Welcome back to Blog Central everyone, and this time I made it happen on the correct day. The birthday trip to St. Louis seems like a long time ago now, but fortunately I documented most of it with digital images and that allows the memories to come back vividly. Bottom line: We had a GREAT time and everything about the trip was fun, positive, and in many cases delicious.

After our arrival on Thursday, when we checked in at the Hilton Ballpark Village and then dashed down to Gateway Arch National Park to stare skyward at the monument’s grandeur, followed by a wonderful dinner at Farotto’s with niece Kimberly, we headed back to The Arch on Friday to make our 11:30 tram ride to the top.

Keep in mind, I’ve been going up in The Arch since the trams started running, back in the mid-60s. If pressed to come up with an exact number, regarding how many times I’ve been to the top, I’d be hard pressed to get even close, but I’m guessing it’s somewhere in the 25-30 range, which is a lot. But, when you’re a native St. Louisan who was a boy when The Arch was completed, and who hosted many out-of-town guests later in life, there are almost always good reasons to go to the top. Even an ESPN reason after I pitched the network on a concept of following the full Worsham Racing / CSK Funny Car team around as we toured St. Louis. Our first stop on that trip, which was documented on camera, was The Arch (for the record, our second stop was Rigazzi’s and our final stop was Ted Drewe’s, so we lived large that evening.)

What all that means is that I have almost zero problem with the tram ride to the top. Yes, the eight pods that go up and down each leg are tiny. Yes, the leveling mechanism that keeps each pod upright is a little jarring at first. And yes, the pods have been going up and down each leg, hauled up or lowered down by cables, for about 50 years. But, I’m not generally claustrophobic and I find it fun. And you get to know the people you’re sharing the pod with really quickly. We went up with folks who were basically “classic” Arch visitors. They were traveling from coast-to-coast on a summer trip, and made St. Louis a key stop on the way. We had fun chatting with them, and they all agreed that the conversation helped them (and Barbara) from thinking about heights or claustrophobic surroundings.

It takes about four minutes to get to the top, although the pods don’t actually make it all the way. The very top of The Arch is the viewing platform, so the eight-pod trains stop just short of there, and you have to walk up some very steep steps to get to the windows. Once on the platform, your first few steps are again on a steep incline. Only at the very top of the room does it flatten out enough to feel less uncomfortable. It can be a little off-putting at first, because your eyes, brain, and inner ears have a hard time reconciling where you are and why it feels so odd. I think kids have it the easiest. They run around up there and lay on the slanted walls to peer out the windows as if it’s nothing.

The most difficult trip I ever made to the top was when I took a visitor up on a day when the wind was gusting to 25 or 30 mph. Yes, The Arch does sway in the wind. And yes, you can feel it when it does. That sway adds motion sickness to the mix of things you’re feeling. We didn’t stay up there very long, that time.

You’re allowed to stay at the top as long as you want, but on a busy day like Friday, with each tram of pods packed completely, it starts to get a little crowded in a hurry. That’s more claustrophobic than the miniature little pods and their five jump seats, for me. After about 20 minutes, and views both east and west, we headed back down. When we got to the bottom, it was raining. Somehow that happened while we were descending. It only takes three minutes to get down (thank you, gravity!)

We killed some time buying t-shirts in the gift shop, then finally decided it might never stop drizzling so we walked back to the hotel. We only got slightly drenched, and only on the front of our clothes since we were walking into the slanted shower. After a quick change to dry stuff, we got in the car to do our driving tour of my home town. We headed west, out to Kirkwood, and then back to the south side of town, all while I pointed out landmarks of both the city’s history and my own personal past. St. Louis U. High and Mary Queen of Peace grade school were on the itinerary, as was Woodleaf Court. My former home looked great, as did the whole area. I still have a hard time with the fact there is no basketball hoop on the side of the driveway, but that’s not my decision to make. That driveway, though, still resonates with me as a very special and hallowed place. Whether shooting hoops or playing endless Wiffle Ball games, that sheet of asphalt was a major part of my life. Now, it belongs to someone else.

Our plans for Friday night were based around a trip to Forest Park and the St. Louis Muny Opera. We decided to go a bit early, just to make sure we could find a place to park on the street near the front entrance to The Muny, and we were early enough for me to offer a quick drive through the park to show Barbara around. Once off the interstate, we were a bit stunned to see so many people flocking to the park and jamming the roads. There was, apparently, a big event going on in front of the Art Museum on the long slope known as Art Hill, and The Muny crowd was also showing up early for the Friday night performance of “The Wiz.” The whole place was jammed.

