Our 50th Wedding Anniversary

 

Sunday, August 29, 2021

Joe and I were married exactly 50 years ago today. We woke up and the first thing we discussed was not, "Happy Anniversary," but "Will you be long in the bathroom?" I guess that's what 50 years of marriage (or of anything!) does to people! We did go back to "Happy Anniversary" very quickly after that, however.

Our plans for the day were to be tourists in St. Louis--specifically, to visit the Gateway Arch National Park. I had purchased the complete ticket package yesterday, including a movie on the making of the Arch, a trip up to the top, and a boat ride on the river with narrated tour about the history of the city. We started out early for our 10:30a.m. boat ride. This RV Park, which has no beauty other than the beautiful night view of the Arch, makes up for that in convenience--it is truly less than 15 minutes from downtown, and it took us less than that to get to the levee, where we parked (at a steep angle) for the boat ride. 

The ride was an hour long, and was fun, especially when going downstream so that we had a breeze (there was no breeze going upstream.) The pilot narrated the whole time, identifying various buildings and explaining the history of things we were seeing. I was able to get one pretty good selfie of us before we docked, with the Arch in the background, so that will be serving as my memory of us on this auspicious day.

The cruise was over at 11:30, and it seemed too early to go to lunch. So we drove to Forest Park. It is huge, and we really didn't have enough time to do something like go to the zoo (and it was HOT again), but we stopped at the Jewel Box, an art deco glass building now used as a greenhouse and event space (weddings would be beautiful here.) We were the only ones in the building most of the time, and we didn't stay long. We did, however, note that it would be a good place for a wedding. So we went up to the front where the bride and groom would stand, and we "renewed our vows" for 50 more years. 

Inside the Jewel Box

By then it was 12:30, and we decided we'd better go eat. We had decided to have lunch at Pappy's Smokehouse, our most favorite BBQ place in the world. We never go past St. Louis without stopping at Pappy's, even if it just means getting off the interstate, stopping to eat, and then continuing on. We got there very quickly, which was lucky, because there was a long line. There is ALWAYS a long line, but this time it moved much more slowly because they had cut down on the number of diners. Masking was required, and I saw that they were spraying and wiping down tables rigorously after each group left. So we waited about 20 minutes before being seated, but the service is always very fast. And man, was the food incredible as always! Especially compared to Central BBQ in Memphis, there was NO comparison. Joe had a rack of ribs again, and even I loved them! I had the chicken as I always do. When I say that the green bean side dish was the first thing I finished--that's how good THEY were! Joe was moaning in ecstasy with his ribs, while i was moaning over my roasted corn on the cob side dish. All in all, we were just in heaven from the food.

Mural Dedicated to the Builders of the Arch

We had to run afterwards, though-- it was already about 2:10, and we had a 3pm ticket to see the movie, "Building the Dream", about building the Arch. But first we had to run back to the RV to walk Cassie. We rushed back home, jumped out, had 15 minutes to walk the dog, and then jumped back into the Jeep and drove to our parking garage, which was about a 10 minute walk from the Arch. We were really hustling, and managed to make it into our seats for the movie at 2:56pm.  

The movie was so impressive! It seems miraculous that this Arch could be built, when you see all the details that went into it. We were both just amazed. It was so impressive. After the movie, we stopped in the big waiting area where the trams to the top of the Arch leave from (it is a big space behind the Museum.) Joe wanted something to drink, so he got soda, and then we went to the gift shop to pick up my National Park pin for my collection, and a few other things. Then he rested while I looked at one corner of the adjacent museum.

St. Louis, looking West

At 4:30, we went to the tram line. They are being very Covid conscious throughout the National Park building/museum, and they kept us far apart and sorted us into the tram cars--each family group had a car to themselves. They also strictly limited us to 10 minutes, so they could transport people on schedule and so it would not be so crowded at the top of the Arch. The tour guide was very entertaining as we waited, and we got to see a cute little video "describing" some of the important events and people from the 1960s (when the Arch was built)-- everything from the Beatles to the Women's Movement to MLK's "Free at Last!" and the moon landing, Walter Cronkite and The Graduate, Woodstock and JFK. So that was entertaining, and then they sorted us out again to get into the little claustrophobic cars that take you up to the top of the Arch.

