The Community of St. Paul, MO.

When my parents first told me, at the end of last summer, that they were moving to St. Paul, I looked at them curiously and asked, "Minnesota?". Turns out, there's a St. Paul in Missouri, which is a small community in the northern part of O'Fallon, a city of St. Charles county so it's still pretty close to the other homes that I grew up in.

I really enjoy walking around this area, even if it's the kind of neighborhood that doesn't have a lot of sidewalks, but I can enjoy walking through the grass instead. It's been so great getting to know this place during my short time thus far. I want to share with y'all some of the great things about my new home area, especially with those of you who do not live close by.

The city shares its name with the local Catholic Church, which is pretty much the hub of the community and luckily a short walk from my family's home. While the church may not be very large, the pews get pretty full for every Mass and there is a perpetual adoration chapel in the building so that folks have a close place to quietly pray. When driving around St. Paul, you can see the steeple from far off distance.

It looks even cooler at night with the light shining on it.

The Knights of Columbus have their hall just down the road from the church and it hosts many activities.

Though the chief activity here is Bingo, naturally.

There are soccer fields, baseball fields, and picnic grounds all right around the church as well, giving the local youth places to play and giving family members of all ages a place to enjoy spending time outside together. Surprisingly the church and its community is big enough to have its own school, which always makes for interesting Daily Mass whenever the kids file in.

One of the highlights of my walks or drives around St. Paul is that I spot many statues of  the Blessed Virgin Mary outside of the homes around here. It's pretty inspiring seeing so many images of Mary, along with other statues of angels and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I think it helps to connect the community here by gathering them together not just as a neighborhood where people live but also as a faith-based community.

The close-by church and church-oriented community are not the only features of St. Paul's.

Cady-corner from my house is the local tavern, the Dog Prairie Tavern, known for their fish fridays and sand volleyball.

What "The Dog" looks like when business is slow on Mondays

There's also a small automotive repair shop across from the tavern, which is pretty reassuring having a car shop so close to the house. The city hall is almost more like a room in the same building as the local fire department, though thankfully we rarely see or hear fire trucks coming in and out of the place.

We also have what I like to call a local "Boo Radley house". It's an old, small brick house that's been abandoned, with a decrepit barn in the backyard, a fenced front porch, and a sign saying "No Trespassing", all of which makes it both creepy and cool to walk by every time.

It's just about a five minute drive down some small rural roads to the closest gas station and library. In my opinion, the only thing missing from the community is a grocery store and perhaps a fast food restaurant or two, although it really does not take long to get to either type of establishment.

Hopefully this post has given you some idea about the size of the community. It's not too big, but that's part of the charm. It's much quieter out here than in most other parts of the county. These are all things that I have found to appreciate in my new community.