Meet me in St. Looey, Looey
St. Louis trip report:
Saturday, plane was filled with Cub fans. Metrolink train was filled with Cub fans. Hotel was filled with Cub fans. Busch Stadium was partially filled with Cub fans, including much of our section. The only obvious Cards fan in our vicinity was a very drunk, very red-faced man who periodically yelled weak insults at whoever was nearby, including a trio of little boys in blue hats who didn't seem quite sure how to respond. The vendors did a brisk business in snowcones and lemonade, and Cub fans seemed perfectly happy to shell out large amounts of money for souvenir Cardinals cups as long as there was something cold inside. It was *beastly* hot, somewhere in the 90s all weekend, and muggy, and despite big poofy clouds boiling up in the afternoons, no rain. Cubs lost the game but it was fun anyway. A Sosa homer, and an irate and injured Ramon Martinez having to be pulled off the first base umpire after a bad call, and a very good job by Clement made for a fun afternoon. The neon Coca Cola sign with the cardinals that fly around after a home-team home run is still there; that's the only thing I remembered from my first visit to Busch Stadium 25 or so years ago.

We saw one fight outside, but overall the rivalry was good-natured on both sides. Makes me never want to go to Soxpark again!

The Cubs were staying at the same hotel as us, so while we nibbled on toasted ravioli at dinner, we saw Ron Santo and Matt Clement headed for their rooms. We and all the other Cub fans nearby turned into the most embarrassing 13-year-old girls imaginable as we gaped and squealed at the people we had *just seen* a few hours earlier at the ballpark. I guess we just love the thought of the gods mingling with the mortals.

We attempted to visit the Arch, but after waiting a long time to get through security just to get inside the underground lobby, we learned we would have to wait about an hour and a half for the next tram. So, we wandered the Museum of Westward Expansion instead, got some exterior pics of the Arch, and headed back to the hotel pool.

Sunday, we had breakfast at a Union Station diner, then went to University City Loop, the trendy shopping and eating area near Washington University. Looked into some shops, ate at Tomatillo Grill, visited a very nice bike store, looked at the stars on the St. Louis Walk of Fame, and then returned to the airport to see if we could catch a standby flight. We were going to go to Forest Park and the zoo, but it was SO hot that it just didn't seem like a good option anymore.

Pictures
- posted by Diane @ 9:08 AM