Hands of Friendship

Next stop was St. Louis for a brief visit.  We parked ourselves in the Hollywood Casino parking lot (hollywoodcasinostlouis.com/) located just north of the city limits where we spent a few weeks last year as you may recall.  We weren’t sure how long we’d be able to stay here but figured we’d make the most of the free camping until they kicked us out or it was time for us to move on.

As with all of our St. Louis stays, we were busy every day with one or both of us catching up with friends plus Russ was even able to fit in a round of golf.  I caught up with “the bowling team gals” on Halloween and enjoyed some yummy treats that had been
      brought for all to share.  Six of us went to high school together but only one is on the bowling team, the others just showed up to see me!  Pam had to leave early but I was able to snatch a picture of us with Gloria.
 

   Of course we made our usual stop at Lombardo’s Restaurant (www.lombardosrestaurants.com/) to see Carmen and Angelo and enjoy some of the best Italian food around.  We also were able to attend the 60^th birthday party for some of Russ’ high school mates
   that was being held at the San Bar Tavern in the old neighborhood.  Lots of good food and of course lots of beer!  And we met up with Bob and Mike one afternoon at the VFW for a few more brewskies and enjoyed their fish fry.

 

   The main thing I was looking forward to this trip was a visit to the Missouri Botanical Gardens (www.missouribotanicalgarden.org) known informally as Shaw’s Garden, which is how we always referred to it growing up.  I was going to meet Gloria, Diane, Diane, Dana, and Pam there so we could visit the celebration of life brick
engraved with the name of our dear high school friend, Ellen Culliton, who passed away nearly 2 years ago.  They had been trying to meet up with her sister to do this for some time, and we decided to do it when I came into town no matter what.  As it turned out, her sister and at the last minute one of the Dianes couldn’t make it, but we ventured on and had a great time.

 

I thought it would just be engraved with something like “in memory of”, but it was a replica of her actual signature. Can’t tell you how much that moved me because it was such a personal reflection of her. We wanted to get a picture of all of us with the brick, and someone came up with the brilliant idea of taking a photo of our hands encircling and touching it.

 

You could spend hours at the Gardens, but we knew we’d only be there for a short time this trip.  Turns out it was the closing weekend for the Children’s Garden that we passed along the way, and since none of us had ever been in there, we decided to check it out.  It’s really a cool little area, very educational, informative, and fun for kids of all ages as you can see by these pictures!  We had a blast and know that Ellen would have enjoyed our craziness. 
After walking around for a little while longer, we decided to eat lunch at the Sassafras Café located right there at the Gardens.  It was truly a wonderfully special day with beautiful weather and great friends.

Of course we couldn’t be in St. Louis without a visit to Russ’ brother and his wife.  They live in the city of Wentzville, and it’s always a nice drive to get to their farm.  Ron greeted us by videotaping us as we got out of the car (what a character).  We had a
      great visit over the next several hours and I managed to at least get a picture with Jackie because Ron had already left to go check on his cows.  A farmer’s work is never done!
 

 

   Diane and her sister were hosting a Bunco party while I was in town, and naturally I added it to the calendar.  This was only my second ever Bunco party, the first having been at their house 3 years ago.  It's a pretty simple dice rolling game, but basically it’s just an excuse to eat, drink, and be merry!  Since a few had either
never played before or it had been awhile, Pat was great at explaining the rules, and if you didn’t understand, you could catch on pretty quickly with the help of your tablemates.  And while I was having fun with the girls, Russ and a couple of buddies checked out the casino…good times!

It’s funny how last minute changes in plans can be such fun.  My Sunday was unexpectedly free, and Gloria was the one person who was also available last minute to go exploring.  We were staying only about 5 minutes across the river from historic town of St. Charles, Missouri’s first state capital
      (1821-1826), and though it’s pretty cosmopolitan now, there’s a great little historic Main Street area with brick lined streets, old buildings, unique specialty shops, and plenty of restaurants/bars.  Plan to do a lot of walking if you go because parking is at a premium,
      and the shops go on for several blocks.  Gloria said that a mutual friend had started working at a place called Thistle & Clover, and though she wasn’t working that day, we thought we’d check it out which took us into the small world category.  I knew that one of our
   campground co-hosts in Yellowstone this summer lived in St. Charles but wasn’t sure where.  Lo and behold Marilyn works at this exact same shop!  What a wonderful surprise to run into each other!  Gloria and I spent the next
several hours checking out many of the shops, sightseeing, chatting, and just hanging out.  We found a great little “hole-in-the-wall” place called Lloyd & Harry’s Bar & Grill for lunch, a lively place with really good, cheap food and drinks.  We each had a burger and fries along with a good sized Bloody Mary, and our entire bill was $11 plus tip!!

