These are fun places. But the things that you're going to do with your kids, like just one on one time with them, that's going to be the most important. Showing up occasionally for school things that they have. It doesn't have to be everything. Even as a stay at home mom, I have four kids.

Tara Smith (00:44:58) - I can't be at everything, and my kids understand that. But if I'm able to make it to one school party that they have, like one party that they have like an a spring party or a fall party or something during the school day, like just one in their elementary years. They remember that. So it doesn't have to be every school party. There are some moms that can make that work and others can't. And I'm I for one can't. And but if you can swing that just to be there for one in that school career of elementary school, they're going to love that. And just being there to listen to them and things like that, and reading those books to a kid, that's a big deal. And it doesn't have to be at nighttime before bed. It's because maybe you're working and aren't there at bedtime, and that's okay too. If you can do it another time, it could be an. You know, a morning book or things like that. Something before school. While the places are fun to do, there's a lot of free places that you can work around your schedule.

Tara Smith (00:46:06) - And but just being there for them, and I know that the parents are like, even if they're struggling, they are there for their kids, and their kids know that. And their kids love them, and their kids know that, that they are loved.

Arnold (00:46:20) - Great advice. Oh yeah. The book is called Best Mom Saint Louis. And that's all you moms out there in Saint Louis. You're the best mom in Saint Louis by Tara Smith Tara, thanks for coming on Saint Louis In Tune.

Tara Smith (00:46:32) - Thank you. Thanks so much for having me. This been fun.

Arnold (00:46:34) - It has been it.

Mark (00:46:35) - Has been a lot of fun. Thank you Tara, thanks.

Arnold (00:46:38) - It has not been our word of the day.

Mark (00:46:41) - Oh, here we go.

Arnold (00:46:43) - Our word of the day is fatuous, fat, U.O.U.S. fatuous. It's describing something such as an idea or remark. To say that it is foolish or silly rather than sensible or logical. We had a very logical and sensible conversation. It wasn't fatuous, it wasn't silly or foolish.

Mark (00:47:06) - It wasn't.

Arnold (00:47:10) - I just want to clarify that.

Mark (00:47:12) - Okay. Sorry.

Arnold (00:47:14) - Sometimes Mark and I act in a fatuous manner.

Mark (00:47:18) - Yes we do.

Mark (00:47:21) - Well, don't ask me to put that in a sentence.

Mark (00:47:23) - I can't do it. How about.

Arnold (00:47:25) - That one? Was that.

Mark (00:47:26) - That's a tough one.

Mark (00:47:27) - Okay. That's a good one, though.

Arnold (00:47:28) - Yeah. You have some. You announced a hour.

Mark (00:47:32) - Oh I do, yeah. Let me see if I can. Yeah. Give me a moment I know I computers or something aren't they. Here we go. International Lawyers Day is one thing that it is. Let's see. There's not much going on today there. Maybe tomorrow there is. Let's see. National Chinese almond cookie day, National chicken little awareness day.

Mark (00:47:54) - Chicken little. Yeah.

Mark (00:47:55) - Remember chicken little yes I do okay. National chicken little awareness. yeah. It's pretty thin here. gin and tonic day. If you are a drinker, I don't know if you are. Let's see. National mature women's day.

Mark (00:48:10) - There you go. Oh, National unicorn day. I never got the whole unicorn thing. Tears looking at me like.

Tara Smith (00:48:19) - I used to collect unicorn.

Mark (00:48:20) - Did you really?

Arnold (00:48:22) - Porcelain like My Little Pony or.

Tara Smith (00:48:24) - Something like that? These were like, every trip we'd go on.

Mark (00:48:27) - That was your.

Tara Smith (00:48:27) - I would get.

Arnold (00:48:28) - Up looking for the unicorn, a.

Tara Smith (00:48:30) - Porcelain unicorn. I have boxes of them.

Mark (00:48:32) - I was going to say. Do you still have them?

Tara Smith (00:48:34) - Yeah. My mom and dad kept everything okay, and they made sure to give it to me. Pass it on.

Mark (00:48:40) - Wow. National sibling day. Yeah, yeah. Don't forget the siblings. You have four or your siblings have I? Never mind about it. Yeah, right. golfer's day. Anybody play golf here?

Arnold (00:48:51) - Yes. Do you? It's been a while, though.

Mark (00:48:53) - Is that right idea for some.

Arnold (00:48:55) - People, that's every.

Mark (00:48:56) - Day, international safety pin day. Did you know safety pin? Yes. See, you would have missed that.

Mark (00:49:02) - Oh, my gosh.

Arnold (00:49:03) - I haven't seen a safety pin in a long time.

Mark (00:49:06) - National bookmobile day. Did you ever go to the bookmobile?

Mark (00:49:10) - Yes.

Tara Smith (00:49:11) - I didn't know I had a day that I.

Mark (00:49:13) - That we didn't either. We have.

Arnold (00:49:15) - Something. The government tapped.

Mark (00:49:16) - Into something here. That's great. Yeah. Cinnamon crest day. This is your Congress at work.

Tara Smith (00:49:24) - What a day.

