Party in the USA

Fourth of July
07.04.2010

Photograph by OldDogPhotography.com

On July 4th I had to work. From noon until 6 I was in the office doing lock outs, making room cards, and watching Hulu. I made a few trips around campus visiting the BBQs of different camps that are here this summer, since I knew most of the RAs. 

After work, my and my boyfriend made dinner - pasta! - and we, along with a few friends, drove down to the St. Louis Arch to watch the fireworks.

I've heard that the July 4th celebration in St. Louis was big. I didn't imagine the amount of people who would be downtown though. St. Louis as a city isn't what I am used to as a city. The times that I have been downtown, there hasn't been huge crowds - unless a Cardinals game was ending. But that day, the city poured in.  


After finding a place to park, we walked down to the park and the arch. Along the way there were concession stands, families gathering, and picnics. Right below the arch was a huge concert by the B52s. The place was packed! It was pretty cool actually to just be around everyone! We went around the concert and found a stop at the top of the steps that go down to the river. 

Photo by www.childgrove.org

The fireworks were great. They fire them off a barge in the middle of the Mississippi Rover. We had a great view right in front of the Arch and it was beautiful. I was so happy to share this with friends and of course, my boy =) Happy 4th of July


Ah and later that night? Sonic Run!
 

Rolling Down the River

Chain of Rocks Bridge
06.16.2010

Another adventure time! This time it was my friend's idea to check out one of the largest pedestrian bridges in the world - The Chain of Rocks Bridge. This bridge goes across the Mississippi River, only allows bikers and walkers across it, and it makes a 22 degree turn in the middle.

According to Wikipedia, this bridge was built in 1929 and was a part of US Route 66. Like my friend said today, Route 66 is made into such a big deal over here! Granted, at that time it was a big deal and it still is a major highway. It is just that when you go around all the different attractions in St. Louis, a lot of them are either around or involved with Route 66.

I digress. So four of us drove down to the river. We didn't know exactly where we were going but that was ok! We obviously knew it was along the river somewhere so we just followed it north. We did find a few fun sights along the way - like a bus lot with the sign "Did You Check Your Bus for Sleeping Students" - what a gem.

We finally did find the bridge and took a walk across. Along the way there were a few signs, benches, and an old gas pump station that talked a bit about Route 66. We also saw a bike rack that marked the state line between Missouri and Illinois. On the other side of the bridge is an island park. We didn't stay - not really sure what was there actually - but took the trip back across the bridge. I feel like I got another piece of St. Louis history!

National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows

06.18.2010

My friends John and Angela told me that they wanted to go see one of the largest outdoor shrines in North America and of course, I had to check it out too! We drove down to see the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows, which is a Catholic Shrine in Belleville, Illinois. Being that I am not religious, I am not familiar with anything Catholic so I wasn't exactly sure what were the significances of what we were seeing. Regardless, it was a really cool place. It is a huge estate with a church, outdoor amphitheater, chapels, and of course, shrines. Everything was constructed in beautiful architecture. It was a very peaceful place and I can understand how it became a place of worship.

www.snow.org

The outdoor amphitheater. It looked like a play was going to be performed on that stage. We also discovered that under this stage were some chapels - gorgeous chapels. 

© Fayrouz Hancock / newseagles.com

The Bells of at the Annunciation Garden.

© Fayrouz Hancock / newseagles.com

The Resurrection Garden

© Fayrouz Hancock / newseagles.com

This rock had three holes inside it that looked like a face. Just saying.

The Millennium Spire

© Fayrouz Hancock / newseagles.com

I really liked this sculpture. It was across the field from the Amphitheater and I loved the simplicity of it. Fun fact - below the spire was this large room of candles. Not really sure what it is for but hey, there were candles all over the place - they must put it somewhere! 

© Fayrouz Hancock / newseagles.com

This is the Hand Sculpture at the Children's Memorial Garden. I don't really know anything about this piece but it was a big scary to see it as we were driving out of the place.

Exploring Below the Earth

Meramec Caverns
Tuesday, June 08

Time for another day trip! Nate, Angela, and I decided yesterday to go on another adventure and we drove to the Meramec Caverns. These caves have a lot of history and so I don't mess it up because I don't remember it all - http://www.americascave.com/history.php - What I do remember is that...