The Muny is a wonderful place, and one of the most unique stage venues in the country. With 11,000 stadium seats, and with huge trees towering over the stage, it’s a big theater but it feels so cozy you don’t seem to notice how big it is. We were also incredibly lucky with the weather on a Friday night in late June. They start the shows late, at 8:15, to give the typical summer heat and humidity a chance to dissipate. They also have huge fans on large towers throughout the venue as well. On our night, it was 70 degrees and cloudy. You don’t get that lucky in St. Louis that often.

We had time to leisurely stroll into the theater after finding a parking spot only about a half-mile from the entry. And we had time to help out some other patrons, who got out of their car behind us and said, “This is our first time here. Where do we go?” I was happy to point them in the right direction.

We grabbed a couple of glasses of wine and a fruit and cheese plate from a concession stand, surrounded by thousands of others who were also early arrivals, as a band played and the excitement built. Finally, about 30 minutes before the curtain, we found our way to our seats, close to the stage. Neither one of us had ever seen “The Wiz” before, and we were really looking forward to it. We scanned the Playbill to read about the esteemed cast members, and waited for the show to begin.

To sum it up, “The Wiz” was wonderful. The cast was amazing (especially the young woman who played Dorothy and the young man who was the scarecrow) and the presentation of the show was incredibly original and captivating. Everything about it was 5-Stars. We absolutely loved it, as did the rest of the crowd. The standing ovation at the end of the show was very well earned and very heartfelt.

With the capacity crowd all leaving at once, we figured there’d be a bit of a traffic jam getting out, although it was after 10:30 pm by then. As it turned out, with the other stuff going on in the park at the same time we were confronted by the most people I’ve ever seen in Forest Park, all at once. It took 45 minutes just to get to one of the park exits and back on the surface streets. All worth it, though.

Our goal for Saturday was pretty simple. We planned to go to the world-famous St. Louis Zoo, right back there in Forest Park once again. It was another fabulous day, with comfortable temps and low humidity. I checked to see if that really meant it was the end of the world or if I’d read the calendar wrong, because weather like that in late June is pretty unheard of in The Gateway City. It was also Saturday. It was also just after the end of the school year. We, therefore, weren’t the only people planning to visit the St. Louis Zoo.

I figured that out as we exited the highway at Hampton Avenue. Traffic was backed up to the end of the off-ramp. And it wasn’t moving. It was, basically, gridlock. It took us 20 minutes just to get to the top of the ramp, but the incoming crowd just got more difficult when we got there. And when I looked across the Hampton Ave. overpass, to the south side of the highway, I could see an endless line of cars looking to park over there. That’s a LONG walk, but it was clear the park and The Zoo were already nearing capacity. We decided, sadly, to put off our zoo visit for another trip.

We decided to visit Grant’s Farm, which is a wildlife refuge and an historic park built originally by Ulysses S. Grant. His log cabin is there, and the main ornamental gate to the park has been the scene of a number of television commercials starring the Anheuser Busch clydesdales. If you remember shots of the clydesdales pulling the Budweiser beer wagon, as they traipse through a large park gate, that’s Grant’s Farm. The Busch family still owns the place, and it’s a real St. Louis landmark. It’s also free, just like the St. Louis Zoo.

I had to do some internal GPS reckoning to find my way there, but a mile from the turn into the parking area we faced the same type of gridlock we’d just escaped from at the zoo. Again, everyone in St. Louis seemed to have the same ideas we had. After sitting completely still for 20 minutes, we bailed out of the line of cars and went straight, instead. By doing that, at least Barbara got to see the log cabin, the main gate, and much of the park, and after that I used my still functioning local knowledge to drive all the way around the park, so that we ended up on the other side of the traffic. The parking lots were full, so we didn’t plan to tour the park, but the large pastures on that side of Grant’s Farm are home to many generations of Clydesdales. They have a very good life. I think the ones who live at Grant’s Farm have just one “job” and it doesn’t entail pulling the Budweiser beer wagon. Their job is to make new Clydesdales, and a couple of examples of their hard work were galloping around the pastures.

By then, we were hungry and we needed to figure out Plan C, since Plan A and Plan B had not panned out. We headed to Steak ‘n Shake. The steakburgers and chili were magnificent. Over that fine lunch, we decided to head west to Defiance, Missouri. Defiance is a small little town about 20 miles out of town, and it’s a burgeoning wine area. Sounded good to us! We plotted out our route over the last few french fries, and then hit the road.

Our first stop, upon arrival, was Defiance Ridge Winery. It was so fun we stayed for an hour. There was a band playing, lots of happy people, and even a wedding party going on. And, the winery is really new but they have a creative business model going. It takes many years to get a new vineyard to a point where it can produce enough good grapes to sustain a winery. In some cases, it takes decades. So, Defiance Ridge decided to build the facilities and open to the public right away. For now, while they nurture the vines and establish the wine-making part of the business, they’re operating as more of a massive and scenic wine bar. They do tastings and serve food, while also selling wine from other regions, including Sonoma/Napa and Walla Walla. It was really fun.

