Dave and I ventured to STL for the wedding of a friend this past weekend. I have not been back since 2006; Dave recalls a couple of business trips between 2007 and 2009. So enough water has passed under the bridges at 64/40... and 70... and 55/44... and 364... to make a return trip.
What did we do? After a clever Chicago construction detour (CCCD!?), and an amusing romp through an Illinois Route 66 truck stop (rhinestone belts! glass figurines! shot glasses!), we arrived in St. Louis at about 4:30. We freshened up and met old friends Chris and Tracy for a four-star meal at Annie Gunn's. We were greeted with tiny champagnes then a decadent meal that lives up to the reputation.
Early the next morning, I was on the ice at 7:30 for lessons with Mandy and Kelly, old friends/coaches at the St. Peters Rec Plex. I was skating poorly due to injury, and it was bittersweet to be back where I spent lots of my free time. It was nice to see a few familiar faces, but I missed sharing the ice with my other adult skater friends, esp since Saturdays were when Joyce and I skated a couple hours together, sneaking off to grab a quick breakfast in between. Pam did come out to skate with me, which was awesome! I was invited to join the moves in the field class after freestyle.
Dave and I took off in pursuit of breakfast and a run through of O'Fallon. Lots of things changed, lots of things still remained the same. Relieved to see the berry fields on Mexico still exist, and La Chata is still thriving. Dismayed that I couldn't find Dr. Georgia's office and got turned around a little. Driving through the old neighborhood, I felt... nothing. For someone that gets nostalgic for a lunchbox I owned for 9 months in 1976, it's startling that I could care less for a place where I lived for 5 years. All I thought as we stared at the house is how lonely we were.
Curious to see all the new construction west of where we lived, we headed towards Dardene Prairie and Lake St. Louis. Oh holy crap, did everything change. Bonus: scored a pinstriped shirt dress for $2.47 at Old Navy. Drag: our favorite breakfast place, the Breakfast Nook, was a victim of the freeway construction or possibly the smoking ban in restaurants.
Revisiting O'Fallon, drove by the Rascals ballpark, the city center where I took fencing lessons, Lynch Hummer where Dave knew all the guys and did the off road excursions, and other points of interest.
We headed out for the Daniel Boone Home for Ana's wedding. Yeah, hated those roads then, hate them now but oh so worth it when we got there. The wedding was beautiful, Ana was a drop-dead gorgeous bride and it was so nice to hang out with the rest of the adult skaters.
With a 3 hour break in between the wedding and reception, we were starving and ready to score some favorites. Dave wanted Chik-Fil-A, and I wanted soup from Applegates. Score x2! Reception was at Maggiano's in the Maryland Heights area, absolutely delish. Sat at the VIP skaters table and attempted to speak Spanish to Ana's mom.
Next morning we were faced with the dilemma: do we stick around for another day in St. Louis, or do we pack up our crap, and head back home to our boy? The decision was to pack it up and see where the day took us. And the day took us to:
St. Charles to buy fireworks;
Creve Couer for Lion's Choice roast beef sandwiches;
Central West End for Steinburg Rink and the rest of Forest Park;
Down Lindell Blvd to tour my old haunts;
World's Fair Donuts for treats;
Tower Grove Park for PrideFest;
The graffiti wall for tagging with chalk;
Riverfront for the Mississippi River and the Arch;
and Busch Stadium for a game!
Busch was a treat, and we blatantly worked a deal with a scalper to get $66 tickets for $22.50, first base side, 10 rows from the field. I sat next to a Norm MacDonald sound-a-like who kept running commentary of the game's progress WHILE HE WAS EATING. After 3, Dave asked if I was ready to explore and I practically leaped down the row.
New Busch is fantastic, and a HUGE improvement over "old" Busch. We were stunned to experience a breeze, something you never felt in the sweaty bandbox before. The concourse was wide, appealing, interesting, with lots of food vending and MLB shops, and that was only the first level. The second level featured open-air Budweiser bar, a Fox Sports Midwest lounge, and the Championship VIP club. Third level was more regular concessions, but allowed you spectacular views and a great spot to do a little standing room only in the shade. I even got my mom voice goin', and snarled at some kid, preventing her from spitting on the spectators below.
You're welcome, St. Louis.
And as we left, the street musicians were out playing, and I tried to slip a buck in the sax player's hat, but I was carried away by the crowd. A few quick turns by the old capitol building, and we were on 55/44 on our way across the river and out of town. The time? Approximately 4:30, or exactly 48 hours.
No comments:
Post a Comment