April 5, 2019
I flew from San Diego to Phoenix and then from Phoenix to St. Louis.   Fortunately, it was uneventful.   After checking into the City Place Hotel, I spent some time at their bar.   I met a couple who lived on a farm in northern Iowa.   It was fascinating listening to stories about their lives and experiences there.   When I told them my story, they gave me one of their two Cardinals schedules that was on a refrigerator magnet that they were given the previous day during the season opener.   "Thank you very much!"   After returning to my room, I went to the front desk and asked where I could go to eat dinner and have some drinks.   (Yes, more drinks.)   They suggested that I go to Washington Street to check out restaurants and bars between 5th Street and 13th Street.   So, I did.   I found a place named Flanery's and hung out there.   The bartender said that she and her boyfriend were planning on visiting San Diego during the summer.   So, I asked her for a piece of paper and a pen and I proceeded to write down things to do and see that aren't part of the typical things to do and see in San Diego.   She was VERY thankful.   On my way back to the hotel, about ten blocks away, it was a virtual gauntlet of homeless people in the area.   One man walked about five blocks while chatting with me.   Fortunately, there was a heavy presence of police vehicles along the street, so the situation wasn't as dicey as it might sound.   I returned to my room and got ready for the next day.   It was going to be a biggie!

April 6th
The first thing that I did was to take photos out of my hotel room window.   The first two photos on the 'Pictures' page are the results.   I guess that I got lucky that I had a view of both the stadium and the arch.   After my "interesting" situation while walking down Washington Street, I decided to go to a different area to eat breakfast.   (The hotel didn't have a restaurant.)   I asked the clerk at the desk about it and she suggested that I go to a place named Caleco's.   It was about three blocks away.   I did and it was perfect.   It was decorated identical to the old sitcom 'Cheers'.   I ate breakfast, returned to my room for a while, and then went to Ballpark Village.   Wow, it's impressive!   I probably had the same look on my face when I was about five years old and saw the 40-inch (60 foot long tube) at Yerkes Observatory -- with my jaw hanging wide open.   I strolled through the main area, looking at all of the people, all of the televisions, and, well, all.   After that, I went upstairs to the Cardinals museum.   And "Wow!" again.   I think that it's comprised of 20 rooms, each about 20 feet long by 20 feet wide with a plethora of Cardinals memorabilia.   I won't go into detail about what I saw.   You can see some pictures that I took of its contents on the 'Pictures' page.

While walking through the museum, I encountered an employee, a gentleman in his 70's, who was working there.   I started chatting with him and I didn't stop chatting with him for quite a while.   And it was worth it.   At one point, he said "Do you realize that the game starts in 35 minutes?"   "Oh, damn!   But I've only gone through about half of the museum.   And I haven't even gone through the World Series trophy room yet."   So, I left the museum, planning on returning either later that day or sometime during the next day to go through the rest of the museum.

I walked out of Ballpark Village and across the two-lane street to go through the gates to the stadium.   It was a slight challenge.   I had an electronic ticket that I needed to retrieve from the "Ballpark App" and show to the ticket agent.   So, I connected to a wireless network, opened the app, scrolled to the correct day, and retrieved the ticket.   It's interesting how things would change.   And I was somewhat disappointed because I wanted to have a physical ticket as a souvenir.   That issue would be resolved later and you'll learn how if you continue reading.

I went to the stadium.   Well, you know -- Wow!   It was about 75 degrees when I arrived at my seat.   It was in the last row in the section of the outfield to the left of "The Batter's Eye."   I told the couple next to me that it was my first time to watch a Cardinals game in St. Louis and that I would remain for two innings before getting up to walk around the stadium and see and experience as many things as I could since I was there for only two days.   It was a good thing because I was only in my seat for about 30 minutes and I was already starting to get a sunburn.   I thought "What must it be like during late summer when it was hotter and had much higher humidity?"   Scary.

I could go on and on about the experiences.   Probably the best thing is to recommend going to the 'Pictures' page.   You'll be able to see many things that I saw.   One of the interesting things were the names of the vendor booths.   So, I walked and walked, took pictures and pictures, and just soaked in everything that I could.   I would occasionally leave the "runway" and return to the stadium to watch the game.   The Cardinals didn't win the game, I cared, but as you can imagine, as not as much as when I watch one of the games on either a TV or one of my smart devices.   Oh, did I have fun!

After the game, I wandered around the stadium for a while, taking more photos.   Afterwards, I left the stadium from the same place where I entered and returned to Ballpark Village.   Instead of returning to the museum, I decided to hang out with other Cardinals fans.   So, I went to an outdoor brewpub.   As usual, I listened to others' stories and shared my story.   I met an older couple who lived in St. Louis and the husband grew up in San Diego.   (He went the wrong direction.   Ha!   Ha!)   He gave me his business card and suggested that I call them the next time that I went to The Gateway City.   Soon afterwards, I returned to my hotel and cleaned up.   I decided to check out one of the breweries in the downtown area -- Morgan Street Brewery.   I walked three blocks north, one block east, and two blocks north.   It was shuttered.   Bummer.   I retraced my steps and, halfway back to the hotel, I went into an Irish place named 'Tigin Irish Pub'.   I had dinner there while drinking a Guinness (of course) and watching sports.   I returned to my hotel fairly early, watched a movie, and slept fairly early since tomorrow was (hopefully) going to be another eventful day.

