Day 4: St. Louis

Monday morning we woke up in Normal, Illinois (what a name for a town, although I think the actual name is Bloomington-Normal?!?) and headed out to the road again, where we drove about 2.5 hrs to St. Louis. We visited the Gateway Arch (which is very impressive - even though I have seen it before). Sharyn went up the Arch, while Jenny and I stayed down. I decided it wasn't the best idea for me to do anything else that might throw my body out of wack - besides, I'd already been up it when we lived in St. Louis (ok that was a long, but still...)Then we walked over to the baseball game, all of about a 5 minute walk. It was sooo hot and humid there, so we were definitely glad that our seats were in the shade!
The Cardinals were, well, less than stellar on Labor Day. And despite the fact that they are actually in the pennant race right now and it was Labor Day, there didn't seem to be that many fans there. Numbers-wise, it was about the same as Milwaukee, but it seemed like fewer. We did, however, manage to find this man sitting in front of us who decided it was too hot to keep his shorts where they belonged ... Whoever designed Busch Stadium was smart though to put all red seats in - that way it looks like the stadium is full at least. Maybe it was because the Cardinals lost to the Pirates 11-0, but whatever the reason, it was kind of a sad day for Cardinals fans. Busch Stadium is awesome though - though the only place it says Busch is outside (inside there is a huge Budweiser sign and also a Bud Light one). The outfield is open to the skyline, including the Arch. We enjoyed the game (I especially did once we adjusted seats so the little girl kicking my seat wasn't behind me anymore) and enjoyed our huge snocones. That was the perfect thing to eat at that game!
After the game, on our way back to the car, we deliberatly walked past the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame ... thanks again to BFF Jill for cluing me into the fact that it a) existed and b) was right there near the stadium. So funny ... we didn't actually have time to go in, but we snapped a couple pictures.
Then we took a couple more pictures in downtown St. Louis ... and then headed back to the minivan.Time to head to the airport. It was kind of hard to believe that after all of that, our trip was coming to a quick end. We did it - 4 stadiums in 4 days. Kind of crazy? Yes. But a lot of fun? Definitely.

So my official count is now up to 24 stadiums. Only 6 left! That will have to wait until next year though ... summer has ended, and so have my baseball travels. But I went out with a bang, that's for sure ;)