Robert Reiss Travel Blog and Other Ramblings

Today we visited the WW II museum.  I won’t say anything cutesy about that.  It is an amazing tribute to so many people who died and suffered through 4 very dark years of the world’s history.  When it was first suggested as a possibility I wasn’t all that interested in going but I’m very glad I did.  I managed to get a great shot of the bomber from WW II known as “Overexposed”.  Note Patrice posing near the cockpit.

The Mud Island River Museum was open today.  We went.  That about sums it up.

Baseball is over for a while so I am at Patrice’s mercy for the next two plus weeks.  Today she wanted to visit the Mud Island River Museum (hmmm, can I read my book there?).  The museum is a short walk from the hotel and IT IS CLOSED ON MONDAYS!   A little reprieve for me, even if only for one day.  On our way back to the hotel we found that Memphis has a Fire Museum (see below).  The museum houses a series of exhibits including old firefighter equipment, videos and a wonderful memorial to the 343 firefighters who died in the 9/11 tragedy.  Some of the information made me wonder about the intelligence of the people living in this town (notice the 911 information sign below).  Like most museums you exit into the gift shop so I made myself an honorary member of the Memphis FD (see below).

After a brief rest at the hotel we met our guide for the Barbecue Tasting Tour provided by http://www.Tastinroundtown.com.  Tours are limited to 12 people and the idea of being carted around town eating BBQ cuisine sounded like fun.  We arrived promptly at the meeting place but wondered if we made a mistake since no one else was there.  Our guide, Lance, welcomed us to the tour and told us we were the only people who had signed up.  We had our personal chauffeur and tour guide.  Lance is Italian and originally from New York and got to Memphis 6 years ago via Indiana and Chicago.  He certainly could have made me believe he was a native from Memphis since he was a cornucopia of information about Memphis history and culture.  He filled us in on the subtle differences between the various BBQ offerings in the city and how they differ from what we would encounter in Kansas City, Texas and other places.  Not only was he informative he was quite funny. That’s him pictured with us below.

After the BBQ tour we went back to the hotel to work out and to see if we could break even for the day caloric wise (not a chance of that).  Feeling much less guilty now and wondering were we might find some pecan pie.

Robert

We found St. Louis to be a wonderful city.  The town is very clean and we did not see any graffiti.  Traffic was incredibly light even near the stadium on game day.  Fans at the stadium were quite pleasant to us even though I was proudly wearing my Pirate shirt (see the picture below).  I suppose the fact that the Cards took the Bucs down 3 times over the weekend allowed them to be quite magnanimous.  But best of all in 35 innings of baseball (isn’t Patrice amazing) I did not see one beachball (Apparently that is a Dodger fan abomination).

Interesting side note to the game.  It was the first time in Cardinal history that the team swept a 3 game series in which all the games went extra innings.  It was the first time it happened in the majors since Cincinnati accomplished the feat in 1925.  It was great to be a witness to history but I just wish the Pirates were on the opposite end of those 3 straight 1 run extra inning games.   A St. Louis beer vendor was definitely enjoying his work (see the video below).

Enough about St. Louis now it is on to Memphis.  Four hours down Highway 55 and we are now at the Peabody Hotel.  For those of you who followed our Pseudo Freedom Trail Ride in 2014 you might remember we stayed here then.  The hotel is incredibly luxurious.  Our room is magnificent.  They offered to upgrade us to the concierge level for a mere $250 extra per night.  We decided to take a pass.

Our last night in St. Louis I had an incredible dream that included former NYC Major John Lindsay, Bruce Jenner, a Psychotic Homeless Man, Tomatoes, my dad and a half dollar.  I got up early and wrote all about it.  Patrice said it was interesting but didn’t have anything to do with travel.  I agreed and wrote the above instead.

Until tomorrow when we visit,

Robert

Yesterday, after getting settled at the hotel we headed to the Gateway Arch.  From afar this is a beautiful sight (see attached).  Up close it is also very pretty but the 4 minute trip to the top is a different story.  First we had to wait on line with a group of middle schoolers who must have forgotten to take their Ritalin in the morning.  After about a 20 minute wait with these kids we were crammed into a cubicle for 5 (but much more appropriate for 2) for the four minute ride to the top.  Once at the summit we found loads of people struggling to see out of the tiny windows.  The views were nice but getting a chance to enjoy them was slim.

