Our family vacation of 2012 took us to the Gateway to the West: St. Louis. And, while we will remember the trip for its scorching weather, fire alarms and the best van ever, it also will be remembered as the time we took the boys on a road trip back to Daddy’s old stomping grounds.
Normally, we would fly such a long distance, but we decided to drive. After picking up our rental car, we quickly noticed the lingering cigarette smell. We returned it promptly and, lo and behold, about all they had left was a Town and Country van with leather captain seats and – BOOM! – a DVD player for the boys.
We knew it would be hard on the boys to drive straight through to St. Louis, so we decided to split the trip both ways. On the way down, we stayed in Bloomington, Indiana, home of our Big Ten brethren Hoosiers. We like to visit college towns during our travels, and often joke that we are taking the boys on their college visits about 12-15 years early. After settling into our hotel we took a brief tour of campus and even walked straight into Memorial Stadium. Quite beautiful, actually, but the real highlight came the next day.
On our way out of town, we decided to stop by fabled Assembly Hall to see if we could sneak in for a look around. Most of the doors were predictably bolted, but Aimee found an open door. She and Harmon crept down to the court and took a few photos before one of the facilities staff walked in. Busted? No way. He said, “I am going to make your day and turn the lights on.” For a good 20 minutes, we had the whole court to ourselves. The boys ran around and screamed, oblivious to the history below their feet.
Pulling our heads out of the clouds, we hit I-70 for a trip across Illinois to our destination. Upon checking into our hotel, I wanted to make sure we had the Arch view we had been promised. Our room was on the 14th floor and, upon flinging the drapes open, found the Arch staring us down. We could not have asked for a better room. There was still a lot of day left, so we took a trip to get some Pointer’s chicken pizza (try it!) and spend some time in Forest Park. As it got dark we headed down to the Arch to take one of the last trips of the night up the famous landmark. The boys loved it, especially seeing Busch Stadium lit up in the distance. Aimee had wobbly legs, so we headed back down and settled in for the night.
On Tuesday, we headed out to the St. Louis Zoo, still free after all these years. It was oppressively hot, and the boys eventually succumbed, but they were good sports. We decided to keep the boys cool, and what better way to do that than to embark on another college tour. The University of Missouri was a mere 100 miles down the road, so we grabbed some cold pops, decided we had time for that, cranked the AC and headed further west. In Columbia, we had dinner, tried in vain to get into the football stadium (not as accommodating as some of our other stops), and saw some of the campus landmarks. We drove back to St. Louis and got back into town just as the Cardinals’ game ended and traffic picked up.
We spent the Fourth of July entirely downtown. There was a parade and airshow outside of our hotel window, so we stayed indoors as long as we could before venturing out. On our way to Busch Stadium for the Cardinals game, we stopped by City Gardens, where the boys got an unexpected swimming experience. We then made our way to the house that Willie McGee built and this was, by far, the hottest point of our trip. Not sure if he passed out because of the heat, or simply fell asleep, as he had not taken a nap, but Simon just tanked it. After he awoke, we settled into the bleachers for, oh, about two innings. The scoreboard said 102 degrees and all four of us were like, NO WAY! We took the Metrolink back to the hotel and watched the fireworks from our hotel room.
On our final full day in the STL, we headed to City Museum. We were on the second or third floor when the fire alarm went off. Sure enough, we all evacuated, but only for about 45 minutes. After we piled back in, the boys had fun exploring every nook and cranny, inside and outside. We decided to take a short ride over to the Magic House, and the boys explored there for another two hours or so before we headed for The Hill, and Zia’s, for dinner. The boys actually ate better than we did, and we were stuffed for the night. We took one final campus trip, to nearby Washington University in St. Louis, where Daddy spent his final days in sports information. Back at the hotel, the boys swam, as they did most days.
On our way out of town on Friday, we dropped by Anheuser-Bush for a brewery tour; well, at least part of it. After we saw the Clydesdales, we got our free drinks and snacks and headed out of town. We saw the Arch in the rearview mirror and were glad the boys got to see where Daddy lived for four years and where we added another layer of family memories.
Like we did on the way down, we decided to split up our trip. We stopped for an overnight stay at my brother’s home in Washington, Illinois. The boys loved Uncle Steve’s new pool, we had Avanti’s for dinner, and we visited with Aunt Kim, Aunt Angela, cousins Kourtney and Katelyn, a rare summer visit, as we usually only see them during the Christmas holidays and Easter. The boys wanted my brother’s dog, Cheyenne, to sleep in their sleeping bags and she was ready to oblige, but had to sleep upstairs. After a good breakfast the next morning, we hit the road for Ann Arbor. It was a great trip home with great weather.
We got home Saturday night and used our buffer day of Sunday to get groceries, run errands, and settle back into our routine. It was great family vacation, and the boys loved every minute of it. And while I have been gone from St. Louis for 12 years, it was a reminder that this little Midwestern river town has always been a special part of our lives.
