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Vacation at home : Day 5 Print E-mail
By Donna Korando, Beacon Staff   
Last Updated ( Monday, 18 August 2008 )

Up on West Florissant Avenue lies a major part of St. Louis history: Bellefontaine and Calvary cemeteries

The Busch Tomb

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Photos by Rachel Heidenry | The Beacon

What does "Veni, Vidi, Vici" mean? How does that relate to Adolpus Busch?

 Before you go: Adult or family outing, do a little homework. These cemeteries were part of a movement to make the resting places of the dead beautiful and restful. The Catholic hierarchy who planned Calvary and the business leaders who brought in landscape architect Almerin Hotchkiss for Bellefontaine wanted families to come, enjoy and relax. Although the literature for Bellefontaine says no picnics are allowed, parts of the cemeteries look perfect for an old quilt and a wicker basket filled with a bottle of chilled wine and finger sandwiches.

If this is a family outing, the parents might want to run out to the cemeteries ahead of time, get maps and plan things children can find and learn from.

The office at Bellefontaine (314-381-0750) is open from 8-4, Monday-Friday (check on weekends); at Calvary (314-381-1313) the office is open from 8:30-4:30 Monday through Friday and 8:30-1:30 on Saturday. Note: The cemeteries are open from 8-5.

Who are some of the people buried there?

At Bellefontaine: Thomas Hart Benton, Susan Blow, William S. Burroughs, Adolphus Busch, William Clark, Phoebe Wilson Couzins, James Eads, Irma Rombauer, Sterling Price, and Charlotte Dickson Wainwright.

The last is a reminder that you aren't just looking for famous names, you're looking at architecture, sometimes grand architectural, on a smaller scale.

Read the inscriptions. What does Veni, Vidi, Vici mean and where can you find it?

At Calvary: Antoine Soulard, the Viviano family, Dr. Thomas A. Dooley III, Tennessee Williams, William Tecumseh Sherman, Dred Scott, Speaking Eagle, Rene Auguste Chouteau, Kate Chopin and Mary Odelia Berger.

How did the graves of the city fathers end up here?

As the city grew, the original downtown cemeteries were overtaken by development. Gradually the bodies in the old burial grounds were reinterred in Calvary. The last of those happened in 1950 as the cemetery by the Old Cathedral was vacated for the Arch.

The land of the dead is also a land that preserves old life - 25 acres of native tallgrass prairie have been found and preserved amid the 477-acre site.

How much time will you spend here? As much as you want.

Lunch break

Crown Candy

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Photo by Rachel Heidenry | The Beacon

Beware: Lunch is crowded. Service, however, is fast.

If you do not picnic by one of the lakes, you might want a total change of pace and head down to St. Louis Avenue and the delights of Crown Candy (founded in 1913).

Look at it this way: You've walked through the rolling hills of magnificent cemeteries, you can afford the calories. So, go ahead, get that BLT. A chocolate malt? Why not? And check out the candy counters before you leave.

Now what to do for the afternoon? If you only saw one cemetery in the morning, the other awaits. Or go west on St. Louis Avenue and learn more history - serious, shocking history as well as fun history.

Black World History Museum

The Black World History (Wax) Museum (2505 St. Louis Avenue, 314-241-7057 ) is a gem. Its exhibits include

  • A cutaway of a section of a ship of the type that brought African slaves to America.
  • A display of artifacts from archaeological excavations at a slave's cabin near Jonesboro, Mo.
  • And now, for a while, vintage movie posters from a time when movies, too, were segregated.

The museum is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. For a modest admission - $5, adults; $4, youth 13-17; $3.50, seniors 60 and older; $2.50, children 12 and under - people will find a wealth of information.

As for dinner, you lunched at a historic diner (carefully restored after a fire in 1983), so you can continue the old-time theme and head to city neighborhoods that have become magnets for foodies: Benton Park, Soulard, South Grand, Lafayette Square or the West End.

Check out other Vacation at Home stories : Day 1, Cahokia Mounds and hidden treasures at the art museum ; Day 2: St. Charles Old Town and out to the wine country. ; Days 3 & 4: A collegiate guide to the area.

