Saint Louis Countdown... Rambling update 1

[Randy & Betty in Pa]

Morning all... Looking at my calendar we leave for St. Louis in 50 days... God I'm not even packed yet... Don't have a thing to wear... Haven't decided yet what motel to stay in that dosen't discriminate against American Veterans that happen to smoke...So much to do so much to do....We are leaving on Monday the 16th and will be stopping about half way for a night and a day... Not sure where yet but we are gonna do some touristy stuff enroute.... Tuesday the 17th we will probably have White Castles for dinner or some other meal/s....

I am planning on borrowing brother Georges laptop if its working so we can give a blow by blow of the trip and event... Anyway thats where things stand now.... We anticipate hitting St. Louis sometime on the 18th...and staying until the 20th... Anybody heading to St. Louis if you want our cell phone numbers drop us an e-mail and we will get them to you...

Those of you that are sitting on the fence about wether to go or not.... it's time to do something or get off the pot... this is gonna be a good time for the first half of the two or three part "Crazed Rudies Tour 2008" (which will end at Pittsburger in August, except for those that it ends at Bethlehem Pa at Leiderplatz.... Think of you best reason you can't go then just say "*$@% it, I'm going anyway".....

Anyone else ready to hit the road??? Check your check list...

We look forward to seeing the klump of you....:eek:

Can't wait... Can't wait....


Best to all

R.

[KarenSews2]

Yep! When I spoke with Marcia yesterday, I told her I'd see her in less than 2 months! I'll still have my buddy, "Cane," with me, but Terrie and I will be there! Yeee haaaa!

Randy, I'm glad you're having the White Castles 2 days before the concert! Maybe they will have "worn off" by then! ;) Maybe we should clink a couple of sliders in a toast to our favorite pirate cap'n!

[Oak Kitten]

I am stressing over all these predictions about how horrible air travel is going to be this summer. If my flight should get cancelled, I am SCREWED. I absolutely HATE not being in control of things. There are really no alternatives, I just have to have faith that the flight will leave on schedule, and I won't get bumped for someone paying full fare, etc. Believe me, they will have a shituation on their hands if they mess with me. Think happy thoughts, think happy thoughts, think happy thoughts. . .

Oak

[hoops]

happy thoughts
peace
hoops

[Bat]

Well, Oak, you could always go a couple days early...but, no. You'll be just fine, I feel it in my bones...we'll see you there in high good dudgeon on the appointed date! ;)

[DaveM]

Wouldn't mind if the Cap'n put in at St. Louis--I'd be most interested in his opinion of the ribs down there. Always enjoyed them myself, but I'm no expert.

How many are going with me to the top of the Arch? It'll be my first time since 1994.

The way I see it...my flight is going to be free. And if they screw that one up I'll start complaining again and possibly manage another free trip. Either that or I'll have to find another airline to complain about next time.

[KarenSews2]

How many are going with me to the top of the Arch? It'll be my first time since 1994.



Nope. Won't be me. The last time I was up there, it might have been in '81, feeling the sway of it made me swear I'd never go up again. Also, hearing that people were stuck in those tiny "cars" (I forget when) really creeped me out!

Nope, not me! But thanks for asking! ;)

[Randy & Betty in Pa]

Just 49 days til we hit the road!!!!!


Nope. Won't be me. The last time I was up there, it might have been in '81, feeling the sway of it made me swear I'd never go up again. Also, hearing that people were stuck in those tiny "cars" (I forget when) really creeped me out!

Nope, not me! But thanks for asking! ;)

Let others go up... I'll be munching away at one of the eleven White Castles in St. Louis!!!!

Best....

R. from Pa....

[RedjackRyan]

Wouldn't mind if the Cap'n put in at St. Louis--I'd be most interested in his opinion of the ribs down there. Always enjoyed them myself, but I'm no expert.




St Louis BBQ is nice, i'm more of a Memphis style fan myself.. but there is room in my world (and belly) for BBQ in *ALL* of its forms.

I gave up fighting the war over who has the best quite a while ago, the only stuff i'm not in love with is Texas BBQ which i find over-smoked.. But i've never turned down a plate full of Texas Que either!

[DaveM]

Nice thing about Texas barbecue is that one can enjoy it merely by sitting downwind....no need to eat at all.

Apparently, the St. Louis Arch was originally going to be located in Kansas City. Residents of Kansas City, land of 10,000 Barbecue Joints, said that if the monument was going to be built there, it would have to be a grill.

Kansas City, conversely, is also where McDonald's first tested the McRib. Why, I have no idea (as a marketing test, it was an utter failure).

Kansas City is also where I was taught the basic rules of finding a good barbecue joint (or by extension, pretty much any good off-the-beaten restaurant) in a strange town:

1: Find the worst neighborhood in town (mind, I would not try this in St. Louis).

2: Locate several barbecue joints which look as if they might not be safe to enter. Select the worst (if the place appears to be abandoned, but there are lights on, that is a plus).

3: If there are half a dozen motorcycles parked out in front, the food will be very good. If one of the motorcycles has had a wheel removed and is sitting on concrete blocks, it will be VERY good indeed. Just make sure to ask permission before ordering if most of the patrons are wearing the same color jackets.

This also works very well for finding good steaks in Texas.

[hoops]

davem, i find you can always get reliable directions at places like this too. also in places where no one speaks english, they know thee quickest directions too.
peace
hoops

[DaveM]

Very true, very true.

I was once in the middle of nowhere looking for a decent place to eat when I came upon a small town with the usual pre-fab crap out on the highway--McDonald's, Sonic, Arby's, Taco Bell, etc. I wanted REAL food, so I circled a few blocks and found a dimply-lit joint with longhorns over the door, plus motorcycles, cop cars, and tractor-trailer rigs in the parking lot. I knew that had to be the place.

And it was....specialty of the house: New York strip, $7.99 including salad bar. And a pure bargain even though the salad bar was the sort of place best kept upwind out of, not something you'd consider eating from. Had a fine old time enjoying that steak while two of the servers loudly regaled a bunch of bikers at one table with lengthy accounts of how they were saving money to have their "boobs done".

Sometimes if you want a really good meal, you have to assume that whatever class folks may have is generally left somewhere in the parking lot.

[Randy & Betty in Pa]

48 days and counting til liftoff....

[RedjackRyan]

1: Find the worst neighborhood in town (mind, I would not try this in St. Louis).

2: Locate several barbecue joints which look as if they might not be safe to enter. Select the worst (if the place appears to be abandoned, but there are lights on, that is a plus).





There's a lotta truth in those statements.. Best Mexican i've had outside of Mexico came out of a little hole in the wall in DC that looked as if it should have been condemned ten years prior.

I follow the golden rule when travelling/eating.. eat where the locals eat and avoid the tourist traps. Eat *what* the locals eat.. no matter what you may personally think of it, these folks have been eating it for a long time and like it. Its obviously good.. try it, if you don't like it you can always order pizza later.

[DaveM]

Good point, Cap'n. When entering a restaurant in a strange town, take a good look at what other people are ordering. If 90% of the diners in a restaurant are ordering the same thing....DON'T order something else.

An Easterner visited a small town Minnesota restaurant some years ago and after dinner ordered a Cherry Heering sundae for dessert. This being a good Lutheran restaurant, the server had no idea what he was talking about, but when he insisted, took the order anyway. And a few minutes later, delivered to his table a bowl of vanilla ice cream with a neat ring of pickled herring pieces around the edge and a cherry set on top. (stolen shamelessly from Garrison Keillor)