Looking East Across the River to Illinois

Needless to say, the views up there were spectacular. I'd forgotten my good camera in the car, but the zoom on my phone camera allowed me to see our RV all the way across the river. The entire view was pretty clear and I'm sure we were seeing for miles and miles. Looking down at the city was amazing as well. The 10 minutes passed all too quickly! Then down we went again.

There were quite a few steps involved, though, both getting to the trams and at the top of the Arch, and it really wore Joe out. So he decided to rest a bit, while I looked at the Museum. I thought it was very well done, blending both the history of the city of St. Louis and its importance as the "Gateway to the West," with the history of the country as a whole. There were exhibits on the importance of the Louisiana Purchase, and the subsequent "winning" (or stealing) of the West. And finally, there was a large section on Eero Saarinen and the contest for a design for a monument to stand on the shore of the Mississippi River, to represent all the history and the importance of the city. There were descriptions of how the Arch was designed and how it was built. I found all of it very interesting. And as we walked away, it was really hard not to take more photos of it!

At the Top of the Arch

At about 6:30, we walked back to our car in the parking deck (getting it out just before 7:00, when our ticket ran out.) We'd had a big discussion while sitting in the building--what to do about dinner. Neither of us were starved after our huge lunch at Pappy's, but I wanted *something*, specifically, a St. Louis specialty--toasted ravioli. After looking up restaurants making the best toasted ravioli, we found that most of them were closed today. In the end, we looked for a combination of pizza (St. Louis also has its own style of pizza) and ravioli, and settled on Imo's Pizza, which was not too far away.

Description of Treaties with Indians, All Broken

Visions of "Manifest Destiny" to Settle the West

St. Louis as Mercantile Center for Westward-Bound Carvans

So for dinner we had a small pizza with "the works" (the suggestion of the guy at the counter) and a portion of toasted ravioli. The latter was scrumptious! As for the former, I told Joey before we ate that it was important to take it on its own merits, not compare to NJ pizza. St. Louis pizza is made with an almost crack-like crust, very very VERY thing (half of a "thin crust" pizza at home.) We decided that although it was good, it was much more like a "loaded nacho" plate at home that like a pizza. Also, i thought the cheese tasted like velveeta--but Joey looked it up, and it was a blend of cheddar, swiss, and provolone. All in all, I would certainly not order "the works" again, but it was tasty. We brought about half of it home (we brought half my chicken from lunch home also, so we have LOTS of leftovers for the next few days.)

It was hard not to take photos of the Arch as we walked away

And then, we came back to the RV again. It has been a super-long day, but I think we made it memorable. I wanted something to remember our anniversary by, and this was a lot of fun. And Cassie was just fine in the RV with the air conditioning all day, so having this full-hookup campsite was worth it for the peace of mind. Altogether, I think our stay here was very successful. But... I am not as young as I used to be (I've been married 50 years!!!) and I am tired.

Rain, Pappy’s, and Driving Some More

Joe points to George Takei’s menu

2019-10-11 (Friday)

It rained a lot early this morning, and before bedtime last night too. Not sure I mentioned it in last night’s blog, but with all the rain, we discovered we have a leak over our bed where Joe replaced the old, non-working exhaust fan this summer with a new one. There was definitely a very damp spot in the ceiling before we fell asleep, and it was notably larger when we woke up. This is not good news, and will have to be dealt with asap (but not before we get home.)

We left our very damp campground at about 10 as usual, and noted that every river we passed in the vicinity was overflowing. Wow, it was wet everywhere! But we were fortunate that it didn’t rain at all today while we were driving. It was just gray skies all day, that’s all.

