We dropped the kids off with my parents on Saturday morning and were on our way. Once we got into the area, we stopped for lunch. Ryan had been begging to stop for lunch for about an hour and a half. We discussed where we should go and settled on White Castle (Ryan's choice). I have always been against White Castle, even though I never actually had it. I thought I would give it a whirl.
This was actually Ryan's first time at White Castle, he had always eaten at Krystal's. This is Ryan's verdict on the food...
This was mine...
I didn't love it or I didn't hate it. I would never chose to eat there on my own, but would go back if someone I was with wanted to eat there.
After that, we headed downtown. We wanted to go see the Arch. Ryan LOVES the Arch. Unfortunately, it was also a Cardinals game that day, so parking was a MESS! We weren't planning on paying for a parking spot, so we found the cheapest lot ($5) and parked. We walked and walked and walked. With a heat index of over a 100 degrees, it made every step hard. I knew it was going to be so hot, so at least I was prepared (mentally anyway).
The Arch was neat to see, and we were going to see about riding in it, but the line to get in, was so long, we decided to skip it. We walked along the river and saw this really cool bridge. It was built in the 1870's. It the Lewis and Clark bridge.
Here's me next to a flooded parking lot. Who would build a parking lot, that close to the river?
The Statue, that is normally in the parking lot. I thought it was funny because the statue looks like he's saying "help me, help me".
Ryan decided to wear the "tourist" look.
The Lewis and Clark Bridge
After we walked forever in the blasting heat, we decided to do something we had never done before. We went to a Casino. They should make our experience in the casino a sitcom. It was something else, let me tell you. We only spent $5 and had NO idea what we were doing. We just played the penny slots and still had no idea what we were doing. We actually had to ask a worker to help us figure out the game. We, of course, won nothing, but it was neat to see. It was in a really nice hotel, and just seeing all the restaurants and shops in there next to the casino were really cool.
When we were getting ready to get out in the heat, with sore feet, we remembered that we parked by the other entrance to this hotel, so we got to take a moving sidewalk, to an escalator, to the door, which lead right to our car. We were thrilled, we didn't have to walk this extra distance. It was fun downtown, but we were ready to go relax at our hotel.
Ryan riding on the moving sidewalk.
That evening we made plans with one my best friends, Mindy, to meet up for dinner. It has been 2 years since I had seen her. We met up at the mall and ate, shopped, walked around and visited. It was so good to see her. Mindy, it was such a great time. Thanks for coming out of your way, to see us.
Me and Mindy at the mall.
Lize (with her daughter, Faith), Charlotte (with her daughter, Lorica), Ruth, Elinor and Me.
Me and Mindy at the mall.
The next day, was Sunday. We had Rob's memorial service to go to at 3pm, so I planned on having lunch with some of my old roommates from college. We met at IHOP and luckily, they were all able to meet. I was so thankful that all of them drove quite a distance to eat lunch with us. It was a time I will cherish for a long time. I haven't seen them since Charlotte's wedding, almost 3 years ago.
Lize (with her daughter, Faith), Charlotte (with her daughter, Lorica), Ruth, Elinor and Me.
Rob's service was filled with tears, laughter, reunions and old memories. Rob's service was a time of celebration of his life. What a great man.
This trip was made so that I could go to Rob's service. I ended up seeing good friends, getting a break from the kids and having a mini vacation with Ryan. Although the trip was bittersweet, I'm very thankful for it.
2 comments:
To answer your question about the parking lot...there used to be lots of riverboats down there...a very touristy thing...to see and ride, so the cobblestone parking lot was to facilitate more tourists (money!). :)
On a another note...I'm SO jealous I didn't get to see you!! And anytime you come to St. Louis, you should NEVER have to stay in a hotel. We have plenty of room that ya'll could have stayed with us (and then I would have gotten to see you!!). :) It would have been nice to see our old suitemates with you...maybe next time? Glad it was a good trip for you, and I'm bummed I missed the memorial for Rob, but didn't find out about it until too late.
Oh this post made me laugh. We really are very similar. First Kevin LOVES Whitey's AKA White Castles. He begs to go there. Me not so much. I don't get the idea of square frozen burgers with water & Onions on them. But guys love it. Kevin & I had the same experience at Lumiere when we went there the first time when Mel had her chemo. We were clueless too. Everyone was staring at us.
I am glad you had a good weekend away considering the circumstances. Glad you guys had time to yourselves AND got to spen time with good friends.
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