...progressive dinner...

Andy and I celebrated our fourth anniversary with a progressive dinner around the Central West End last night.

A sweet person walked right up
to us and asked if she could take our
picture. We were so grateful!

The CWE is a trendy suburban St. Louis neighborhood with several great eateries within walking distance. We did have to fight some heavy traffic on the way, but once we arrived we found a meter-less parking spot and walked toward our first destination for drinks: Sub Zero Vodka Bar.

Blueberries, vodka
and champagne

The Sub Zero Vodka Bar boasts over 750 vodkas from around the world and a huge array of other drinks. Vodka is really the only hard liquor that Andy will drink, and I prefer my alcohol to taste like fruit punch, so we were both able to find something to make us happy. Our waitress was so fantastic that we even got an order of sweet potato fries (BEST EVER!) and chatted about our lives thus far before heading out for appetizers at Bar Louie.

Sliders - yum!

The patio at Bar Louie was packed, but the dining area was a ghost town during that happy hour. Our waiter didn't really seem to care that we were there, but the bacon cheeseburger sliders were delicious! We got out of there pretty quickly and walked over to the Tenderloin Room in the Chase Park Plaza.

An unexpected cheesecake

The Tenderloin Room is an elegant restaurant that has been around since the fifties. Our waiter, Todd, was magnificent and encouraged us to try the pepperloin a la tenderloin which was just amazing! I thought the side potatoes were delicious and Andy said the green beans were the best he'd ever eaten. I couldn't even eat all of dinner so Andy had to help me. When we were finished, Todd brought out a slice of key lime cheesecake to celebrate our anniversary.

It's the little details that make all the difference.

World's Largest Chess Piece

We were so stuffed and exhausted that we didn't make it to dessert at Bissingers. So we walked back to our car and headed home listening to selections from Ella Fitzgerald and Muse as we drove.

This was a really fun activity! I would encourage you to give it a try in your own area. We loved walking around and seeing the people and sites. I think will try it again, maybe with some friends next time. Next time we'll allot more time at each place. An hour wasn't enough.

If you do this, I'd love to hear about it!