The near South, the Police, the Cheese.

I spent a pretty good two-ish days in St. Louis this week. Did lots of things and had lots of fun, found a new favorite beer. I went to the zoo, the art museum, two great concerts, and the St. Louis arch. Saw fireworks, visited a wonderful record store, enjoyed some good music and company, visited a marvelous bar, got hit on a little bit. Spent too much time in the car but it was worth it. Slept but not much. Took lots of pictures, snuck in a little exercise. Ate and drank decadently, took many pictures.

The bands? The Police (the reason for the trip) and the Goo Goo Dolls (a free outdoor pre-fireworks concert). The Police were awesome, played everything I could have hoped for. The Goo Goo Dolls are not one of my favorite groups, never were, but put on a pretty good show. Both venues (a hockey arena, the arch park) were crammed full of people though the Police show was much more organized.

The social portions of the evening were spent in St. Louis's Delmar district, near Washington College. The establishments visited there, Cicero's and Blueberry Hill in particular, offered wonderful hospitality. The only complaint I had was that Blueberry Hill closed at midnight on Sunday, which forced my cohorts and I to down half a pitcher of beer to save it. Alcohol math: 2 beers / 5 minutes = Jason flash drunk. Someone else drove, thankfully.

We took a walk on Sunday evening and got lost a little bit. Unfamiliar residential areas are trouble, to say the least.

'The Cheese' refers to many well-placed jokes made throughout the trip. I can scarcely remember them now, but one of them was about something being the reward for an acheivement, or 'the cheese'.

All things considered, the trip went pretty well. It was brief but a welcome respite from the rigors of daily life, work, and Iowa in general.

No album review today; the music I listened to on the trip was either random songs or my own.