STL DPB IN PARADISE - LATE AFTERNOON IN MONTEVERDE

Monteverde, Costa Rica, lies just on the Pacific side of Costa Rica's central mountain range. With the elevation and moist winds from both the ocean and the Caribbean, it's never too hot, never too cold, and there is a permanent mister blowing through the forest. The biodiversity is stunning. For the third time in ten years, we are staying at the Hidden Canopy Treehouses, https://www.hiddencanopy.com/p/user/home.php, perhaps the most wonderful place we have ever laid our heads. Your suite is literally a treehouse built into the canopy and hillside. As sunset approaches, guests gather in the main building for a glass of wine and this.      

STL DPB IN THE AIR - A BAD PICTURE OF COSTA RICA'S GOLD COAST

When we fly from the U.S. to Liberia, Costa Rica, in the northwest of the country, we always ask for seats on the left side. If the weather is clear - which it certainly was not yesterday - I can get some good shots of the two big volcanoes in Lake Nicaragua (which is itself pretty big - look it up). The air got a little better as we came over the northwest of Costa Rica.

We are in Monteverde in the central highlands, an area known as the cloud forest. It never gets hot or cold but has constant moist winds. The animals. birds and flowers are beyond what we can imagine in the U.S.            

ART IN BLOOM

Art In Bloom is an annual event at the St. Louis Art Museum. The most talented floral arrangers are invited to create something that responds to a work in the collection. There was a lot of it and I have not edited much. 

We spent last night at the Miami airport and will be in Costa Rica this afternoon.           

 

There is an annual event at the St. Louis Art Museum called Art In Bloom. The most talented floral arrangers in the region are invited to sculpt petals and stems to resonate with one of the works in the galleries. There was a members-only preview Saturday evening. It gets so crowded during general opening hours that, for a photographer, it's not worth the effort. However, one room had an assortment of artificial flowers. a scanner and a projector that blew fractals of the plants' fractals onto the wall.

If the gods of the air permit, we'll be in Miami tonight and on to Costa Rica tomorrow. First stop is Monteverde in the cloud forest of the central highlands. The flowers are more gorgeous, intense and even livid than what we could imagine here. And then there are the birds.            

JUST WHAT SPORTS FANS NEED

As with any American pro sports venue, the new CityPark has plenty of places to get a drink. The local behemoth, Anheuser-Busch (actually Anheuser-Busch Inbev) is a major sponsor. The products of some of our excellent local breweries are on sale. As I walked around the stadium, I saw a wine and cocktail bar. You can get a buzz any way you want.     

Actually, there is another choice directly across the street. One of Missouri's newly licensed cannabis dispensaries is opening. Using that term for the business seems like a euphemism to me. Competitors that call themselves liquor stores are so much more candid and honest.