Contact Beacon features and commentary editor Donna Korando.

 Coming up: Enjoy the fall -- parks and nearby destinations. Send us your ideas. 

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Editors' Picks

  • Books

    • The demise of the book is greatly exaggerated. The phone book, dictionaries and encyclopedia are over. But life will go on for beautiful printing that provides words that transform. | James Gleick, New York Times

    • "To Kill a Mockingbird" is the selection for the upcoming St. Louis Big Read, which is organized by Washington University. Dozens of events, including a staging of the play at the Edison Theater, will take place throughout January and February 2009.

    • Author Michael Crichton dies at age 66: The creator of "Jurassic Park" and "Andromeda Strain" had been battling cancer, his family said. | New York Times

    • Roger Ebert: To Studs: With Love and Memories. | The Huffington Post

  • Theater/Dance

    • Ballet Eclectica’s “The Little Dancer Goes Around the World!” will be presented by the COCA Family Theatre Series for four shows at 7 p.m. Dec. 12, 11 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Dec. 13, and 1:30 Dec. 14 AT COCA, 524 Trinity Avenue. Tickets are $14 and $18 and are available through MetroTix and COCA Box Office (314-725-1834 x124).

    • Come to the Union Avenue Christian Church, 733 Union Avenue, from noon to 1 p.m. Dec. 10 as students from nine St. Louis Public Schools perform international dances. The program is sponsored by Springboard to Learning & Young Audiences of St. Louis.

    • The New Jewish Theater presents "The Last Seder" Dec. 3-21. Four daughters, each with a respective partner, have gathered to say goodbye to a loved who is already gone - patriarch Marvin who suffers from Alzheimer’s.

    • "9 Parts of Desire" opens Nov. 7 at the St. Louis Actors' Studio. The play runs through Nov. 23 (Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. Sundays at 2 p.m.) at The Gaslight Theater 358 N. Boyle Ave. For tickets, Ticketmaster.com or 314-421-4400.

  • Music

    • Come to the Touhill Center at UMSL from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Dec. 3 for the third  “Warren Bellis Clarinet and Saxophone Festival,” a  series of clinics and performances. For info: 314-516-2263.

    • Jason Braun's project - Jason and the Beast - mixes hip hop with retelling classics from Homer to Shakespeare. Check out the work in an all-ages show at 8 p.m. Dec. 17 at the Focal Point in Mapelwood. $5 at the door.

    • The UMSL Community Chorus, University Singers, University Orchestra and Vocal Point will put on a holiday concert at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 9 at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center. For information about the free concert call 314-516-5980 or go to www.umsl.edu/~umslmusic/ The concert will include "Christmas Oratorio," "Carol of the Bells," traditional carols, Trumpet Concerto by Felix Mendelssohn and "O Magnum Mysterium."                         

    • UMSL will present "Soul of the Season with Brian Owens and faculty and students from the Department of Music at UMSL at 7 p.m. Dec. 11 at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $5. For information, call 314-516-4949.  Proceeds will benefit the Office of Multicultural Relations at UMSL.

 
  • Neighborhoods

    • "Gorillas in Her Midst" is the topic of a lecture by Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka,  African conservationist, at the St. Louis Zoo on Dec. 9. Doors will open at the Living World building at 6:30 p.m., with the lecture starting at 7 p.m.  Reservations are encouraged 314-646-4771.

    • Alice S. Handelman, president of The Press Club of Metropolitan St. Louis,has been honored as a 25 year member of National Federation of Press Women.The recognition was presented in Idaho Falls, Idaho, at the annual nationalcommunications conference of NFPW. Handelman was community relations director at Jewish Center for Aged for 18 years.

    • Come to the Missouri Botanical Garden from 9 am. to 5 p,m. the Best of Missouri Market where you can find more than 120 artisans from throughout the state.

