Busch Stadium and Downtown St. Louis

Baseball season is right around the corner, so what a perfect time to tour the St. Louis Cardinal's Busch Stadium. I read an article several months ago that called St. Louis "one of the last great baseball towns." It really is. I tell people all the time when they move here that they'll love the Cardinals before long. They usually respond, "No, we're not really baseball people." Wrong! This isn't about baseball folks, this is about a sense of community. St. Louisans love the Cardinals and their love is contagious. Trust me people, I think baseball is boring too, but there is nothing boring about St. Louis' adoration for its baseball team! Go Cards!

Anyway, this was an awesome adventure because Aunt Cari was visiting! She had two requests, to see the Eads Bridge and ride the MetroLink (the closest thing we have to a subway system or L-Train, though I've ridden both and the MetroLink hardly compares). Since I felt we needed something else to do downtown as well, I suggested the Busch Stadium tour (Cari has done the Arch a couple times). Cari, who loves baseball, said a stadium tour would have been on the top of her list if she would have known they had one.

The tour starts outside of Busch Stadium at the Stan Musial statue. "Stan the Man" is the best Cardinal of all  time. He died earlier this year and I was seriously tempted to attend the viewing, but thousands of people and a predicted 2 to 3 hour line kept me at home. The local channels even televised the funeral.

During the tour, you get to check out the Cardinal's World Championship trophies.

The Cardinals have won a 11 Word Series, second only to the Yankees.

You also get to see the various club rooms and places we'll never have the money to hang out in.

The view from the radio broadcast room is amazing! Too bad I didn't take a picture. However, the highlight of the trip was getting to visit the Cardinal Dugout. You can't walk on or touch the grass, but Ethan was so excited to walk on the warning track to the dugout.

After the tour we headed to Laclede's Landing, next to the Arch. Laclede's Landing is where St. Louis got it's start. In 1763, a French merchant Pierre Laclede Liguest wanted to set up a trading post near the mouth of the Missouri river.  The original area was too swampy and they staked out a place 20 miles south of where the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers meet. The following year, Liguest left Auguste Chouteau to start a trading post. When he return, he called the settlement St. Louis after the King of France. Today, St. Louis' oldest district, Laclede's Landing is home to several restaurants, clubs and shops.

We headed to one of the few kid-friendly places in Laclede's Landing, The Old Spaghetti Factory. The service was good, and the decor is fun, but I don't need to go back.

We then checked out the Eads bridge. The Eads Bridge is a combined road and railway bridge over the Mississippi River. When it was completed it was the largest arch bridge in the world and the first made primarily of steel. It was also a lot of other firsts you can read about here. Another fun fact, they used an elephant to prove it was safe because, supposedly, elephants will not walk over anything unstable.

 We then took the MetroLink across Eads Bridge. Cari was very excited.

A view of the Arch from the other side of the river.

Most of our adventure travel took place by the MetroLink. Ethan loved taking the "train." It was nice to be able to hop on and off between stops, especially since it was cold outside. I'm still debating how economical it was for our outing, but if you don't want to have to mess with parking and are just going to a specific event or place, you might want to give it a try.

We miss you, Aunt Cari!

Fall

Well, well...It looks like I have kinda been a slacker! But here's what I've been looking at out my kitchen window.

It's been beautiful here and the weather has been almost as nice. Then there was all the World Series excitement. Did you see Game 6? Crazy?! But of course, the Cardinals won it all and everyone in all of Saint Louis is very happy! Especially this boy, who was Albert Pujols for Halloween.

So now that I'm feeling a little cold and a little less distracted by other things, I'll fill you in on our Saint Louis fall activities after the fact (I have a post I still need to do that is really after the fact, so this is nothing).

We headed to Bass Pro Shop for free Halloween pictures, crafts and s'mores. They have since started their Christmas festivities.

We also made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch with our Saint Louis cousins and Nanny (Papa was busy). There are so many pumpkin patches and farms here that have fall festivities. This year I was hoping to try somewhere new, but we kind of ran out of time and ended up at Stuckmeyers for the third or fourth year in a row. We always have a good time there though.

We like Stuckmeyers because admission is free. There are a few animals to see (which included the cutest little pig ever), tricycles to ride, a small maze, sandboxes to play in and a large playground to enjoy.

Ethan especially liked this green pumpkin. His favorite color.

They also have a couple activities you can pay for...pony rides, bouncy houses and a hayride to name a few. We always do the hayride. It's $3 a person for about a 15 minute ride. It has character cut outs  along the way that the kids love.

My favorite part of the the trip turned out to be food (I guess that's not surprising for coming from me). We bought kettle corn and then found these delicious carmel apples. After the apples were gone we dipped the popcorn in the carmel. It was all very yummy!

I already have plans to visit some fun places for the Christmas holidays. I'll try to be a little more timely about posting those adventures.

Living in Cardinal Nation

St. Louisians love baseball! I'm a transplant. For a long time, I did not understand it. But over the years, I've decided its hard to walk into a Cardinal baseball game and not become converted. I visit Busch Stadium and suddenly feel this camaraderie with the thousands of other Cardinal Fans who love their team whether they are winning or losing or playing in ridiciously hot temperatures.

A Cardinal's game was on our bucket list not because we've never been, but because the kids look forward to it so much and we usually only get to go once a year. Friday, Casey scored the corporate tickets from work (I guess all the important people were on vacation) to a game in the classic Cardinal/Cubs rivalry. The kids loved getting to be a little closer to the action.

 Hailey with Albert Pujols (Daddy's favorite) batting behind her.

 Brenton with Yadier Molina (mommy's favorite) batting behind him.

I was so excited for the opportunity for the kids to get their picture taken with Fred Bird. The boys, however, were upset with me when I suggested we go take a walk during the game. They actually wanted to watch the game (Silly boys!).

Ethan took the baseball game very seriously. He was so excited and intense the whole game. He also was the best cheerer (No one says Yadier Molina quit like Ethan) and the best trash talker ("Nice Out Cubs")

 And the Cardinals won, 6-1!