I take my humble vittles and my camera and do the tourista thing down by the river.  It’s about a 5 minute walk to the arch, the Old Court House (wherein man’s inhumanity to man was confirmed and later made into a destination for bored school children), and a couple of happily placed casinos, not to mention the area that the office is in, although Laclede’s Landing does tend to be a bit of a  frat boy’s drunken girlfriend type destination.

First, a few photos of the arch that anyone who’s been there with a camera has in thier collection…

and this..

and this…

and also this…

One of my favorite little places is a secret little nook right on the riverfront.  The riverfront’s not much to look at, by the way.   It’s more of a rubblefront, really.  Well, don’t take my word for it, have a look.  That leg you see there is a supporting pilon to the Eads Bridge.  Right next to it is a lovely monument erected for the commemeration of the Lewis and Clark expidition into the west. 

I was on top of ol’ Smokey, all covered with freeze…  Mountain that is.  Traffic jams.  Dolly-land. 

My girlfriend and I (and to be clear, she’s a GIRL who happens to be my FRIEND, ahem), jumped in the car for an impromptu roadtrip.  From St. Louis, Missouri to just outside the Cherokee reservation in Tennessee we soldiered through traffic jams, kudzu and bear/tourist traps.

All through the drive once we hit mid Illinois we started to see this vine growing over everything.  It smothered the trees, brought them down and made it impossible for anything else to grow.  To add insult to injury, instead of turning a pretty color with the fall leaves, it just turned brown and died.  Worse still, where humans had tried to beat this scourge back by ripping the vine away, the earth was laid bare and erosion swept the topsoil away.  If you can identify this scoundrel let the world know.  It’s us or it! “Governor Governor!  What about the vine, Governor?!”

Just a few samples of what we saw on our way in…..

  And this little jem was shot when we finally got to the end of a traffic jam on a skinny one lane road through the Smokies. 

Seems some folks are dumb enough to tie up an entire artery of interstate highway by stopping their car on an ‘effing mountain to look at some poor bear up a tree.  Poor little thing was 90 feet up and terrified.  I’m sure he was unable to get out of that tree till nightfall.  It added up to an hour delay for us and worse for those going the other direction.   Asshats…

 This enterprising little fellow we found staked out in front of a Hardies inside the Cherokee reservation.  Pretty clever really.  Here he is being treated to a burger on me.

Kate and I enjoyed the trails throughout the park.  The lower portions we were just in time to see colors at their peak.  By the next day a cold front had blown through and damped down the colors quite a bit. 

By far the highlight of the day was Clingman’s Dome, the highest point on the range.   As we drove our winding way through the mountains, we kept catching glimpses of frosty white at the peak of some of the mountains.  We chased a few twisties around and found this…

About a half mile from where the above was taken, the peak met the clouds and the winds became fierce.  It’s recommended never to be caught on the mountain without rain gear, as it does rain about 300 days out of the year.  This high the snow dappled us as it did the trees.   It kinda looked like Mt. Doom!

The next day we spent mostly tooling around town.  I got myself some moccasins and we had a nice meal at a cute little cabin.  I don’t know that I’d call sliced ham a “pork tenderloin” but it was worth about the 10 bucks they charged, so no hard feelings. 

Then it was back on the road, for which I was grateful as the Cards were playing on without me!  That’s it. 

Just another little something to make everyone jealous.  I had the opportunity to go to the North Carolina outer-banks early this summer.  We beat the crowds which was very nice.  Nothing but sand, storms and fishing.

The unfortunate creature featured above is a Mai-Mai.  He changed colors from rainbow as he fought the hook, to yellow as he approached the boat to grey when he…well when he died.  But he was still delish!

I have to say that perhaps the most enjoyable part of the trip was my turn to cook dinner for our party of 8.   This handsome man is my fella.  Please don’t be fooled by the fact I’ve managed to squash the photo!  Most unflattering!  I appologise my dear.

I prepared pork tenderloin with an apricot glaze, yams as a side and 2 “made from scratch” apple pies.  Few people travel with a rolling pin.  Fewer still would put it to good use!

First a little catching up.  The Card’s have been burning it up this post season.  This underdog thing seems to suit them much better than the “Team of Destiny” crap.  Here we are at the World Series again for the second time in 3 years and we might actually win the darn thing this time.