    • Come to the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House from 5:30-7 P.m. on Oct. 3 and 10 for OctoberOwl Outings. Reservations, which are required, can be made online or at 636-733-2339. The "owls" are owl butterflies, which get their name from the underside of their wings, which resemble a bright yellow owl eye surrounded by rich, chocolate-colored feathers. These creatures are also most active in the evening.

  • Visual Arts

    • Come to COCA, 524 Trinity Ave., from 6-8 p.m. Dec. 5 for the opening reception for Jill Evans Petzall: In-Different Light. The free exhibit continues through Jan. 18, 2009. For information, 314-725-6555.

    • Mark Douglas, Bob Reuter and Antje Umstaetter have their photography on view at the Gallery at the Regional Arts Commission until Dec. 21. For info, visit www.art-stl.com

    • Get Out the Vote - an installation of 22 posters - is on view now through 2008 in the Arthur and Helen Baer Visual Arts Galleries in the Centene Center for Arts and Education, 3547 Olive Street in Grand Center. The galleries are open Monday-Friday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

    • Too often elitism is linked with being snobbish and condescending when in fact for many people it is a commitment to quality in various, if not all parts, of our lives. The Atlantic reports on the affecting elitism of Phillippe de Montebello , soon to retire as director of one of the world's greatest museums, the Metropolitan in New York City.

  • Movies/TV

    • Project Runway: Bravo won't accept Heidi's "auf wiedersehen."   The Weinstein Co. sold the rights to the series to Lifetime, but NBC Universal sued, saying it had a right of first refusal (Bravo is owned by NBC.) A judge has issued a preliminary injunction preventing Lifetime from promoting or broadcasting "Runway." | The New York Times

    • "City of Lost Children"  La Cité des enfants perdus  plays at 8 p.m. Dec. 3 at Schlafly Bottleworks, 7260 Southwest Avenue, Maplewood, as part of the Webster Film Series. $4.

    • Eating St. Louis, hour-long program based on the book of the same title by Patricia Corrigan, will be broadcast at 7 p.m. Dec. 1 on KETC/Channel 9 . The show explores five aspects of food culture in the area, from farming to how St. Louisans like pizza prepared.

    • Co-writer of movie "Meet Me in St. Louis" dies at age 94: Irving Brecher was nominated for an Oscar for his work on the 1944 Judy Garland film. | Los Angeles Times

Firecracker Press

To read the story about the upcoming Community Cinema showing of "Helvetica," which will include a demonstration by Eric Woods and Matty Kleinberg of the Firecracker Press, click here . 

Voices

  • Cartoons for Nov. 30, 2008
    Editorial Cartoons

    ramsey100grinch.jpg

    Shopping and bailouts and Christmas wishes - it's all economy all the time. Check out the work of Marshall Ramsey, John Sherffius, Bruce Beattie and Gary Markstein.

  • The newness has worn off negative campaign ads, but they are unlikely to end
    In the News

    cbritt100negative.jpg

    Posted 12:10 p.m. Mon. Dec. 1 - The circumstances in this presidential election made it extremely difficult for any Republican to win. But political scientist Lana Stein points out that bashing opponents is becoming old had and people may well start to turn off or tune out those ads. (Illustration from a cartoon by Chris Britt.)

  • Food for all: a tough order, but a noble goal
    In the News

    danforthlogo100.jpg

    At a time of economic problems and of thanksgiving, Dr. William H. Danforth looks with hope on the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and the National Institute for Food and Agriculture as vehicles that can bring about an evergreen agricultural revolution.

  • If this turkey hadn't been chicken, he 'cudda been a contenda'
    Beacon Columnists

    guns125nhoses.jpgPosted: 5 a.m. Wed. Nov. 26 - Columnist M.W. Guzy looks back on  the time the police department boxing coach asked him to join the team. Even though he declined, "reasoning that if training would minimize my chances of getting hit, staying out of the ring entirely should pretty much neutralize the threat," he still recommends supporting and attending the annual "Guns 'N Hoses" event, which supports the Backstoppers organization.

The Lens

  • SLIFF didn't whiff

    sliff100poster.jpg

    Looking back at the St. Louis International Film Festival, this committed movie watcher says the vast majority of offerings were well done.

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