After the Arch we made it to the nearby courthouse where Dred Scott and his wife Harriett first pled their case for freedom in 1846.  It was 11 years later that Judge Taney presided over the Supreme Court which decided that Dred was just property and not a human worthy of the rights of other men.

We then headed to Busch Stadium to watch the Pirates vs the Cards.  I only wish the game was as great as our seats.  The Bucs lost in extra innings 2-1.  We saw all the action seated so close to the Pirate dugout we could almost smell the tobacco juice.

We had a near tragic problem at the game.  We didn’t anticipate extra innings and Patrice’s Kindle battery almost died.  Luckily we went to “Free Phone Charger Night” (see attached) and disaster was averted.

Today was a case of deja vu all over again, when the Pirates lost to the Cards 2-1 in extra innings.  Although the games have been less than I had hoped (there is always tomorrow) I did find the stadium and game day experience very enjoyable.  Our seats have been fantastic.  Busch Stadium is beautiful inside and out.  Inside it is filled with a sea of red except for me in my Pirate shirt and Patrice in her matching yellow and black (see attached).  We will do our best tomorrow to change the karma before we head south to Memphis.

Robert

Well we did it.  We got up and out extremely early to get to LAX for our 6:10 AM flight.  It was shocking to see, but the airport was packed.  Luckily our driver was a crazed madman and got us to the American Airlines terminal in plenty of time to catch our flight.

We purchased coach tickets and hoped to get upgraded to First Class thinking, who would want to go to St. Louis especially at 6:10 AM?  Well that question was quickly answered, lots of people!  Not only was First Class full but we were 9th and 10th on the list to be upgraded. Only a natural disaster would have allowed us to advance.  Who are these people and why in the world would they want to go to St. Louis?  Do they know something I don’t?  No worries we are comfortably crammed into coach.  So far I have only been hit 3 times by the flight attendants walking by and I am sure the 4 year old sitting behind me will eventually stop kicking my seat.  All that doesn’t matter, we are on vacation and I have internet access at 30,000 feet above Arizona.  Oops, we are over Colorado now.  This has been a fun flight so far having seen the Grand Canyon and now the Rockies (see below).

Patrice and I are excited about starting our trip and look forward to seeing the Pirates crush the Cardinals.  The baseball fans among you might be saying I am delusional since the Cards are loaded and off to a great start while the Bucs just dropped 2 out of 3 to the Cubbies.  Well things are different when we are at the game.  The Pirates have won 8 of the last 9 games I have attended (including coming back from 4-0 and 6-0 deficits in 2 of them) and they are 3-0 when Patrice is at the game).  Tonight will be no different.

Enough for now.  I need to get back to my book and try to not think about how to strangle a 4 year old.

Robert (sending this from 30,000 feet over the Earth’s surface.  Sorry I can’t get over how cool this is).

This is my first Travel Blog post.  I am quite thrilled that so many of you have subscribed.  Except for my mother, I have been quite astounded that anyone really cares about my trips or what I have to say.  What started out as a way for me to keep my mom in touch with her baby has grown into a labor of love.  I really enjoy the entries and find myself thinking about what to write during the day as I experience my trips.

I am just learning how to use the blog so things might not always look pretty.  So please accept my apologies for now if things don’t look very professional. Right now I will settle for goodish grammar.  Well, at least accurate shpelling.  I’ll try real hard to make good righting.

The plans for this trip started many months ago.  Those of you who have been on my email list since the 2012 “Hall of Fame Tour” recall that I enjoy baseball. I have long thought it would be fun to see a game in every Major League baseball stadium.  When the MLB schedule was unveiled and I saw that the Pirates would be in St. Louis in early May I said “Great!” and the National Park Tour was born.  After all baseball is played in a park and the Cardinals are in the National League so where better to start a National Park tour but in Busch Stadium in St. Louis?  Yes, yes, Patrice is with me so this will include those other less important kinds of national parks, but more about them later.

Our flight to St. Louis departs at 6:10 AM so goodnight to all.  This morning’s earthquake reminded me we were still in good old Los Angeles and it is time to get out of town.

Robert

To paraphrase Lennon and McCartney, “Been away so long we hardly knew the place, gee it’s great to be back home”.

Sorry about the little April Fool’s joke yesterday.  It certainly got a huge response so it is good to know that people are still readIng this drivel.