  I am so spoiled.  First they get a 105 win season, then we get into the World Series (twice) and we get a new stadium!!!  If I’m not careful I’m gonna think this is the usual.  If we’re not scoring some rafter bling it’s a wasted season! 

Well, I didn’t get World Series tickets, but I did get opening day tic’s and pic’s (which you see here).  That’s almost better.  There’s only one opening day in a new stadium! Thanks mightily to my baby, baseball tzar and mentor, my boo! He went to no small length of trouble, I am sure, to surprise me with this once and a lifetime treat. Thanks forever PK!

Game 4 is in St. Louis today, barring another rainout.  I’ll be watching with my baseball sensei, Patrick.  Suppan’s pitching.  Maybe some of what was on Carpenter’s glove in game 3 will get on him and not whatever was on Kenny Rodger’s hand in game 2.  Cheater!  Oh my god!  “Pinetar backdoor slider!”  Like the world wouldn’t see that crap gooped on his hand. 

Bottom line, if the series comes down to a game 7 and the Card’s lose, no-one will forget that little incident and yet another championship will go down in asterisk infamy.  If the Card’s win…eh.  The weather was crazy that night in Detriot (40 degrees with rain and 60mph gusts), so maybe he felt he needed an edge.  Thing is Rodger’s is a studly enough pitcher not to need that crap.  As it was the Card’s were getting so absolutely shut down in game 2 that I tuned out the radio.  Just as well, I was on a road trip and my companion is a heretic.  She doesn’t like baseball.

The road trip was lovely and the Smokey Mountains were well worth missing a game, but I sure was happy to see that it was raining all the way back into Missouri yesterday.  First stop we had in Illinois I had to ask what I had missed.  A kind young man told me about Carpenter’s 3 hit shutout and the possibility of a rainout that night.  Hallelujah.  The baseball gods were smiling down upon me.  I would be back in time to see game 4.

So tonight I’ll tape a Scott Spot on myself and one big stripe for the car and head on down to the local dive for the game if the weather holds.  Oh baby, I think we may pull this one through!

 Tigers in 3 my ass…

But guess what?  I will.  Goddamnit fuck and all I want to use my camera. 

Long story short: I will be posting photos soon.  That is all.

With what turns out to be surprisingly little effort, the novice can leap from mear imaginings of fish frys (I had never attended one, a genuine one) to eager pilgrim at some of the best fry’s anywhere on this earth. 

A simple and vague Google search managed to find relevant and charmingly homegrown “reviews” of the churches for a 30 mile wide circle around the city proper.  In fact, it is nothing out of the ordinary for a family to jump in the minivan and travel a great distance out of thier way to get what they consider the best. 

Rather than rely exclusively on the word of the soulless computer, I tapped into my not inconsiderable list of contacts.  If you want to know whats going on downtown, around town or anything whatsoever in the realm of “shared community experiences”,  your undisputed best choice is to talk to the ladies at any governemnt office building.  My particular exposure to this trove was obstensively with the St. Louis City PD, but lately with City, County and Federal courts in our area.  And if you’re sweet to these people, I mean if you are really nice and get to know them, they hold the key to the universe.  They can rescue you from the vortex of the automated phone line, they can tell you where stuff is at in a 20 floor building, they can tell you what you need and what it will cost…important shit!  They can tell you where to find a parking place downtown during an afternoon Cardinal’s ball game and they can tell you where to find a goddamn good fish fry.

The County Court had more insight concerning old-world gems located just outside city limits.  Places like Arnold, Kirkwood, Fenton and Valley Park.  Places that are very much out of the city’s influence, but beloved by its citizens because the churches are as old as the small counties they were founded in.  The reviered fish frys in these places retain thier European flare as the slow growth of thier communities has held together the ethnic families of those who founded them.  Echoes of German, Greek, Irish and every other great fishers of fry are heard all up and down the whole St. Louis area.  A family in south city St. Louis can find itself hungering for the offerings of what thier great grandmom taught them a fish fry was all about and end up piling in the car. Thus the “a touch out of town” fish fry becomes a worthy quest. 

But oh boy the city!  The city is where it’s at.  Always has been, always will be.  There have been church going’s-on here since there were fur trappers enough to sit still in one place.  All I had to do was ask the innocent question, “Where do you go?”, and words of praise and loyalty tumble out of urbanite’s mouths.  Joan of Arc in South City, St. Pius of Midtown, mighty cathedrals which have stood for generations and fear no man!  And honey, they been frying up fish since forever.  The City Court clerks had no problem at all giving me a pocket full of recommendations. 

