Summer Vacation: St. Louis Daytrip, pt. 2

If you have the time and can find it, no daytrip to St. Louie is complete without a stop by Ted Drewes on historic Route 66. Ted Drewes is world famous for its frozen custard. We also happened to pick one of the best days to visit as my Odyssey registered the same temperature that was being reported on local radio.



After washing down the frozen custard with some icy water it was time to head back downtown for the game.

We arrived in time to get in right when the gates opened (5:10 P.M.). Because tickets were so hard to come by, we ended up purchasing the only ones available for the six of us to sit together, in the Bank of America club section, along the 3rd base line. For $90 a ticket, you get a decent food buffet and all the drinks you desire, in the comfort of an air conditioned facility. But don't lose that white cup because, it's the only one they'll give you. Lose it, and you are out at the regular concession stands paying for something to drink.



By gametime, we left the comfort of the air conditioning and settled into our seats, which were a little higher than I had expected they would be. This was our view:



About the 3rd inning, I called the most beautiful girl in the world to check and see how she and the greatest kids were doing, but it was so loud I could hardly hear her. So I left my seat and walked along the back corridor behind the seating until I was in deep left field near the "Big Mac" home run porch. After I hung up the phone I looked up and who did I see? My old friend Tim Ellsworth. I did a double take. He lives in Tennessee. I live in Florida. What are we both doing in St. Louis at a Cardinals game? Oh yeah, we are both devout Cardinal fans! Were did I expect to run into him? A Mighty Ducks hockey game in Anaheim? Still, I considered it quite a coincidence, or properly speaking, providence. Tim was able to sit with me for the remainder of the game, which was such a pleasant surprise to the evening and capped off a great day in the city. Here's the whole crew:


Only one negative in this whole day trip: the Cards continued their slide as the hot-hitting Chase Utley (33 game hit streak after the first inning)and hometown boy Ryan Howard (towering two-run homer) led the Phillies to a 5-3 win over the Cards.

Finally, people have asked me what I thought about the new stadium. Here is my best description: functional and frugal. Nice views of downtown. Nothing to get overly excited about. In a weird sort of way, by being the replacement of a cookie cutter, it is almost a cookie cutter itself in the sense that it reminds me of the other new "retro" parks without anything that radically sets it apart. I hesitate to call it great. It's attractive. It's got good sightlines. It's definitely not outstanding. For now, with only one visit, I'll declare it very good. But I could have said the same of Busch II since they had customized it for baseball.