April 7th
I returned to Ballpark Village.   I immediately returned to the museum.   I told the employees at the desk that I wasn't able to see everything in the museum during the previous day and wanted to know if I would need to buy another ticket to go through the rest of it.   "No problem." It was a good example of how accommodating were the Busch Stadium employees.   So, I jumped to the spot where I ended during the previous day.   Wouldn't you know it, I wasn't able to see all of the rest of the museum.   BUT, I did get to the World Series trophy room.   Wow!   I went to the stadium.   Hey, Waino pitched that day!   That was an extra Bucket List checkoff to personally witness him on the mound.   That day, I spent more time watching the game.   I would walk around the runway along the field and when I could find a spot in one of the standing room areas, I would pop in there and hang out for a while.   I had a seat in the first baseline area, so that's where I spent most of my time.   In one area, I spoke with an employee who lived with her husband on a farm about 30 miles west of downtown.   I told her stories about my maternal grandfather who was a farmer in northern Illinois.   (There are some funny ones involving bees/wasps, blood, and TNT.)

Afterwards, I walked down the runway towards home plate and found another spot to stand.   While I was standing there, a couple approached me and said that they were leaving and that I could have one of their tickets.   The woman said that is was down the line a short distance from first base and on the fourth row.   Do you remember reading earlier where I wished that I had a physical ticket?   Well, there we are!   I don't have words to describe how great the Bucket List trip was going.   Someone "up there", maybe more than one someone, was/were pulling strings for me.   And it got better because, lo and behold, the Cardinals won the game!   So, I would leave St. Louis having left with a win.   Perfect!

When the game was over, I continued my tour of the stadium.   I walked around the third base side of the lower level, taking picture after picture.   I asked an employee how I could get to "Big Mac Land". He told me and I proceeded to the recommended elevator.   After getting in, there was an older woman operator.   I told her my story about watching a Cardinals game at Busch Stadium for the first time during the previous day.   She said "If that's the case, then I have something for you."   She reached into a bag and pulled out a small piece of paper.   On the paper was instructions about how to go to a Web site, fill out the associated form, and print it out.   It was a certificate for first-timers like me.   Cool!   And you guessed it ... it was one of the first things that I did when I returned to San Diego.   Ha!   Ha!

I proceeded to Big Mac Land and absorbed the birds-eye view of the stadium.   I also took a couple of photos while I was there.   The ushers were closely watching me.   But I think that they realized what was the situation.   After all, I wasn't going to jump since I was wearing a Cardinals jersey and we had just won the game.   As I left the area, I asked a woman usher where I could go to get a view of the city.   She suggested that I go on the same level to the west side.   I did and, well, it wasn't a view of anything too special.   And wow, it was windy!   This time, instead of hanging out with other Cardinals fans in a bar/pub, I walked to the northwest corner of the stadium.   What was there?   It was a collection of the statues of Cardinals who have been inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.   What made it more fun and interesting were all of the kids and people who were playing around and posing with the statues.   You'll a photo of some of them on the 'Pictures' page.

On the way back to my hotel, I took some photos of the construction that was happening at Ballpark Village.   They are building several things including condominiums.   Those will probably end up being the most expensive ones in all of downtown St. Louis.   I returned to my room, changed my clothes, and proceeded to Caleco's.   (Can you tell that I like that place?)   I had dinner there and asked the waitress if there was any place nearby where I could "relax". She suggested walking a couple of blocks down the road to the west.   After finishing eating, I did that.   The only place that I found was a Hooter's.   ("Fine, I'll go there.")   So, I had a couple of Hefeweizen beers made by Boulevard Brewery.   Interestingly, I was one of the few Caucasian people there.   Including the staff.   I returned to the hotel, planning on being a tourist the next day by going to The Arch.

April 8th
I wasn't sure if I was going to go to The Arch.   I looked out the window and I couldn't see it.   Why?   Because of fog.   You'll see what I mean by the photo with the caption "Uh-oh!"   So, I took a shower and returned to my home-away-from-home restaurant.   After finishing, I returned to the hotel.   I asked the clerk when was the latest that I could check out.   She said that it was at noon.   My flight wasn't until about 3:30, so I would have to check out of my room and leave my suitcase at the front desk while I went to The Arch.   And that's what I did.   And fortunately, the fog had cleared while I packed my suitcase.

There were many interesting things about the experience.   It was certainly interesting going up into The Arch.   Do you remember the TV sitcom 'Mork & Mindy'?   If so, do you remember the egg-shaped vessel that Mork rode from Ork to the earth?   I don't remember its name, but that's what the five of us rode up and down The Arch.   And it seemed to be barely larger than the one-man ship that Mork rode.   Nevertheless, it got us to the top.   And what a great view it is from the top!   Looking east, one can see the Mississippi River and East St. Louis.   To the west, one can see most of downtown St. Louis, including Busch Stadium.   Once again, if you go to the 'Pictures' page, you can see associated photos.   Maybe equally interesting as going up and down in The Arch is the museum that is located underground under The Arch.   If you go, I recommend setting aside at least one hour to spend in it.   It contains a lot of photos, stories, artifacts, and even a full-size log cabin.   It was definitely worth the (current) $8 for all of it.   Note: If you Google "map of St. Louis" and then click on the associated graphic, you might get a photo of downtown St. Louis that is nearly exactly the same photo that I took of the area while at the top of The Arch.

Here are some fun facts about The Gateway Arch --

1. It is 630 feet high and 630 feet wide
2. It is a 4-minute ride to the top and a 4-minute ride to the bottom
3. It is an elevator/escalator/ferris wheel-type ride
4. It is a 10-minute walk from the stadium
5. It was originally built in 1963 to honor Thomas Jefferson