I have plans to enjoy St. Ferdinand 40 years running fish fry over in Florissant.  It will be my birthday.  I believe I will have a fine time at that!  This Friday I’ll shoot for something local.  I’d like to hit a fry for every friday I can manage. 

I have a fun little disposable camera that maybe I won’t feel too obnoxious using as I visit these wonders.  If anything comes of that I will share it with you.

 Nobody seems to want to give an official number, but the 2006 St. Louis Mardi Gras was an undisputed blowout.  Last year brought out half a million mostly local partiers, but with ‘Orleans being a little under the weather, our city definitely saw a swelling of the ranks. 

In 27 years our celebration has become second largest in the nation, and we may have even temporarily taken the title of largest this go around.  What makes the St. Louis celebration special is the wonderful Soulard neighborhood the parade travels through.  Dense urban buildings and local flavor seasons the fun as house parties spill out of hundred year old brownstones. 

Unfortunately, the celebration may be a victim of its own success.  Residents of the French quarter Soulard are growing increasingly intolerant of the parade’s destruction.  Public urination, crime and the inevitable chaos of such an event is prompting residents to call for a change in the parade’s route. 

The Soulard neighborhood is typically laid back, having bars on every corner, and is known for its eclectic French flair.  But if the Mardi Gras celebration continues to grow it may finally break the pateince of the locals.  Unfortunately, moving the parade elsewhere would destroy that special something that caused the St. Louis Mardi Gras celebration to become the biggest and best of 2006.

 And it is done!  The Tom Tom GPS device is mine!  Happy early birthday to meeee!  Well, I got lost again yesterday, so this little toy is gonna totally change my life.  Which will make me nearly perfect.  Thank you Patrick Person for the gift of Whereabouts. 

Still haven’t gotten the oil changed though.  And it won’t happen this weekend cuz its MARDI GRAS TIME!!!  I’ve got to borrow a camera for that.  Wouldn’t want my loyal followers to miss all that revilry.  And in the spirit of Fat Tuesday, I’m going to drink, eat and party…and go back on a diet.  Yeah yeah, I don’t want to hear about it. 

Speaking of revilry, I think I may also buy tickets for the Cardinal minor league expo game in our new stadium.  Only 10 dollars a ticket, and its the closest I’ll get to an opening day presence.  If there was even a way to get hold of opening day tickets I’d probably sell the damn things at a rediculouly high mark up…then again maybe not.  A couple years ago I stood in line for Worlds Series tickets here in St. Louis.  I never got the tickets, but staying up all night in the company of the Cardinal faithful was more fun possibly then the actual game might have been.  But at any rate the plan was always to buy 3 tickets and sell the 3rd on ebay.  That year tickets were going at such a rate that I could have bought a car with the profits!  Its too bad they won’t be selling World Series street level like that again.  There were thousands of people there, it was a blast.  The end of an era. 

But, at any rate I might suprise the boyfriend with tickets to the expo game.  I’ll have to make sure the game’s on a weekend.  The new stadium is so beautiful, I can’t wait to go!

The GPS thingy also means no fun camera for taking pics of cookies for e-bay store.  At least not yet.  Its ok, it will just have to wait a little longer.  I can always borrow a friends camera.  I want to get those pictures taken by mid March, to catch the beginning of wedding season.  So, there’s plenty of time to get it done.

Now, if I can just get the oil in my auto changed finally, this will be a good week.  Gotta baby my car now, or I am up a creek!  I guess that also means I gotta stop burying the needle on the highway.  Which can happen if I get the GPS thingy.  See?  Circle of life.  It is written.  It is meant to be. 

Well, at least I’m living rent free…

 A bit of fine news today, the Cardinals pitching staff reports to Jupiter, FL for spring training!  I’m thinking about scrapbooking the whole season this year.  We’ve an entirely new bullpen for the most part.  This is a shiny new team and I’m looking forward to what goodies Walt Jockety has brought us. 

I’ve got to start going over LSAT materials.  I’m starting to fall behind here, I need to have all my applications in by August at the latest, so I’ve got to get on with it. 

If I can just win the 360 MILLION lottery, then I wont worry about it.  I promise to share.