12 in ’12: Date 8

The original plan for our September date was to go hiking at Castlewood Park, followed by a picnic. However, since we had a Friday evening available with a sitter, and we needed our Saturday to do yard work and other stuff like that, we opted to drop the picnic and just get the hike in, and go out for dinner somewhere afterwards, since it would be dark.

We’re flexible like that, especially since this date was originally supposed to be one of our spring dates that got lost in the shuffle when kids were sick and stuff.

We’ve hiked very little at this park, which is sad given that it’s practically out our back door, but we know which route is our favorite, so (for you locals) we headed for Lone Wolf and took the turn towards the River Scene trail near the stairs. It’s a beautiful place, especially near dusk, but I have to admit, my active imagination gets the best of me.

Matt was lucky enough to hear my ramblings about how creepy parts of the hike are…it feels like a chase scene in a horror movie could take place on the trail along the riverbank*. The trail is cut through tall trees, and to your right is the Meramec River, and to your left is a railroad line. Spooky.

I am, however, fascinated by the history of the park, which used to be a resort area filled with cabins and speakeasies and clubs. You can read a little about that here.

While nearing the end of our hike, we came to an open field with 8 deer grazing, and while they stopped when they sensed us, they kept right on eating as we walked nearby. Altogether, we spotted 27 deer in the park that night!

view 1 from the bluffs

on the bluff…matt has seeds in his cheek, for the record.

view 2 from the bluff

the end of our hike, in the big open field, right at sunset. look closely and you can spot the deer we saw when leaving the woods!

We finished our date with a pizza dinner on the little patio at JJ Twigs, one of our favorites.

*Which reminds me…I have no idea why Bennett is freaked out about being alone on any level of our house, or worrying about bad guys/monsters under his bed. Where could that even be coming from?