- The famous Jesse James escaped from the caves
- A short clip of the Lassie Movie is shot there
- Parts of the movie the Cave was suppose to be shot there but they decided not to because they were afraid people would be afraid of the caverns after seeing the movie
- The caves were discovered in two levels - upper level and then the lower level where the river ran through
- There is a rock formation called the Wine Table that was made all naturally, one of two in the entire world- and two highschool kids cracked it because they were doing pull-ups

Not my photo (will post from my trip soon!) but here is a shot of

inside the cavern!

We get to the place after about an hour drive and stopped at the restaurant. Got some good simple burgers and were ready to check out the caverns. Our tour guide is best described by Nate who said he was "delightfully awkward". Very true. We were in a small tour of only five people and our guide looked very young. I know he had a script to follow but the way he delivered everything was great. The jokes were funny and we actually laughed because he was the one saying them. He was really good though as he brought us through the caves. There was a lot of cool stuff down there and I really enjoyed learning all the facts (I know I am a bit of a dork).

Best part of the tour was the last stop. We get to the largest cave formation in the world - the Stage Curtain. It really is a very beautiful piece. There were seats set up like a theater and the tour guide told us that he was going to play two songs for us. The last song was God Bless America and it included a 18 switch light show that required our guide to manually flip the switches in time to music. I admit, it was pretty good - and really funny.


Anheuser Busch Brewery
Tuesday, June 08


After our tour, I got excited and saw some Rock Candy which I had to get, and then we were off to another trip! We decided to stop at the Anheuser Busch Brewery in downtown St. Louis. It is one of five AB brewery's that give tours to visitors, all free. The place was very nice - everything had the AB logo, it had a hint of the classic, with a lot of brass and gold. Everything smells like hops which I found that I enjoy - maybe not a smell I want around all day but it was warm and very aromatic. We saw the Clydesdale horses who were so gorgeous and huge! They also had the dalmatians running around. 

We got to see the packaging line (which Angela was super excited for!), the places were the beer is stored, where and how the ingredients are put together, and just how the process works. It was fun, something you don't really get a chance to see, and hey - I'm coming back next year when I can get my two free beer tastings. =)



Food!
Tuesday, June 08


It isn't a full day without food! I spent the night at my friend's apartment and we decided to cook dinner. I have come to really enjoy cooking and it is a lot of fun to see what you can make. There is such a great satisfaction in creating something and then eating it. We decided to make some pasta and veggies and then we came back to my place, baked sugar cookies and watched Glee. It may not sound like a lot but it was perfect.

Country from her cowboy boots to her down home roots

Wild Country

June 4th, 2010

So I have tried to explain this place to a few friends back home in Jersey before and it is difficult. Wild Country is a country themed night club in Collinsville, IL where most of the dancing is line dancing. It is 18+ club with a bar, stage, live band, stripper pole, second story balcony, televisions, and such. On some days they have a mechanical bull, on Fridays they have their Thong-a-thon Contest (yes it is what you are thinking), and other events throughout the weeks like karaoke, pool contests, concerts, etc. 

This is a picture from wildcountrynightclub.com of 

what the club looks like inside.

It is a lot of fun! Went with a group of people yesterday and it was only my third time ever. How it generally works is that for most of the songs, people start up one of the line dances and everyone else follows. There are always a group of people that know what they are doing (they must be regulars) and know all the dances. I have to say, I am getting better! I remember a few! It is always hilarious to try to follow along as they spin and twirl and kick their feet. 

Blurry but this is from the last time I went!

My first experience seeing the Thong-a-thon Contest. 

The people that show up to this place is just as entertaining to watch. There are a few that dress up - blue jeans, cowboy hats, gold belt buckles, boots, the works. But I've seen a lot of different styles. Basketball jerseys with backwards baseball caps, semiformal dresses, short mini skirts and club style attire - I have even seen a girl in an old fashion fringe jean jacket with a sequin skirt. So for this trip, I was well aware that it really doesn't matter what you wear - there will always be someone dressed more ridiculously than you. I think it is part of the place's charm! A lot of interesting people of all ages come together - local people that have known about this place for awhile, college students who are completely new to such thing, and everyone in between. 

At the club, my friend Nate and John decided to get drinks...in plastic boots! And an extremely long strong. Fun souvenir. We danced for awhile - I find it a lot of fun to try and pick up new dances, occasionally saying sorry to the people I bump into trying to keep up.

Friday, like I mentioned before, is also the Thong-a-thon event. This is where they get 10 girls to get up on stage and have judges vote on who looks the best in a thong. Now when I first heard this, it didn't bother me. Well it of course bothered me but it got the same reaction as telling me about strip clubs - I know about it. I know these things exist and people participate, it is how it is. But seeing an event like this with your own eyes, it is something different. I think what actually got to me was the commentary. Girls showing off their bodies and guys hootin' and hollarin' at them is not new - I'm not naive. But hearing that damn DJ talking about these girls and their bodies, was gross. And those girls who got up there...well I will save that lecture.

