Aaron and Gabe's adventure to New Busch

Astros · Post by **Astros** » Tue May 06, 2008 6:07 pm

Gabe updated periodically through the day Sunday in his blog. I'm bored so I'll recap our trip.

Thanks to Gabe and our buddy Jon not being outta bed at 10, when we were supposed to leave, we didn't leave until 10:30. The eeeeeee sound I made when passed a dead deer was because there was a car right beside me and the deer was sticking out into our lane so I thought I was gonna hit it. We made good time when I drove but Gabe is a law abiding citizen so he only drove 75 through Illinois as opposed to my 90 through Indiana.

We also spent a good hour and a half trying to explain the IBC and the people in it to Jon. We got to STL in the afternoon and checked into our hotel that Jon's mom paid for so we didn't have to leave after the game was over and drive back home.

We ended up walking 10 or so blocks to Busch from our hotel. The stadium is AWESOME. There is so much cool stuff outside the park, on the sidewalk there's little summaries of important events in Cardinals history listed chronologically, even regular season things like Bob Forsch's no hitter.

We got to the stadium 3 hours before the game. Gabe didn't want to go through the Cards HOF and was too lazy to walk the extra 3 blocks to get to the Arch. Of course as we were leaving yesterday he said "Man I wish we went to the Arch." Lazy. So we just sat outside the stadium until the gates opened. Cards/Cubs is as big a rivalry as there is in baseball, but out here we have a thing called manners and so people are polite to each other. In every group you saw, there were people with Cards gear and people with Cubs gear. It was a really awesome atmosphere. Our seats felt like they were higher than the Arch but you could see everything. We had a great time and Gabe took the Cubs loss well.

If you ever go to a Sunday night game, find food before the game, because if you try to find something to eat after the game, you're gonna drive around STL for an hour trying to find somewhere where the homeless crackheads that sleep in the parks won't stab you. We finally found something and ate. But the journey to find food made me, Gabe and Jon exhausted yesterday. Gabe says I acted like a 3 year old all day because I was cranky. We got home in 4 hours because I drove and that shaved 45 minutes off the trip.

If you ever get an opportunity to go to New Busch, do it. John I know you're going there, so here's some advice. If you need a hotel still, stay at the Millenium. When you watch Cards games, its the hotel that appears to be in the middle of the Arch. Its right by the stadium, you just have to walk through a parking garage to get to it and its pretty nice. When looking for food, walk down past the Arch to a place called The Landing. Its a bunch of old riverfront warehouses from the steamboat era that are now restaurants. Its really nice. We didn't get to eat there this time cause we were so far away but that's where I ate 4 years ago. Go up in the Arch. Make sure to go to Union Station, its a few blocks north of Busch and there's plenty of places to buy Cards gear or stuff for the visiting team. The Brewery is a couple miles from the stadium up Market Street. The food court at Union Station is not any good. Only eat there if you have to have food right then.

Pirates · Post by **Pirates** » Tue May 06, 2008 6:24 pm

Cards/Cubs is as big a rivalry as there is in baseball, but out here we have a thing called manners and so people are polite to each other

Can't say ive ever seen that at the stadium or fenway.

Royals · Post by **Royals** » Tue May 06, 2008 7:38 pm

If there's one thing I've learned beyond a doubt in my three years in Cincinnati, it's that all the talk about midwesterners being 'nicer' is horse shit. People in and from Cinci (and other midwest cities) are just as much assholes as New Yorkers, Bostonians, Chicagoans or Los Angelinos (it's been about a decade since I was there, but I doubt it's changed).
The difference between Sox/Yanks and Cubs/Cards is that the Sox had on occasion been successful before 2004. The Cubs on the other hand... well, taunting them would be just cruel. Not even the O'Doyles would do it. And, no offense to the cubs or their fans, but what are they going to fire back with? it's not like the Cards are the 'evil empire' spending almost a quarter billion dollars a season, with one player (A-rod) making more than the whole 25 man roster of another team in the division (the Rays). Cubs fans can't even take shots at Mac because of Sosa.

Astros · Post by **Astros** » Tue May 06, 2008 8:11 pm

I wouldn't take people being an asshole to you as meaning they're an asshole to everyone. We may be nice but we have our limits

Royals · Post by **Royals** » Tue May 06, 2008 9:50 pm

There isn't a city on the planet where drivers won't act like assholes to pedestrians in a crosswalk, people on a bike or generally anyone who might slow them down in the slightest way. Midwesterners are just as human as everyone else, they're just louder about saying their shit don't stink.

Nationals · Post by **Nationals** » Tue May 06, 2008 11:05 pm

RedSox wrote:If there's one thing I've learned beyond a doubt in my three years in Cincinnati, it's that all the talk about midwesterners being 'nicer' is horse shit. People in and from Cinci (and other midwest cities) are just as much assholes as New Yorkers, Bostonians, Chicagoans or Los Angelinos (it's been about a decade since I was there, but I doubt it's changed).
The difference between Sox/Yanks and Cubs/Cards is that the Sox had on occasion been successful before 2004. The Cubs on the other hand... well, taunting them would be just cruel. Not even the O'Doyles would do it. And, no offense to the cubs or their fans, but what are they going to fire back with? it's not like the Cards are the 'evil empire' spending almost a quarter billion dollars a season, with one player (A-rod) making more than the whole 25 man roster of another team in the division (the Rays). Cubs fans can't even take shots at Mac because of Sosa.