 

Before leaving town we met Judy, Jim, Patty, and Steve for dinner at Favazza’s Italian Restaurant (www.favazzas.com).  It was a lovely evening though we’ve now learned that Jim cannot be in charge of taking photos.  The one he took of us girls was so blurred that we are unrecognizable, but here’s a nice one of the guys…hanging on Steve’s every word. J

 

We crammed a lot into such a short stay, and this doesn't even cover watching Cardinals baseball (they lost the Series L)and Tigers football games either at the RV with friends or at Steve and Patty’s (and a special thanks to them for letting us use their washer/dryer!).  The weather cooperated for the most part and was beautiful though one night it did drop to 28 degrees, and with no hookups, it did get a little chilly in the RV.  Guess it was time to head to Florida!

M-I-Z! ... Z-O-U!

We arrived at Finger Lakes State Park, about 10 miles north of Columbia, MO, and settled into the same site we occupied last year.  Russ’ alma mater, the University of Missouri (Mizzou), is in Columbia, and this campground was the perfect jumping off point to enjoy campus activities for the next couple of weeks.
FOOTBALL
First up was the Missouri Tigers vs. the Florida Gators football game, and we met Jim and Judy who came in from St. Louis at a nearby parking lot to carpool.  Excitement was in the air as well as some apprehension because our star quarterback had been injured the
      week before, and there was concern whether our red-shirt freshman was up to the challenge.  And the answer…yes he was!  Before a sold-out standing room only crowd of 67,124 he led the Tigers to a decisive 36 - 17 win!! 
   The standard cheer at every Tigers game erupted as the game was ending…one side of the stadium yelling MIZ! with the other responding ZOU! and back and forth it went.

One of the funniest things towards the end of the game was when “We Will Rock You” blared over the loud speakers and nearly all of Tiger nation began mocking the “Gator Chomp” in rhythm to the song.  What’s the Gator Chomp?  A gesture made by Gators fans and
    players performed with fully extended arms, palms facing each other, and opening and closing the arms to imitate an alligator mouth.  OK, probably not good sportsmanship, but sure as heck

Jim & Judy

      funny!  The photos don’t do it justice, but I know you can find a video online to get the full effect.  After- wards the four of us hung out in the parking lot doing a little bit of tailgating while the crowd emptied out.

VOLLEYBALL

The next day was women’s volleyball with the #18 ranked Tigers playing the #2 ranked Florida Gators.  It was being held in the Hearnes Center, and admission was free with our ticket from the football game.  Not having ever attended one of these games, we figured we’re in the area, why not check it out.  If we
got bored, we could always leave.  Well, we have to tell you that this match was one of the most exciting we’ve ever experienced!  We found seats about 10 rows from the floor, and before a crowd of 4,202 (5^th largest in school history for volleyball), the Tigers chomped the Gators 3 sets to 1, keeping their undefeated season alive at 23-0.

As with any college sporting event, it was complete with cheerleaders, mascot (Truman the Tiger), pep band, and student cheering section including the requisite shirtless guys who have letters painted on their chests.  Usually at Mizzou, they spell out something like GO TIGERS, but this crew’s spelled out EAT MOR GATOR!

However, about halfway through the first set, we spotted another 8 guys in the student section with no shirts and couldn’t figure out how we had missed them before.  Concentrating back on the action, it wasn’t till the end of that set when Russ nudged me, and there were the guys wearing only their
    speedos! As it turns out, between each set these members of the men’s swim team put on layers of clothing and then remove one item each time Mizzou scores a point until at point 24 they are down to just their speedos.  What a hoot! 
     Game only goes to 25 and the team has to win by 2 so I’m not sure what they do if it has to go beyond 25!!  At the end of the match, the entire team and student section joined together singing the school song.