We then drove further down the road to the little town of Augusta, which also features some wineries but above and beyond that it’s just a fun little town with a lot of antique stores.

We strolled around and browsed through one large store, looking at things that ranged from the 1800s to the 1970s, and it was great. I even bought a vintage 1940s baseball glove for $15.

The glove was mislabeled as a “catcher’s mitt” but it was clearly an old infielder’s model. At $15 it was too cool to pass up. The woman who owned the store only bargained a bit (we got it for $14) but her rationale for holding firm was “But it’s so cute and it’s in great shape.” I could sense that it was just an old “cute” glove to her. I didn’t think she really knew what she had. There aren’t that many of these old 1940s gloves around anymore.

After we got it, I showed Barbara why I wanted it. It was not a professional player’s glove, but it was a real and authentic glove from that era. Someone played some serious baseball with it, and it was very true to its age. The Rawlings logo on the strap was weathered and worn, which just added to the patina, in my opinion. Then, I looked closer at the pocket of the glove.

The branded inscription on the inside of the little finger caught my eye. It was hard to read, but in the right light I could see that it said, “Mister Shortstop” and under that was a script “autograph” which read “Martin Marion.” I knew I’d gotten a good deal.

Marty Marion was one of the best shortstops to ever play for the Cardinals, and he was one of my father’s teammates in the 1940s. Like the Wilbers, the Marions also put down roots in suburban St. Louis and as a kid it was quite a regular deal for us to head over to the Marions’ house in Ladue, just north of Kirkwood. Marty had been a real star for the Cardinals, and the trappings of stardom were obvious. They lived on a private street and had a kidney-shaped swimming pool behind their house! And they had a color TV. Sitting in their beautiful living room one evening, I watched color TV for the first time. The program was “Bonanza.”  I still remember that fact to this day. We very much liked going to the Marions’ house.

To be clear, this glove didn’t belong to Marty. It was a very real glove that saw a lot of action, but it was endorsed by Marty. Not many big league players had endorsement deals with Rawlings back then, but Marty was a big enough star to land one. I’d bet the kid who played with this Marty Marion glove also owned a Stan Musial bat, or maybe a Mickey Mantle Louisville Slugger. Everyone wanted a Mickey Mantle bat. I’m happy to now own this glove. I keep waiting for it to tell me its full historic story. I’d love to know it.

After leaving Augusta, we headed back to Kirkwood and parked the car. Then, a fun little walking tour of the main part of downtown Kirkwood, where I could point out every business and tell Barbara what used to be there. They are mostly boutiques and restaurants now, but in my childhood they were small local department stores, a Rexall drug store, the bakery, a hardware store, Velvet Freeze Ice Cream, and Casey’s Sporting Goods, where my dad worked in the winter to make a little money during the off-season, when he wasn’t scouting or managing. All vivid memories for me. And the town looks absolutely fabulous. Kirkwood has never looked better, and we even found a really good Mexican restaurant for an early dinner. It was all good. All very good.

For the record, St. Louis in general is really looking good these days. It’s vibrant, fun, and more attractive than I can ever remember. And with Farotto’s still in business, while Ted Drewe’s Frozen Custard stand also beckons (yeah, we made a stop there too) there’s always a reason to go. Maybe next time we’ll actually set foot inside the St. Louis Zoo. And the Delmar Loop area. And the Soulard area. Maybe the Central West End. And I can always handle another trip to The Muny. Can’t wait to get back.

When we got back home, we had a meeting on Monday with a landscaper who has been listening to some things we want to get done in our backyard. Some of it is just to improve the views, and some of the project will fix some issues we’ve had since we moved in. In Minnesota, we have a very real thing called “frost heave” and it strikes during the winters when the moist soil freezes and expands. It can do a lot of damage if the soil isn’t prepped correctly for things like concrete patios or deck posts. Apparently, our backyard wasn’t prepped all that well. So, in the next month or so these guys are going to come and do a complete backyard makeover for us. It should be really cool when it’s done, and we finalized everything at the meeting. It’ll be a mess for a week or so, but when they’re done I’ll have some great “before and after” photos to share.

That’s it for this week. I’ll be back next Thursday with more nonsense.

Until then, please click the “Like” button at the top if you read this and enjoyed it. The more “likes” the merrier for bloggers like me. See you in a week!

Bob Wilber, at your service and back home in Minnesota after being back home in St. Louis.