What about some history and a getaway for Valentine’s Day instead of flowers and the usual? That’s what I’ll be doing with my sweetie. (And we’re even getting a deal on it!)

We’ll be starting with a fundraiser 5:30 – 9 p.m. on Feb. 15 in St. Louis for Missouri Preservation, a nonprofit that advocates and works toward historical preservation. It’s a day after the big heart holiday, but I don’t care. The tickets are $35 each and that will include drinks and snacks — and a chance to get inside the restored 1893 eye-popping building at 705 Olive St.

The Louis Sullivan designed building has undergone a $55 million renovation by Restoration St. Louis, according to this Sept. 22, 2018 St. Louis Post-Dispatch article.

Now it’s a Marriott Hotel Saint Louis, only four blocks from the Gateway Arch.

And we’re getting to stay in this $250-$300 a night hotel for $149 that night. Missouri Preservation has obtained a room block so you can sign up for the fundraiser, get a Valentine’s date event and a overnight-get-away history trip all rolled into one. (Yeah, that’s how I sold it to my husband.)

The building was referred to as “lavishly adorned” and “largely unchanged on the outside,” in this Jan. 8, 2016 article in NextStl.com. The article includes current and historic photographs including a view of the second story round windows.

We’ll be staying overnight and taking in the Gateway Museum, only four blocks away, which underwent a $176.4 million renovation, according to this July 1, 2018 St. Louis Post-Dispatch article.

Seriously, for Valentine’s Day, you can spend on a $100 bouquet for your beloved, eat out in a crowded noisy restaurant for another $50 — or you can stay overnight in St. Louis, contribute to an organization working toward saving our history and get away overnight for somewhat more money but a whole lot more fun. (At least for history nuts like me … )

And bonus! You can pat yourself on the back for a unique approach to the whole hearts and flowers holiday.

See you there.