Every Thursday night the Boathouse in Forest Park has what they call the Moonlight Paddleboat Picnic for Two. For a not-too-bad price you get a boat, bottle of wine and a picnic basket full of goodies (Yogi Bear would have said ‘pick-a-nick basket’). Tonight there was also guitar music and singing (it was good, too).

All of this is, of course, adding fuel to the fires of love. Forest Park is already the most romantic place in the USA and lovers are practically tripping over each other to sit on the grass, sip a bit of beverage and smooch (there’s a lot of question-popping and ring-giving going on there as a result).  The sun set slowly behind Art Hill, tinting the western clouds with shades of mango and raspberry and warming the mood of the couples spread out over the grassy slope running down to the basin and in the paddleboats sprinkled over the lake’s surface. It was there on the sloping lawn that I met Carrie & Jason as they were celebrating their recent (very) engagement. They asked me to take a photo and I took two. You can see them (and others as well) here.