Meet Me in St. Louis

I spent some time this weekend in St. Louis with my friend, Kate, and I had an absolute blast! Kate and I had a great time catching up on life's happenings while enjoying the city. I have been to St. Louis a few times, but only really experienced the Budweiser tour, Cardinals vs. Phillies games, the Arch, and the riverfront. This time, I saw an entirely new area of the city, thanks to Kate, and it was great fun.

We spent some time exploring Wash U (Kate's alma mater and current employer), wandering the shops in the Loop, eating Ted Drewes custard, touring Schlafly Bottleworks, and enjoying the night life in Blueberry Hill. In essence, I got to experience an entirely new St. Louis. I absolutely love this. I love playing tourist and seeing the sites that everyone knows about, but I also love touring a friend's city, and seeing his or her favorite places - Kate was a great tour guide and I really enjoyed everything we saw and experienced.

The trip also helps give me some reference on what I am looking for in a future home, after my upcoming stop with my family. Each new place I see or hear about via a friend gives me more to consider in terms of what I am looking for in a new city or town and what that might mean for my quality of life. This information is certainly valuable.

Each experience I have, though, usually has some unpredictable moment. For Kate and I, this came during our taste-testing after our tour at Schafly Bottleworks. One of the other tourists asked the guide to sample only the foam of the beer. Honestly, he said, "I'd like just the foam" and the guide kindly complied with his request. Twice. I may not be a beer conossieur, but I've been around enough alcohol in my day to know this is behavior that can be considered quite odd.

Makes for an interesting story in an excellent weekend. Thanks, Kate!