We stayed off the interstate as long as possible, rejoining it about 30 miles from St. Louis. Then we gave ourselves a treat—we drove into the city to have a late lunch at Pappy’s Smokehouse. Pappy’s was voted the best ribs in the country by the Food Network, and I think Joe agrees. However, today he didn’t have ribs, he had a pulled pork sandwich, while I had my usual, the BBQ pulled chicken. I even have notes on my phone to remind myself not to bother ordering the brisket, because the chicken is “that good!”  Seriously yummy— we really enjoyed it!

Inside Pappy’s— walls lined with celebrity menus

Just a little more about Pappy’s— it is not a pretentious place, but man, is it popular! We were there at about 2:30 or 3:00... and there were about 20-30 people in line ahead of us! The place just never stops. The wait time is pretty short, and while you are on line, you can read all the famous autographed messages on menus lining the walls. (We sat next to one from George Takei.) In order to make it go fast (which it does), they hand out menus while you wait in line. Then you get up to the cashier, give him your order, pay, and move out of the way. If you ordered a fountain drink, they give you a huge cup, and you move on to fill it. Then another staff person finds you a table in the large but basic dining room. A minute or two later (literally), another staff person emerges from the kitchen with your food on a plate, calling out your name. I went to the ladies room to wash my hands as soon as we were given a table, and by the time I came back (and wash my hands was ALL I did!), the sandwiches were already on the table.

Folks waiting on line at Pappy’s. Sometimes the line is out the back door.

So we tried not to wolf our food down, hungry as we were by that time. Another thing I didn’t mention was the parking. You’d think it’s brave to take an RV towing a Jeep into a city. And it is. But I just don’t “get” this neighborhood. The street Pappy’s is on—a major street with a bus route—never has anyone parked on it! It has metered spaces, and we just drove up to the curb and parked (we took up two spaces with the Jeep.) This has been our experience every time we’ve gone there. I think maybe it’s kind of on the fringes, in a semi-industrial area on one side of the street, and a small college on the other (we parked next to the college.) But in any other place with a college, all the spaces would be taken. We’ve never seen that here. And it’s only a few blocks from the interstate exit. So we get off, drive two blocks, park on this totally empty street, eat, come back, and hop back on the interstate. It’s ridiculous by east coast standards, if you ask me.

Anyway.... that was our excitement for the day. After lunch, back on the I-70,and we zoomed past the St. Louis Arch, over the Mississippi River, and into Illinois. We planned to stop at the Illinois side of the border with Indiana, but the Walmart we went to, despite getting good “overnight reviews” on our RV Parky app, told us (when we asked inside) that we couldn’t stay there. So we had to drive another 25 miles or so into Indiana, and we are staying at a Walmart in Terre Haute. We were tired and not very hungry when we got here, so we “hung out” a little bit, and now we’re going to sleep. We want to make a reasonably early start tomorrow, because we are heading to visit Jan and Gary in Ohio, and watch the football game with them.

The World's Largest Everything

Day 2, Aug. 21, 2015

The World's Largest Wind Chimes

Noon break update: We passed a peaceful night at Mile Marker 163 on I-70 in Ohio. We both slept REALLY well, and quite honestly, I wasn’t ready to wake up at 7 when the alarm went off. Neither was Joe—we ended up snuggling until 7:30, before we reluctantly decided if we wanted to ever get to St. Louis, we’d better hit the road.  The weather when we woke up was delightful—in the low 60s, no humidity, and sunny. A big improvement over the muggy humidity we’d left behind in New Jersey!