We didn't stay very long - long enough to see the first girl strip down to bra and thong. First time I saw this contest - we watched halfway. Saw some interesting girls. Saw a girl who wore two panties (talk about being prepared) and a girl who flashed her nipples. She got disqualified interesting enough. As disgusted as I was - it was definitely an experience! I will leave it at that.

Wild Country - Check! Though I am sure going to go back. This is what going to school in Missouri has done to a simple Jersey Girl.

Don't really have pictures from this trip but here is one of

me and my ChiO/Beta Family at Wild Country the last time!

Island, Bean, Beach, Food - Chicago

Memorial Day Weekend and I spent it in Chicago! I decided to go visit my best friend, Zee, from high school who goes to school in there. Took the Megabus over at 1 in the morning. The time doesn't bug me that much, it is just that I hate long bus rides. I find them incredibly uncomfortable. Same with airplane rides. Got to her place at 7 in the morning and crash for a few hours. Second best sleep over the weekend. Best is coming up. Showered and got ready to go out at around noon. Breakfast was a great Einstein's Cinnamon Sugar Bagel. We then headed to one of UChicago's Faternity parties - Island. 

Has anyone seen the show Greek? This reminded me of a Kappa Tau party. The pledges dug a moat in the backyard in which had a three legged turtle in it (wah? I don't know). There was a band playing, BBQ, and just a ton of silly people. I was looking around for Cappie. It was a lotta fun though. Met a bunch of people, I was someone's best friend for about five minutes, drank a lot, didn't get dunked in the moat thankfully, ice luged, and all that fun stuff. It was so....Greek =P

Me and Zee at Island! They had two locations for more errr refreshments.

Yes, we kinda match. Love her

Needless to say, we crashed mucho early. Before napping though we got Harold's Chicken! Great stuff I tell you. It is becoming a tradition of ours to get Harold's Chicken when I visit. It is basically fried chicken in this type of BBQ sauce, fries, and bread. Yummy.

Best sleep? That was nap after chicken. Knocked out like no other. Unfortunately, waking up wasn't fun.  

Into the City of Chicago - Millennium Park

This cool Dino in Millennium Park - It says Made in China on its belly.

Next morning (today), more like afternoon by the time we got up. Zee took me around Chicago. I've only been to the city one before and hadn't really seen anything past UChicago. It was a beautiful day and I was excited to be exploring the city. Zee was like my personal tour guide - minus the matching tshirts and tacky double decker buses (actually that would have been fun).

We went to Millennium Park - a must stop for all tourists of course. It had a lot of really cool sculptures and architecture. And speaking of cool sculptures - of course we had to go see...

The Bean!

Another staple of Chicago. It really is super cool. I of course hit my head on the Bean as we were trying to take cool reflection pictures. Bahh. Aside from the park we took a walk by the Chicago River, which I learned gets turned Green for St. Patty's day, Navy Pier (cute touristy place where I got a Chicago Keychain!) and North Ave Beach! 

  

Now when you say Chicago, I don't think Beach. I kind of forget that the Lakes are near by. But the beach was really nice! We went to North Av Beach where you are right next to the skyscrapers of the city. We sunbathed for awhile - I realized that I have a bandaid tan line on my leg - and just enjoyed the sun. Got to wear my new bathing suit! Yep, I am such a girl.

Me and Starfruit! Oooh I think I look a little tanner!

After the beach we headed to Chinatown! We took a pitstop at Startfruit, this very yummy froyo place. Technically I learned that it isn't froyo but Kefer. Either way, it was really refreshing especially on a 80 degree weather day. I got the pomegranate flavored one with chocolate chips and Zee got a smoothie. I want more. 

Chinatown was next! *insert Asian joke here*  It reminded me actually a bit of Chinatown in New York actually. We stopped at this rather popular restuarant for dinner. I got this Beef specialty noodle soup - it came in a bowl the size of a sink basin. OMG I just remembered that I have leftovers in the fridge. That makes me super excited.

Exhausted after a day of being a tourist but it was a very good weekend! Loved seeing my Zee and spending the weekend partying and sight seeing! Chicago is so fitting for her and I can see why she likes it so much. There is so much going on in this City that I definitely want to come back. Not in the winter - not a very friendly person when it is cold. 

Later Chicago!!!!