It should come as a surprise to no one that i have been planning a trip to St Louis, Missouri, for close to two years now. Without making too many sacrifices, i now have managed to save enough for the trip -- the air & train fare and five or six nights in a not-too-shabby hotel not too far away from downtown. I still have other expenses to look after: a new passport, new glasses (so that i can see what i'm looking at) and Cate will have to be boarded for a week -- oh, and i'll need to eat and drink and play tourist whilst i'm there! Things are progressing slowly but steadily and the trip is now, tentatively, planned for the third week in September. (The Cardinals play at home all that week.)
The "sacrifices" weren't all that rigorous, either. Instead of going out to lunch once a week, i've been going out once a month. Savings: $90 a month. (I'm quite happy to pay $30 for lunch, i believe that the three hour lunch is wonderful invention.) And instead of going out for a couple of beers after work 4 / 5 times a week, i've been limiting myself to thrice. Savings: $18 - $36 a week (i drink a premium ale, for my sins). It's extraordinary how quickly it adds up!
And so, on Saturday, i was at Kelsey's, having a couple of beers after work (my 3rd and final visit of last week), when my phone went (imitates ringtone) VOOM VOOM VOO VOO VOOM. (My ringtone is Tom Robinson's "2-4-6-8 Motorway", if anyone was wondering what the hell i was trying to do just there.) It was a message from my friend Chuck, in Belleville, Illinois, just across the river from St Louis. He was wondering if i'd settled on the date(s) for my visit? I replied, no, but it'll be sometime in September. He messaged back, do you have accommodation settled, to which i replied, no. Dave (a mutual friend) had offered me a place to crash in St Clair, Missouri, but there's no way to get from St Clair to St Louis unless you have a car (and i don't even drive) so that wasn't really a viable option. So i told him about the research i'd done into hotels and he wrote: save your money. I have a spare bedroom. It's sorted! Bless you, Chuck!
Belleville -- which looks like a very pretty town -- (oh, look, here's a pic!)
is considered a part of St Louis Metro East and is served by MetroLink (the public transit system there) so getting back and forth will be no problem at all. I have so much to do, but the process is well underway!
And here's a (very short, since my last post was yesterday) playlist:
Richard Thompson -- Daring Adventures
Steve Rothery -- The Ghosts Of Pripyat
Peter Hammill -- And Close As This
1 comment:
And, to paraphrase the old saying: "You CAN get there (St. Louis) from here (Belleville)!"
SO glad to be able to offer you a flop for the week while you're here, Richard!
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