St. Louis - Day 3

We are back in good ole Lincoln tonight - unpacked, first load of laundry done and have sifted through the mail. On our drive home, we made a brief detour to visit and have lunch with our aunt/uncle, Elaine and Bob Smart, at their new home in Fulton, Missouri.

Before getting ahead of myself, I will back track to yesterday's activities in St. Louis, which included visiting the St. Louis Basilica, a tour of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery, a Riverboat Cruise on the Mississippi and a nice dinner at the Carmine's Steakhouse.

The Anheuser-Busch Brewery included a lot of walking and I did very well. There were between 50-60 people in our tour group. The tours leave every 20 minutes, so you can only imagine how many tourists they attract on a daily basis. The tour started at the Clydesdale's stables. The cleanest barn I've ever seen in my life. We got to see the packaging process in action and that was very impressive. At the conclusion of the tour we enjoyed our two free samples of Budweiser beer.

Mike decided we should spend our last night in St. Louis dining at an upscale restaurant. Carmine's Steakhouse was the selection and within walking distance from our hotel. The restaurant was very nice - prestine napkins, comfortable seating, dimmed lighting - you get the idea. The staff was VERY attentive and were waiting in the wings to pick up each place setting as the meal progressed, as well as refilling my water after each sip. What seemed really odd was the music. Both Mike and I commented that the 90's "rock" music seemed really off-color for the setting. Right before we were about to leave, what appeared to be the manager of the restaurant, made a mad dash for the area behind the bar where the music selections were apparently predetermined. Several of the wait staff were laughing hysterically. It appeared as though a joke had been played with the music selection. As we left the restaurant, the manager thanked us for coming and said "Sorry for the Snoop Dog folks!"

I've attached a few of our favorite pictures from the trip.

The rest of Day 2 in St. Louis

Mike went against everything vacation stands for and exercised today. He ran two miles in the hotel's workout room. Maybe part of me is a litte jealous that I'm not quite ready for that yet. Probably should "walk before I run" as a continue to heal.

After Mike's second shower for the day, we hailed a cab and headed for Union Station. It kind of reminded me of the one in Washington D.C., but on a smaller scale, and the biggest difference being that there aren't any active trains through this one. It did have a lot of shopping and restaurants. We stopped at Houlihan's (Mike had been there on a trip to St. Louis in a past life - before Lisa) to have what he claimed was the best Bloody Mary ever. We sat outside on the patio and watched people in paddle boats in the little pond built in the middle of Union Station.

For our pre-game festivities, we headed to J.Bucks for a soda and some food. Jack Buck was a long-time announcer for the Cardinals and his son, Joe Buck, is one you would recognize from TV - Fox Sports (play-by-play announcer for professional football and baseball).

Outside of the stadium tonight, there were 3 different wedding parties catching a nice little photo opportunity. Not something you see very often at a ball park!

Our seats were behind home plate (up a few sections, but really good seats), whereas last night, we were in a lower section along the first base line. I forgot to mention in my last post that there were several foul balls into our section last night. In fact, one of them, just 5 rows above us, hit a guy in the face (we think it might have first brushed past someone's hand). He grabbed for his nose and was escorted by medical personnel. That is why "heads up" really means "heads down". Not quite as much drama in the stands for tonight's game. It was exciting, though, as we saw 2 home runs. The Cardinals pulled off another win, 9-4.

Tomorrow we're off to tour the Budweiser brewery! Mike can't wait for the free samples!!!!!

St. Louis - Day 1 & part of Day 2

We made it safely to St. Louis around 4:30pm yesterday. Mike was a good driver and I'd like to think I was a good rider. The back/foot cooperated well. We made a couple stops for bathroom breaks, for lunch and to stretch! I learned that Interstate 70 through Missouri is FULL of billboards. I was entertained for hours! The iPod got a workout. However, I've determined there are 3 country songs to every non-country! Thank goodness for a little Lady Gaga here and there.

Last night's St. Louis Cardinals game did not disappoint. Albert Pujols hit a bottom of the ninth, walk-off, home run to win the game, 3-2.

Due to continued numbness in my foot, I'm still limited on the shoes I can wear. I have a pair of Sketchers that seem to work best. However, I always wear them with socks. Mike told me I looked like Michael Jackson yesterday (black shoes, with white socks). For fashion sake, I ditched the socks prior to the game. In the short walk to Busch Stadium, I quickly discovered the lack of socks was festering a blister on the back of each foot. $11.00 dollars later I was the proud owner of a pair of St. Louis Cardinals socks. Mike says this is the start of an entire wardrobe. He's clearly forgotten I'm still a Twins fan at heart.

The alarm went off early this morning, as we heard the tickets to the top of the Arch sell out fast. We were there by 8:00am (it's literally right across the street from our hotel). We were to the top of the Arch by 8:15am. I didn't look "up" as we walked toward the Arch this morning, so that I wouldn't chicken out in agreeing to the trip up. It was well worth it. A great view of St. Louis (and Illinois to the east). When back down on the ground, we watched a brief documentary detailing the building of the Arch. What an unbelievable construction process!

We're headed to another Cardinals game tonight...hoping for another win.

One millimeter

Quick doctor update...I had my 6 week appointment with Dr. Noble last week. He seemed pleased that I gradually regained more feeling and strength in my leg and foot. I expressed my disappointment in the slow progress to which he explained a nerve will only heal at the pace of one MILLIMETER per day. Yikes. He further advised a nerve injury will continue to heal at that pace for up to 18 months (after which, there is little hope of further healing). Taking the "glass half full" outlook, two positive items come to mind: (1) look at the progress I've made in the first six weeks - even at a mere millimeter per day, another few months should work wonders; (2) I'm thankful for my height - a shorter leg translates to a shorter nerve, meaning there's a limit to the "millimeters" of nerve running down my leg. Dr. Noble suggested taking a Vitamin B pill each day. Some studies show that can accelerate the healing, although he made no promises. He said it's worth a try...can't hurt! He was, however, concerned that my foot is swelling so much each day (any time that I'm not horizontal). He thinks it is more of a circulation issue, so I'm wearing some sexy knee-high diabetic/circulation socks these days. I haven't taken a pain pill, nor used the crutches, in over a week!!! WoooooHooooo!

The Princesses visit Nebraska

We had such a fun time with our weekend visitors!!! Mom, Dad, Ann, Addeson & Hadley made the long trek to see us! They managed to keep Hadley strapped down in a car seat for 5 hours. That is no easy task with an active one-year old!!! Hadley wasn't so sure of us when she first arrived, but by the time she left, she was freely giving lots of kisses. Addeson has become such an independent and imaginative little girl. She loves to color. We have three beautiful pictures on our refrigerator to show off her work. With the new tea set from Grandma Nancy, she played for hours. She was great at making chocolate and strawberry soup, "princess" tea and noodles with sauce. We enjoyed several trips to the park, played with the new sprinkler in the backyard and the grown-ups even got out of the house for a few shopping trips. Ann and Mike took turns pushing me in a wheelchair in Kohl's. (Note: Kohl's happens to be a favorite store of mine and I hadn't been there for 3+ months due to my back issues!) The weekend flew by entirely too quickly. Our house is too quiet without the princesses. We can't wait to see them again soon!

For those not familiar with Runza, it's a Nebraska-based fast food restaurant with a featured sandwich which is a mix of sauerkraft and beef. Derrick tried a "Runza" at a Nebraska football game a few years ago and he wasn't a fan. It's been a bit of a running joke since then. As you can tell from the pictures, his daughters feel otherwise. They LOVE Runza!!!!!!