About four hours on the road from KC and I find myself in traffic in the suburbs of St Louis. I met a guy named Big Jim in Mendoza, Argentina, this February, and he offered to host me if I ever came through his town. Well, here I am!! Jim is a big shot in the beer/wine/liquor distribution game in St Louis, and so he's very well connected. He's about 50 - built like a football player - loves to drink - and laughs almost the entire time you're in his company. It's safe to say that I liked Jim from the minute I met him. It's great to see him now, after many months since we were both in Argentina. Jim was married for years but got divorced recently and so he lives on his own in a nice house in a very low key suburb of St Louis called Fenton. I get home before he's back from work, so I get the key from under the mat at the front door (classic) and settle into the home. So comfortable. Nice to be in a friend's place in this new city for me. Jim comes back about an hour or two after I get home and we immediately start laughing and talking about Argentina, and what we've both been up to since then. I talk of my travels. Jim talks of work and his new girlfriend who he's having a blast with lately. Good for him. And actually his new girlfriend then comes and picks us up and drives us to Jim's office, where we meet some of his coworkers and have some drinks before getting dropped off at the Cardinals vs Pirates baseball game. Completely VIP. Free food. Free drinks. Our seats are no further than five rows behind home plate. Unbelievable. But hey, when you roll with a guy named Big Jim anything is possible. A few drinks and a bunch of hot dogs and pretzels later, we head out of the ballpark and over to a rooftop bar at a hotel nearby the ballpark. What a great setting! Overlooking the entire city. Meeting random people from St Louis. Laughing. Hearing from some random guy that I should go to specific places in Montana. OK! Definitely right up my alley. We stay there for hours and then cab it home and pass out. Perfect day!!
I wake up the next morning to Big Jim's cleaning ladies making noise all over the house. Luckily they were told to stay out of my room, so I'm safe, but it wasn't easy to sleep through any of that. Oh well. I get up after they leave and leave a few paintings for Big Jim to put on his almost empty-walled house, and I head out to have lunch with yet another friend of my SF friend Stephanie's! Ha. Well she's from this area so it makes sense that she knows a lot of people here. Anyway, I meet her friend Stephanie Stokes at this amazing pizza place called Pi, in a neighborhood which I could see myself living if I were in St Louis. Old school houses. Classic old apartments. Very classic and I love it. The pizza is also fantastic, and this is coming from a Chicago guy. Stephanie is an interesting character. She's a teacher and has taught in London for years but is now back in St Louis and loving it. She also loves to travel, and had just gotten back from a trip to Hong Kong, Bali, and a few other spots in Asia. So cool. We laughed a bunch, and then it was time for her to head back and for me to move on. I noticed a beautiful park (Forest Park) as I was driving to meet her for lunch, so I drove my car over there and got my bicycle out and went for a nice ride. I got lost. I looked at flowers. I watched kids play with their parents. I saw people golfing. I smiled a lot. I rode as fast as I could and then I glided down smooth paths and made it finally back to my car. Safe and sound. Happy and found. Always an adventure. I was only in St Louis for about 24 hours, but I had a blast. I HIGHLY recommend anyone should take a few days and check out St Louis. Definitely worth the trip.
After the bike ride I got in the car and headed back up to Chicago - about 4 hours away. I noticed my "check transmission" light going off intermittently while on the road, so I figured I was close enough to Chicago, so why not head back there to have my dealer check on it. I was able to see a few friends when I was home, which was fantastic, and also got to spend some time with Bocce. Always refreshing, but this trip felt a little weird. Hard to explain, but I just felt like an outsider and out of place in Chicago. I guess this is because I was just there for a night - Friday night - and everyone else was going out and living their life, while I was just laying low and focused on getting my car checked out the next morning. I've never really felt that before in Chicago, so I'll be thinking about that in the future.
And of course, you have to see this video of me riding a bull in the ballpark bar at Cardinals Stadium. Big Jim saw it and said I wasn't getting out of it, so I embraced it and did my best…which wasn't that good at all!
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