Missouri, The Mississippi, and Two Girls Named Mary

We spent today in St. Louis. Our day began at the Budweiser Brewery. We figured we should get the tour in before Anheuser-Busch is bought out by MBev- not murrbev- and they stop the tours. I have taken many a brewery tour in Williamsburg as the brewery was the only place in Busch Gardens that was air conditioned. This one was actually guided though and ended in a hospitality suite full of free beer. It also happened to be the only one I have taken since I was legally old enough to partake in the festivities at the end. I don't drink beer so I waited for the several dozen children on our tour to vacant the soda machine before I got my Mountain Dew. I haven't drank soda in almost three months- well until the last three days when I have consumed enough to float away. So anyway, the tour was pretty interesting. They take you through the whole process of brewing, bottling, and packaging the beer. Apparently, the fillers can fill 1600 bottles of beer each minute. And they have these giant casks things where they beechwood age the beer that would take you 127 years to drink if you drank a case a day. I also learned that Budweiser was the first company to pasteurize stuff- even before milk- and they survived the depression by making some drink out of cereal called Bevo. But once again, I do not drink beer.

After a rousing rendition of Ice Ice Baby in the brewery parking lot, we headed over to the fancy mall to waste some time before my interview. (Seriously, how can you not bust out signing any song with Word to yo mama in it) I coveted the Swavorski Crystal Champagne Flutes (because they are amazing and I do drink champagne) and got a piece of Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. I love the Cheesecake Factory but barely ever make it to the dessert part so this time I just went straight for it. My interview was at 3:45 and I think it went pretty well. I was kind of thrown for a loop when the guy asked me what my former students would say about me as an advisor but other than that the questions weren't too weird.

After that funfest was over, we changed for the Cardinals game and headed over to the Gateway Arch. The Arch is right next to the Mighty Mississippi which is currently swollen- if not completely flooded. We got some great pictures of signs almost completely underwater. They will be posted tomorrow with the rest of the St. Louis pics. I don't know what it normally looks like but today it was insanely dirty. Tons of logs and trees and other such not indigenous to a river type things were floating down it. I certainly was not ready to go for a swim and I love water. Getting to the top of the arch was interesting. I don't think they have changed the technology since it was built in the 1960s. They even described it as part amusement park ride, part elevator, and part tram but the view from the top was worth it. You could see for miles as it was a very clear day. I managed to take some lovely pictures of the turning movements on the roadway below for Dr. HokieKev. He likes things like that.

After the Arch, we went to another Cardinals game. They lost tonight so people booed. I had CrackerJacks. We trekked forever to find a Metro stop that didn't have a three hour wait and Kevin was scowled at by some women for pushing us both onto the train. Apparently, these women have never tried to ride the T in Boston after a Red Sox game during the Boston Marathon. We could have fit so many more people in that car. We are now back in the hotel and I just finished enjoying my Cheesecake- YUMMY! Kevin is listening to Sen. Robert Byrd's dogfighting speech to noone from a while ago. If you haven't heard it it is definitely worth YouTubing- poor guy is barely alive and screaming at the five people that bothered to show up to the Senate floor that day.

And about the two girls named Mary. Most of you know that my sister's name is Mary. Some of you also know that I have a very good friend named Mary. Both are also Mary H- although, technically I guess one is Mary Bev. but who is hung up on technicalities. So anyway, they both make comments and both show up as Mary. This is confusing to all involved. I don't know who is posting what- although I can kinda figure it out- and it looks like one Mary is posting a way lot and possibly needs a hobby. This isn't the first time this has been confusing so I generally refer to them as Mary the sister and Mary the twin. Sometimes UVAmurr and murrbev- either way! I am now assured at least three people are reading this and maybe mildly amused by our antics as we travel out west. I am also seriously considering heading back to Illinois to drill for oil.

States visited: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri
Work Zones traveled through: 18
Cheapest gas seen: $3.81 in Georgia
Baseball Games attended: 2
Next Stop: Probably Lawrence, KS a day early but only time will tell