Another issue we had when we left HP, besides our full waste tank, was the fact that Joe noticed that Sam (the RV, that is) was due for an oil change. It would have been nice to have this done BEFORE we left, of course….. but whatever. His first thought was, he would just do it himself. But we don’t happen to have the oil pan etc. that we need, although they are easily purchased.  So we spent a bit of time this morning fruitlessly looking for a place that might be able to do the oil change for us. We tried a TA truck stop (they advertise oil changes on their billboards, but they said they only do trucks, not RVs) and two Camping World stores.  The first one said they could “give us an appointment at the end of September”!!  The second one was going to do it today, but after we found out they would charge $129/hour for labor AND it would take at least an hour and a half, we decided that was ridiculous.  So other than finding several goodies at the Camping World, we had no luck. At least, Cassie got to roll in the grass while we waited for Joe at the TA stop. We are now on the lookout for the next auto parts store or Walmart to pick up an oil pan, an oil filter, oil, and a new windshield wiper for the passenger side (which we also need.) Looks like more RV maintenance on the road is in our future.

We just finished easing our disappointment at a very ugly but nearby highway rest area, with tuna/egg sandwiches with avocado slices. And now we are proceeding toward St. Louis for the night, where I made a reservation at the St. Louis RV Park, which is essentially a parking lot (but it does have hookups and showers) and is within 15 minutes walking distance of downtown St. Louis, which is tomorrow’s adventure.

Evening update: Our afternoon went smoothly. We cruised through the rest of Indiana—a really uninteresting state, I have to say, for the most part. In Illinois, we added another “two state” town to our collection—Kansas, Illinois—which was at the same exit as our first “tourist stop”. We saw ads for “The World’s Largest Wind Chime”, and we simply HAD to stop and see it. We really love wind chimes! This was in the town of Casey, which turned out to be a small (population 3,000) town with two stop lights, which is luring people off the interstate with a collection of “world’s largest” items. This is small-town Americana at its best.

We found the World’s Largest Wind Chime in a lovely little grassy park adjacent to an adorable little café which sold ice cream, sandwiches, and wind chimes. The World's Largest Wind Chime itself would probably need gale force winds to ring it, because the wind catcher was down at ground level. However, there was a rope attached to the clapper, and Joe and I both rang the chimes. They were very deep and resonant, as one would expect.

The other interesting thing besides their size immediately struck us—the frame is supported by braces shaped like Stars of David and the Christian fish symbol. We hoped to find out more about them in the café, but there was no information there (the Christian music station and the “Have a blessed day” sign were in keeping with the theme, however.)

Casey is also home to the World’s Largest Golf Tee, which we skipped, and future home of the World’s Largest Rocking Chair, the base of which is already in place. In checking on the Internet as I wrote this blog, I found out we somehow missed the World’s Largest Knitting Needles which supposedly are right across the street at the cute little yarn store which caught my eye. I have no idea where they might have been hiding the knitting needles—I didn’t see them (I did see a really large wooden ear of corn there as we drove past). However, we did NOT miss what might be one of the World’s Largest Pencils. It is on the corner of the main intersection a couple of blocks from the Wind Chimes, and it has a quote on it from the book of Proverbs.  Casey’s motto is “Big Things in a Small Town.” Pretty soon people will have to schedule at least an hour’s stop there to take in all the World’s Largest Everythings.

Continuing across most of Illinois, we stopped again at 4pm at Walmart, where we had a very successful shopping trip. We picked up all the items we needed to change the RV’s oil, as well as a toaster (which I’ve wanted in the RV for a while), a few other small items, and ice cream. I said to Joe as we left, “motor oil and ice cream—your typical Walmart checkout!” Joe’s comment:” Just don’t mix them up!”

After that, we headed for St. Louis in earnest—I had told them we’d arrive around 7:00. We were a little behind schedule (I hadn’t accounted for the stop in Casey) but crossed the Mississippi River in the early dusk, with the sun gleaming off the (what I assume is the World's Largest) St. Louis Arch. Our RV “park” is the antithesis of what we’d usually prefer—it’s an urban parking lot with hookups (although there IS a pool and all the other important facilities.) Also it has excellent wifi. The primary selling point is, as I mentioned, that tomorrow we can walk to the City Museum. We saw its roof on our way through the neighborhood—the ferris wheel on the roof was turning, and I could see the enormous praying mantis and a few other features. We are very excited to go—everyone says it is awesome.

