50 Things to Do in St. Louis

Two years ago we moved from Utah to Missouri.
We felt excited, overwhelmed, totally uneducated, completely lost on every road, and above all ready for a new adventure.
Scott was starting Tri 1. I met friends whose hubbies were in Tri 5 or 6 and I thought they were so mature, smart, and "upperclassman"-esque. I never thought we would get to that point, it just seemed so far away.
Now, Scott is working in the student clinic and is a Tri 7. That means 3 only more trimesters to go. Which is just over a year.

That means I need to make a Bucket List.
Because we only have one more Summer, one more full Fall, one more less stressful Christmas, one more New Year's, one more Spring.
Now it's overwhelming, and terribly sad, to think about how soon we will be leaving!

So without further ado, here is my

  St. Louis Bucket List for 2012-2013. 

Fall
-Balloon Glow at Forest Park, September 2013
-Grant's Farm for Halloween
-Apple Picking at Eckert's Farm
-Thanksgiving day parade
-Corn Maze

Spring
-Lone Elk Park
-Butterfly House/Faust Park carousel
-St. Paddy's day race/parade
-Cahokia Mounds

Summer
-Shakespeare in the Park
-Meremac Caverns ($$)
-Fair St. Louis
-Six Flags
-Johnson Shut ins

Christmas
-Cathedral Basilica
-Old St. Charles
-Way of Lights display
-Ice Skating at Forest Park or Queeny Park
-Botanical Gardens Wreath Display

Any Season
-Ride the Arch elevator tour
-Paddle boats at Forest Park
-Soulard Farmer's Market
-Purina Farms dog show
-Museum of Transportation
-Anheuser-Busch Tour
-Science Center
-Dog Museum at Queeny Park
-Art Museum
-Wild Bird Sanctuary

Food
-Dewey's Pizza
-Imo's Pizza
-Mr. C's custard
-Crown Candy
-Lenten Fish Fry (never done it, sounds cool!)
-Zia's toasted ravioli
-Missouri Baking Company (chocolate drops)
-Gooey Louie Butter Cake

Things To Do Again
-Zoo: Children's Zoo, Carousel, Sting Rays
-Botanical Gardens
-Fair St. Louis
-Muny
-City Museum
-Cardinals Game
-Ted Drewe's Custard
-Pappy's or Bogart's bbq

Out of Town
-Kansas City Half Marathon
-Hospital Hill Half Marathon (KC)
-Chicago
-Nashville
-Branson


Obviously it is not entirely likely that I will cross off every item on this list, but one can dream, right?
If you have any more suggestions, please comment!
Especially if it involves food.
Because we all know I really love food.
Happy Monday!

The Ultimate St. Louis Experience

Friday night we went on the (almost) Ultimate St. Louis Date Night!!!

First stop, Pappy's Smokehouse for some good ole' barbecue. 

I thought it was very delicious, however, my heart belongs at Oklahoma Joe's. 

I really haven't found better bbq sauce or fries anywhere.

Next stop: Cardinals vs. Braves!!

This is the view from where our tickets were:

Mister Man has loved Chipper Jones and the Braves for as long as he can remember.

But he'd never seen them play before.

Until Friday night.

Here's a super sonic zoom of Chipper himself:

We went to celebrate his birthday this month.

And because who knows when another opportunity like this would come around.

Plus, tickets were $10 each.

After the 3rd inning this was our new view, no zoom:

(see the guy in yellow in the center? He's standing in front of the Braves' dugout)

We lucked out because it had been rainy and cold all day. 

The stadium was pretty empty.

Especially the Braves' side.

So we sat about 20 rows back from the Braves' dugout.

Of course I had to get my favorite player:

Matt Holliday.

Here's Chipper again!

Around the 8th inning we moved even closer, about 5 rows back from the Braves' dugout.

This was the perfect photo opportunity.

Chipper and Matt together.
Our favorite players.

Can I get an "Awwww"?

And of course, our lovely faces!

Game highlights:
-a foul ball came flying toward us and landed literally right behind my seat!!! Sadly, it bounced far, far away. Mister Man thought it wasn't gonna be that close so he didn't try to catch it. Bummer!
-We were featured on the Kiss Cam!!!!! Too bad I didn't get a picture.
-We were so close I could see Holliday spitting sunflower seeds. And blowing bubbles with bubble gum.
-Doing the Braves tomahawk chop with a whole huge group of fans in our area. It was something Mister Man has always wanted to do!
-The bottom of the 9th inning...

So the 1st inning was pretty exciting with the Braves scoring 2 and Cards scoring 1. Then nothing happened until the bottom of the 9th. 

The Braves brought out Kimbrel to pitch and he got guys on 2nd and 3rd base. Then he threw 4 balls to the next guy. He got to walk. 

With the bases loaded out strutted Albert Pujols. 

*roar!!!* 

Of course the stadium exploded!!

On the 2nd or 3rd pitch, Pujols hit it hard and they scored 2, tying up the game (Braves had scored a point in one of the other innings). 

Again, explosion in the crowd and on to the 10th inning.

The Braves couldn't score and the Cards stepped up. 

Once again, 2nd and 3rd were loaded. The Braves let the next guy walk. 

Then out stepped Punto. He hit it hard, and the Cards scored 1 to win the game. 

It was most definitely the most exciting baseball game I've ever been to!

Especially because I couldn't decide who I liked better: 

Braves or Cards?

In the end I chose the Cardinals. 

And this cute guy.

I wish the colors were better and the image was sharper. 

But what can you expect from an old, old man snapping the picture?

I'm just glad he knew how to use the camera...

We had planned on ending our Ultimate St. Louis Date Night experience with the most incredible custard in the world:

source

But since the game went into a 10th inning, it was closed. 

Bummer.

Overall we had quite the amazing night!!

The End.