Between the 2^nd and 3^rd sets, we were entertained by the Missouri Highsteppers (www.mohighsteppers.org) who range in age from very young through high school age.  The group was founded in 1979, and according to their website “ is a
    contemporary precision dance and drill troupe – performing dance steps, military drill maneuvers, marching steps and choreographed street dance to percussion accompaniment.”  High energy and excellent but about wore me out just watching them!

BASKETBALL

The following Friday was a pre-season exhibition basketball game at Hearnes Center with free admission.  The men’s team was playing the Oklahoma City Stars and won convincingly 73-48 in front of a crowd of 9,222.

     However, before the game the 1993-94 undefeated Missouri Big Eight Conference Championship team was honored.  Pre-game activities included an autograph signing session with the team as
      well as legendary coach, Norm Stewart.  While Russ waited at our seats, I went over to where the signings were taking place to snap some photos.  Several hundred people were lined up and many had
      brought team memorabilia with them to be signed.  Forgot to bring something to be signed?  No problem, 8x11 sheets of Mizzou paper were provided just in case.

Also before the game was a ceremonial jersey presentation to the 1993-94 players and coaches with Coach Stewart receiving his framed. The ceremony began with Truman repelling from the ceiling as he did before every basketball game held in the Hearnes Center
     (now games are held in the much larger Mizzou Arena).  The current team made a double line in front of the “bench” of former players, and as each was announced, they walked through this welcoming
       committee “tunnel” to the cheers of the crowd.  Each player received their jersey from Coach Haith, Mizzou’s current coach, shook hands with Coach Stewart, and then joined each other on the other side of the floor.  During timeouts in the
game, highlights from the 32-year history of basketball at Hearne’s Center were shown on the jumbotron and Coach Stewart addressed the fans at halftime.  This tribute to such a great team was truly wonderful and well done.


   One of the student cheering sections is “The Antlers”, and we noticed that there were quite a few “older” guys in the mix. Being homecoming weekend, obviously they were former Antlers.  This group formed in 1976 and is well known for their constant and obnoxious taunting of opponents. 

HOMECOMING

Did you know that Mizzou is credited with holding the very first homecoming in 1911?  As mentioned above, this was homecoming weekend, and the next morning was the parade.  Since this was going to be a very long day, we took Abby with us. 
     We found a great spot to set up our chairs, and Abby made a quick friend in Jonah, who spent most of the parade hanging with her and missing much of it.  Initially we had an unobstructed view but gradually little kids went in front of us to get
    the candy being thrown, which was fine because they’re short, but then the adults decided they needed to be there, too.  Pretty soon our terrific view was completely obstructed unless we stood up and even then at times.  The Tigers would be playing the Gamecocks, and a few floats had fun with that idea.

We had decided not to attend the football game but arranged to bring our TV and satellite dish to Doug’s tailgate party and watch it outside with him.  Doug is a friend of Jim and Judy’s whom we met last year when he hosted a tailgate before a game we attended.  Since this was going to be an evening game, it
    gave us plenty of time to make sure the TV setup would work correctly using our portable inverter and Doug’s car battery.  Evidently we misjudged how long it would run without being recharged, and suddenly the TV went dead and then his car wouldn’t start so we had to use Jim’s car for a


Our host, Doug

jump.  The rest of the day was spent partying and watching football games with good friends and making new ones.  Jim’s son, a graduate of Missouri, even showed up in a rented tiger outfit!  Abby was worn out from the morning’s activities and spent most of the day resting when she wasn’t getting attention from all the passersby.

At game time it was just the 3 of us while the others went inside to watch #5 ranked Missouri Tigers take on the #21 ranked South Carolina Gamecocks in front of another sold out standing room only crowd.  Though it had been a beautiful day, the temperature dropped once the sun went down, and we bundled up accordingly.  At the end of the 3^rd quarter the Tigers were up 17 - 0 but let the Gamecocks score an unanswered 17 points in the 4^th taking the game into overtime.  Not one, but two.  But our field goal kicker’s 24-yard shot bounced off the uprights, and the game was over….Gamecocks 27, Tigers 24.  Quite a devastating loss.  The Tigers season was nowhere near over, but it was still a setback.  As those 67,124 fans left the stadium, the silence was deafening.  The only sound in the parking lot was the Cardinals/Red Sox World Series game emanating from our TV.  It was a somber after party waiting for the crowds to leave, but at least we had a little to smile about as our team at least won that game.