1st beer/baseball/headstone-Joyful/Sorrowful w/e

The w/e started out as planned...road trip to St. Louis on Friday to watch the Cards beat the Cubs! I put in my 1/2 day at the office and picked up Brian at about 11am for yet another bonding outing for us. We left a bit late (11:45 am) but arrived at our destination/Collinsville just after 4pm...perfect. The long trip to/from St. Louis gave Brian and I another opportunity to talk one on one about many subjects...family, friends, business/work, iPods/music, TV shows, Route 66 bike ride, the Bible, swimming this summer and much much more. Not a dull moment--did not seem like we put over 500 miles and 9 hours of travel in...

Bob the ticket holder, drove us into the city and we parked right across from the front gate...now that's service. I'd like to thank fellow bloggers Roger and Jeff for providing me with idea and directions to the MetroLink...we did not use it this time but it will get used--I plan to see a few more games and go that route. We arrived at the new Busch Stadium a bit early (before the gates opened), so we needed to burn some time at a local watering hole (Paddy O's)...guess it was time to break the self-imposed beer fasting...ya gotta drink the King of Beers fresh out of the local brewery. So at 4:48 pm I downed my first beer in 25 weeks. Tasted good! We made our way up to the Bank of America Club...very nice. All inclusive food buffet and drinks. Food included salad, nachos, brats, dogs, pototoes, chicken, beef, pasta, fruit and cookies & brownies. Drinks included r/w wine, Bud products and pop. What a feast! (Dave K.--it was swanky!)

After we gorged the food and slammed a few beers, it was down to our seats...1st row of the 2nd balcony, just past 3rd base--excellent. We stood and toasted my friend Chris who was on the lower (plebeian) level down the left field line. Chris was a good sport and took a good ribbing from the boys in the club seats...next time he'll have to join us!

The Staduim is spectacular...intimate and clean. We walked around to get a feel for the place and loved it. This pic is from Chris's seats. Lots of room and plenty for all and families to do at the ball park-batting cages, build a bear/Fred Bird etc. The views are great...just over Centerfield, the St. Louis skyline and of course the Arch.


The game, for a Card fan, was perfect. In an email earlier in the week, I'd asked Chris to call me after a Pujols homer...didn't take long. He called in the 1st inning! It was his 1000th hit too! Not much cheering from the Cubbies--Cards win 9-3.

I saw more people I know at Busch than I do at Wrigley. I looked down below our seats and spotted a friend of Chris's son who I had just met at the Cub/Card game in Chicago. I knew that Kurt and Karen from Chicago were going to be at the game...they came over from Right Field to visit during the 4th inning...all decked out in Cardinal garb! Was cool to see peeps from home and Springfield at the game.

After the game, we waited out the long parking lot exit lines by going to Al Hrabosky's Ballpark Saloon for a cold one or two...I cut back in the 9th knowing I had to drive 90 miles to Springpatch...but it was nice to see all the Sea of Red. Bob, the guy who had these awesome tickets, ribbed me a bit for being a Card fan (he's a Cub fan) and for not owning a single piece of red clothing...so he bought me a Cardinal Nation T-shirt at Al's--thanks Bob!

After an exciting ride back to pick up my car in Collinsville, we headed to my brothers for the night. A special thanks to Paul for letting us crash for 6 hours...After I dropped Brian off at home, I headed home after a long/fun filled 24 hour trip.

Then Sunday morning came. C noted that she had picked up the proof for the headstone and that we needed to review it... suddenly, back to reality. The only time my heart does not ache is when I don't think about her...which is not very often. The long trip to St. Louis did take my mind off things for a while...but the pain always comes back. With the Lord's guidance, we'll get through (but not over) these tough times...

Thanks to Brian, Bob, Jeff, Chris, Karen, Kurt and Paul for making it a special w/e--despite the ever present sorrow.

Wish I could have seen my St. Louis and So. IL friends, Dave, Amy, Janet, Cindy ... next time.