Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Meet me in St. Louis

I am so far behind on all the things I want to share! We'll start with a quick recap of last weekend.

Adam and I went to St. Louis and met up with our friend Lindsay to watch the Steelers vs Rams.

After a long drive through fields of corn and soybeans, Adam and I arrived in the Lou on Saturday early evening. My friend Steve had recommended Pappy's Smokehouse for barbeque, so for dinner we took him up on the suggestion.
The decor - shelves displaying jars of vintage BBQ sauce, and menus signed by visiting celebrities
Pappy's is exactly the type of no-frills, local joint that I love. I had been warned the wait would be long, and it was. We were in line for over an hour! I got the smoked turkey, which was amazing. I was so hungry that I didn't bother taking any pictures before scarfing it all down. (If I go to Pappy's again, I would probably call ahead and do a take-out order to save time.)

The next day, I was up and at 'em early in the morning to log a few miles before the football game. There is no better way to see the area than in your running shoes, yes?

When in St. Louis, thou shalt run to the Gateway Arch, of course. Prior to this weekend, I'd only seen the Arch from a distance. This time, it was cool to stand at its base and actually touch it. I thought it was much wider in person than it looks in pictures.


There were lots of runners around the Arch. It seems to be a popular resting spot due to some portapotties on the premises! =)

Next on my run agenda - Busch Stadium. This was another thing I'd only ever previously seen from a distance. The night before, the Cardinals were in town. Adam and I debated trying to go to their game, but ultimately decided not to. I still wanted to see the stadium, though.

I was hoping to get a picture of Busch Stadium's marquee entrance, or something similar. Unfortunately, the stadium's front entrance is right underneath some highway overpasses. It didn't make for a very good picture. Therefore, I settled on photographing some of the nearby fan party zones:


After I got back from my run, it was time to get ready for the football game!

Here I am with Adam and Lindsay in front of Edward Jones Dome. (Lindsay flew in from San Francisco the night before after attending an AC/DC concert!)

From L to R: me, Adam, and Lindsay
We weren't the only ones who traveled to the Gateway to the West for the game. The city was crawling with Steeler fans. I conservatively estimate the ratio of Steelers fans to Rams fans at the game was at least 2:1, if not 3:1.

Here are some of the visiting tailgaters in action (notice the Arch in the background!):

Game Time! Kick-off was unceremoniously delayed due to the turf catching on fire during the pregame show. Ooops. Here's an action shot of the dome staff remedying the damage under the not-so-watchful eye of the refs:


30 minutes later... Game Time take two! 

Here's the view from our seats. The Steelers were making a goal-line push during the first quarter:


Steeler aficionados, we obviously saw Ben Roethlisberger take the hit that resulted in him being carted off the field in a stretcher. We were too far away to see the details, though. Here is hoping and praying he will make a quick recovery.

After the (stressful) Steelers win, we headed over to Baileys' Range for some burgers, fries, and shakes. Baileys' was a recommendation from both Maureen and Steve, and it was excellent. Loved the creative decor and the food.

The upper deck view at Baileys

The classic post-game eats: a burger and fries.
Not pictured: Milkshake (I finished it in about 5 seconds flat)

Time to sojourn back to Chicago! Through the cornfields and soybean fields we went. It was a quick, but very fun weekend! It is always great to catch up with Lindsay, too.

In addition to Steve and Maureen, thanks go out to Deidre, Scott, Beryl, Tien, and Margaret for all your local recommendations. Noted for the next time to meet in St. Louis!!!

24 comments:

  1. Yum! The best part about traveling - eating all the wonderful local food!!!

    Looks like you had a blast.

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    1. Yes! I've never understood the folks who still go to chain restaurants when they are traveling. The local food is one of the best parts of the experience!!!

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    2. I know! But then again, I don't even go to chain restaurants at home soooo ... ;-)

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    3. Me too! I avoid chain restaurants at ALL costs!!! The exception is when I am visiting family in the suburbs and the chain restaurants are all they have. =(

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  2. Wow, that is incredible that there were so many Steeler fans! Looks like some good times and good food. Man I can hardly wait until I can eat some barbeque again!

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    1. Steeler fans are incredible - they travel EVERYWHERE. St. Louis has so many amazing food options - I got so many recs from friends that I was beside myself trying to pick which ones to go to! Chicago needs more barbeque joints, yes!?!?!?

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  3. HERE WE GO STEELERS, HERE WE GO !!!!!!

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    1. It's a five star match-up... because we're in it!

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  4. I have never been to St. Louis. It looks like you had a wonderful weekend! You have now made me want a milkshake very badly.

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    1. St. Louis is a very nice midwestern city! So many great food options, you could spend weeks eating your way through the neighborhoods. LOL, I had the milkshake on Sunday and I want another one!!! =D

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  5. Looks like so much fun! Better a Steelers game than the oh so painful to watch Bears these days. I'll be blowing into St Louis soon for RnR! Maybe I'll save the BBQ idea for after the race.

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    1. You're going to have a great time at RnR St. Louis!!! You are right about the Bears, I didn't mind not watching their game against Seattle this past weekend. Pappy's is great and my friend Steve also recommended Adam's Smokehouse. If I were going for BBQ after a race, I'd DEFINITELY do the call-ahead, take-out option. Nobody wants to wait an hour for BBQ after running 13.1 miles, that's for sure!

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  6. Did you go up in the arch? I did that once and almost had a panic attack when I was at the top. It was windy and you could feel the arch sway. In my mind I pictured it twisting like a pretzel. I cut in the front of the line to go back down. You have to ride in these little pods. It was just a bad experience!

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    1. I was there so early in the morning that the Arch wasn't open for visitors yet! I was wondering how folks could travel to the top when the Arch is, by definition, arched, LOL. Oh god - it would be awful to feel the arch swaying in the wind. Can you imagine what it would be like for the folks that have to work in the observation area and stay there all day long?!?!? Yikes!

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    2. I went to the top when I was young and my equilibrium was thrown off. When you look out the window you can see nothing below you. I started to wonder how two foot plants could hold this massive thing up, and I started to lose faith in the Arch! The whole thing was swaying ever so slightly, so I had the feeling it would tip over! I was super happy to get back down to earth! :)

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  7. I have never been to St Louis to explore the city. Looks like a great time. Your post game eats look delicious.

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    1. St. Louis is a surprisingly interesting city! It has an amazing number of good restaurants, too. You could spend weeks eating your way through all the neighborhoods!!! I think you'd enjoy visiting!

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  8. I've never been to St. Louis but I've heard the food is great. I think take-out BBQ is the way to go. The best places aren't that big. Food to go, skip the wait and eat where you can.

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    1. Yes! St. Louis is filled with so many amazing food choices. Agreed - the best restaurants are the small joints frequented by the locals. Lesson learned to do take-out the next time because nobody wants to wait in line for an hour when your stomach is growling!

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  9. I always love trying local food joints when traveling! Looks like you found some good ones! :)

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    1. Local food joints are one of the best parts of traveling, in my opinion! St. Louis is full of them!!! =)

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  10. Looks like a great place to visit. Hello there my friend, just stopping by to say hi and how are you!

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    1. Shannon! Always so great to hear from you! I will stop by your blog now - would love to hear your updates!!!

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  11. Thanks Karen! We were very fortunate that we did get nice weather over the weekend. It makes such a difference when you're scampering around a new city trying to get your bearings! I actually wonder if some restaurants purposely take their time with customers because we are all less picky about our food when we are starving, LOL.

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