I am sorry but Cincinnati and Ohio are not Midwest.

Royals · Post by **Royals** » Tue May 06, 2008 11:06 pm

They're certainly not East Coast.
Ohioans consider themselves Midwest.

BlueJays · Post by **BlueJays** » Tue May 06, 2008 11:07 pm

RedSox wrote:They're certainly not East Coast.
Ohioans consider themselves Midwest.

Agreed. Its midwest from every Ohioan I've ever known.

Nationals · Post by **Nationals** » Tue May 06, 2008 11:24 pm

RedSox wrote:They're certainly not East Coast.
Ohioans consider themselves Midwest.

Eh, the rest of the Midwest thinks of y'all as a subspecies. Rust Belters along with Michigan, Pennsylvania, (portions of) Indiana and West Virginia.

BlueJays · Post by **BlueJays** » Tue May 06, 2008 11:27 pm

Are you saying the Ohio Valley is the Rust Belt?

Astros · Post by **Astros** » Tue May 06, 2008 11:28 pm

The rest of Indiana doesn't consider the southern part of the state to even be a part of the state. To be fair though, most of us know more about Kentucky and Kentucky politics than we do Indiana because we get all our news from Louisville. Plus, we're basically an extension of the South anyways because a lot of people here are transplanted Southerners a few generations back

Nationals · Post by **Nationals** » Tue May 06, 2008 11:30 pm

Reds wrote:Are you saying the Ohio Valley is the Rust Belt?

Pretty much, yeah. Or the redneck belt.

Nationals · Post by **Nationals** » Tue May 06, 2008 11:31 pm

Twins wrote:
Reds wrote:Are you saying the Ohio Valley is the Rust Belt?
Pretty much, yeah. Or the redneck belt.

Albeit take my comments with a grain of salt...I'm more than slightly intoxicated at the moment

BlueJays · Post by **BlueJays** » Tue May 06, 2008 11:31 pm

Redneck I'll give you.. heh.

Kentucky is right across the river.

BlueJays · Post by **BlueJays** » Tue May 06, 2008 11:32 pm

Might be more Hillbilly than Redneck tho..

Astros · Post by **Astros** » Tue May 06, 2008 11:41 pm

By definition a hillbilly has to live in mountains. There are no mountains in the Ohio Valley so we cannot be called hillbillies.

Nationals · Post by **Nationals** » Tue May 06, 2008 11:43 pm

Cardinals wrote:By definition a hillbilly has to live in mountains. There are no mountains in the Ohio Valley so we cannot be called hillbillies.

Good call, Aaron. I always have accepted that explanation, but it's good to have a native's assessment

Tigers · Post by **Tigers** » Tue May 06, 2008 11:49 pm

Cardinals wrote:By definition a hillbilly has to live in mountains. There are no mountains in the Ohio Valley so we cannot be called hillbillies.

Hold on......can't they live in the hills? Why do they have to have mountains around? Hence the name "hill" billies?

Oh wait, those little bumps on the topographic maps that we call "hills" you guys call mountains. Never mind, that explains it.

BlueJays · Post by **BlueJays** » Tue May 06, 2008 11:53 pm

I suppose I'd call the appalachians hills too..

Nationals · Post by **Nationals** » Wed May 07, 2008 12:05 am

Mariners wrote:
Cardinals wrote:By definition a hillbilly has to live in mountains. There are no mountains in the Ohio Valley so we cannot be called hillbillies.

Hold on......can't they live in the hills? Why do they have to have mountains around? Hence the name "hill" billies?

Oh wait, those little bumps on the topographic maps that we call "hills" you guys call mountains. Never mind, that explains it.

Save that the discussion revolves around the Ohio Valley, which doesn't seem all that hilly to me, though I admit that my knowledge extends to the Cincinnati and environs.

Nationals · Post by **Nationals** » Wed May 07, 2008 12:06 am

Mariners wrote:
Cardinals wrote:By definition a hillbilly has to live in mountains. There are no mountains in the Ohio Valley so we cannot be called hillbillies.

Hold on......can't they live in the hills? Why do they have to have mountains around? Hence the name "hill" billies?

Oh wait, those little bumps on the topographic maps that we call "hills" you guys call mountains. Never mind, that explains it.

And you know what, fuck it. Let's call the bastards hicks and we can all go home and be happy.

Mets · Post by **Mets** » Wed May 07, 2008 12:09 pm

Thanks for the tips Aaron...

I actually travel to St. Louis annually. My biggest vendor is out there, and scheduling my visit to coincide with the Mets being in town...I try to catch them on the road every year. Last year I flew to SD to catch the 3 game set.

So anyway, I'm making my vendor get tickets and take me to the game...Since we pay them a lot of money every year, they'll do whatever I tell them to, but I don't think there will be much time for tourist-type stuff....maybe the sobering drive through east St. Louis during the afternoon, but I'm mostly concerned with the game....I've driven past the outside of the stadium on several occasions, and have almost caused 2-3 accidents because I was too busy looking at the surroundings and not at the road and cars around me.