Mark (00:49:25) - Approving these things. Yeah. National Tamara Day, believe it or not, the name Tamara has an interesting history. They say National youth, HIV and Aids Awareness day, salvation Army founder's day always believed in the Salvation Army. They do lots of good work. I know I only have maybe just a couple of more here and I can't believe that there are. National Pet Day is coming up in a couple of days. If you have a pet, you should appreciate your pet a little bit. Dog Therapy Appreciation day. Have you ever had a dog that needed therapy?

Arnold (00:50:04) - No. Had one that needed Xanax.

Mark (00:50:07) - And we'll close on this one.

Mark (00:50:09) - National Cheese Fondue Day. Ooh, that's good stuff. That would be something to celebrate. Yeah. So take a National cheese fondue Day with some little smokies. Sounds delicious to me.

Arnold (00:50:21) - All right, so I got pulled over by the police today, I was apparently his first speeder, because when he got to my window, he said, I've been waiting all day for you. I said, oh, I got here as fast as I could, and he let me go. Wow. Here's an English lesson tsunami. The T is silent, honest. H is silent. Psychology. P is silent knife, K is silent wife. Husband is silent. That's a.

Mark (00:50:49) - Right. Good. That's good.

Arnold (00:50:52) - Jellyfish have survived 650. Million years despite not having a brain. This gives so many people hope.

Mark (00:51:00) - Yes it does.

Arnold (00:51:03) - Now, do you have the Twilight Zone music?

Mark (00:51:07) - Yeah, we do somewhat, yeah. No, not that one. How about this one?

Arnold (00:51:11) - One of these.

Mark (00:51:14) - Nope, that's not it.

Mark (00:51:16) - This is the only twice. I'm used to that. D d d.

Mark (00:51:22) - D d d. Yeah. Okay.

Arnold (00:51:24) - We'll do that one.

Mark (00:51:25) - We'll do that one.

Arnold (00:51:26) - Okay. Imagine, if you will, a world in which YouTube, Twitter and Facebook merged to become known as you Twit face.

Mark (00:51:36) - Gosh.

Mark (00:51:39) - Okay, we'll give it to them.

Arnold (00:51:41) - While Facebook was down, I managed to meet my family. They are actually quite nice people.

Mark (00:51:48) - Wow.

Tara Smith (00:51:49) - We talked about.

Mark (00:51:50) - That. Yes we did, yes we did.

Arnold (00:51:52) - I just replace my litter box with a Fedex box. Now when it's full, I just tape it shut and put it on my porch for someone to steal.

Mark (00:52:01) - Gosh.

Arnold (00:52:03) - Breaking news. The earth revolves around the sun. This may upset a few people who think it revolves around them. Yeah.

Mark (00:52:12) - I know those people.

Arnold (00:52:13) - The guy at the furniture store told me the sofa would seat five people without any problems. Then it occurred to me, I don't think I know five people without any problems.

Mark (00:52:23) - Hawk, watch out for that hawk swooping down for you right now.

Arnold (00:52:29) - Remember when you could lay in one position for hours? Now you have to rotate like a rotisserie chicken every 15 minutes or your hip hurts.

Audience MC (00:52:37) - I found it. That's what you were like.

Arnold (00:52:41) - And lastly.

Mark (00:52:42) - There's the yeah, I know, I.

Arnold (00:52:44) - Remember when you're dead.

Mark (00:52:47) - No, I.

Mark (00:52:47) - Remember when.

Mark (00:52:48) - You're dead. Oh, let me back up.

Arnold (00:52:50) - Remember.

Mark (00:52:50) - Yeah.

Arnold (00:52:51) - When you're dead, you do not know you're dead. It is only painful for others. The same applies when you are stupid. Let's take.

Mark (00:53:00) - A bow. You should take.

Mark (00:53:03) - A bow.

Arnold (00:53:05) - And let's.

Mark (00:53:06) - See. Oh, he's.

Mark (00:53:07) - Looking for more.

Mark (00:53:08) - That's everybody. Last one here. He's got.

Mark (00:53:11) - Them all.

Mark (00:53:15) - Okay.

Arnold (00:53:16) - Cashier says your total is $18.53. I give the cashier $20.53. Cashier gives me a blank stare for 45 seconds and is stuck. Just give me $5 back. Cashier says that's what I thought it was. It just had to make sure.

Arnold (00:53:31) - Here you go.

Mark (00:53:34) - I say I okay. Wow, that was almost painful to tell you.

Arnold (00:53:46) - I'm numb.

Mark (00:53:47) - Please, please don't pop those.

Audience (00:53:48) - Buttons until an answer is exposed.

Mark (00:53:50) - Okay? Oh. So sorry. Yeah, that's right.

Arnold (00:53:53) - Folks, that's all for this hour. And we thank you for listening. If you've enjoyed this episode, you can listen to additional shows at stlintune.com, that's stlintune.com. Please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcast, Pod Chaser or your preferred podcast platform. Your feedback helps us reach more listeners and continue to grow. Thanks to Bob Birtwistle for our theme music and cohost Mark Langston, and we thank you for being a part of our community of curious minds. Saint Louis and Tune is a production of Motif Media Group and the US Radio Network. Remember to keep seeking, keep learning, walk worthy and let your light shine for Saint Louis In Tune I'm Arnold Stricker.