St. Louis, Part One: Sights in the City

Another chance to get away this summer came in the form of yet another city: St. Louis. I'd never been there before and I had a great time. Today I'll focus on sights and interesting people, with a small surprise Knoxville connection at the end. Mostly, today will be about pictures.

The first morning I ran into the Oscar Meyer Mobile parked right in front of the hotel! I didn't get to ride in it, but it brought smiles to everyone who saw it. What a cool job it would be to drive it around!

Next, I couldn't resist taking a picture of this young man. Who said the book is dead? This little guy followed his mother and sister into Starbucks without moving his eyes from the book from the car to his seat. He wouldn't even acknowledge the strange guy taking his picture. The book is The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick and it is a great book for people about his age (or older, open minded people). It is being made into a movie directed by Martin Scorsese set for release next year.

Of course, I had to see the arch. I mean, it's no Sunsphere, but if you are in Saint Louis, well, you get the idea. I'm pretty pleased with the photos, though I realize its been photographed millions of times and I probably haven't added anything new to the collection. I particularly liked the photograph of the arch inside the arch. That was taken from the exit stairwell from the train. Worth mentioning for Knoxville: They don't have a subway, but they have a couple of trains that run east-west through the city. Why couldn't Knoxville do that? We have underutilized tracks that run from East Knoxville to Farragut. So, here are my arch pictures:

Of course, I'm a magnet for unusual people, and the guy below initiated a conversation by asking if I knew who won the baseball game the previous night (I didn't). Inevitably, we started talking about music. He said his name was P-Funk and that he played bass with George Clinton (of Parliament Funkadelic for those of you not schooled on funk) among many others. After Googling the name on the back of his jacket (Professor Mitch Wadley), it appeared that there was a bit of truth to some of what he told us. The guys at the local record store confirmed that he had played with George Clinton, but that the other 95% of what he told us was suspect. Who cares, it was fun talking music with him.

Later evidence was presented that St. Louis residents bike - or used to. Remember children, when in the city always lock up your bike!

Finally, the little Knoxville link: When waiting for a show which will be the topic of "St. Louis, Part Two," in a place called "Blueberry Hill," which has one of the most amazing collections of memorabilia of every sort that I've ever seen. Among the memorabilia was the little poster below, under which I happened to wait with a friend for nearly three hours to get a good seat at the show. Recognize the Knoxville business in the small print of the poster? That's right, it's Yee Haw Industries, with their unmistakable style, from our very own Gay Street!