So we're finished with dinner (chicken burritos) and it's basically time to go to sleep. Our bodies are one hour behind--officially we are now on Central Time.  It was noisy a little while ago—we heard fireworks and then some REALLY loud music coming from someplace in the neighborhood. But it's quiet now, and anyway we don’t care, we can sleep through anything. Looking forward to another good night’s rest and then some unhurried fun tomorrow.

Meet Me In St. Louis

Day 26 and 27: Sept. 21-22, 2011

For lack of time and for the fact that yesterday, we drove all day without stopping, I am going to combine two days in one blog. Yesterday we woke up with a lovely lakeside view. Joey walked Roxy and saw a fish jump in the lake!


We decided we were not in the mood to sight-see, however, and would rather get back on the highway. This would give us more time today, and we decided we wanted to get as close to St. Louis as possible yesterday so we could go to the St. Louis Zoo today. Plus, I think we were both starting to get a little antsy as the end of our trip draws nearer.

So that’s what we did. We drove about 500 miles yesterday. I was rather upset when we entered Missouri, however. Kansas had a wonderful Welcome Center; Missouri had nothing. Nada. No welcome whatsoever. Since I didn’t have a map of the state, other than in my atlas, this was disappointing; and since we had no AAA book for the state, it was worse. We had no idea what attractions we might want to see--which was one reason we settled on the zoo. We are lucky that the AAA Tourbooks are loaded into our GPS, and that helped a lot in finding a campground in the St. Louis area. I think Missouri is making a big mistake not having tourist info readily available... is there nothing about Mark Twain here? What about Lewis and Clark? And any number of things we don't know about already? I know I'd like to come back through Kansas with some more time someday, but Missouri is kind of a big gap in my knowledge as of now.

We managed to find a state park just outside of the city of St. Louis, using the one map I did have, and the GPS. It was a nice park, but not on a par with many of the others we’ve stayed in. We did cross the Missouri River for the 2nd time just as we were approaching the park, near sunset.
This morning we woke up and it was drizzly. We went to thezoo; when we got there it was still drizzly. The zoo, btw, is free--but I should let you know, if you ever come in an RV, the cost to park an RV is $24. Hah! Anyway, we spent a few wet hours at the St. Louis Zoo today. A number of exhibits were closed; most disappointing I suppose was the elephants--as usual, our timing was bad. TOMORROW is the debut of the new baby elephant; today, the whole exhibit was closed off. So we didn’t get to meet the new baby girl. We did love some of the other exhibits, however. My favorite today was the giant anteaters. They are so exotic and I think their markings are beautiful.
And here are a few other animals we met today.

Around 1:30 or so we went back to Mo, put on dry clothes, and had soup and sandwiches for lunch. At that point I realized, I needed to lie down and take a nap. So Joe read a book and I took a nap for an hour. At 3pm, we finally packed ourselves up and started driving. Wouldn’t you know, at that point the rain had stopped? As we left St. Louis and Missouri, I managed to snap some quick photos of the St. Louis Arch and the Mississippi River. It was cloudy and dark-ish, and we caught up with the rain on the Illinois side of the river. So it was kind of a tiring drive today.
We drove until we were just past Indianapolis, and stopped at a KOA here. I wanted the wifi, and I want a hot shower tomorrow (I could have had one at the state park this morning but I overslept after not sleeping well during the night.) It is pouring rain, and I just would like it to be done by tomorrow, but the rain forecast is for more showers. Not that we can complain--we had NO rain at all except for an occasional nighttime sprinkle, until we got to Kansas.

Tomorrow we hope to meet some friends for lunch in the Columbus area, and then drive into Pennsylvania for the night. And we hope to be home on Saturday night. So this will most likely be my last blog from "on the road." It's been another amazing trip, and it almost seems like a dream already. That's why I write these blogs--so I can remind myself of everything we've done and seen. I know all too soon I'll be back in the usual "stuff", and dreaming of our next vacation.