A Saturday in Maplewood and at CITYPARK with Julie

Early yesterday morning (23 March), I picked up Julie from her apartment and we went to downtown Maplewood. The city was holding its annual Coffee Crawl event, in which downtown merchants offered samples of coffee or coffee-related items to participants.

Julie and I went on the Early Riser Tour, which began at 8:30 a.m. (There was a later tour during midday. After getting our tickets, we began going to the nine establishments taking part in the tour. As we got our samples, someone at each stop would mark our ticket to prove we had visited that particular place. Additionally, the Crawl offered ticket holders discounts on merchandise from other area shops. Julie and I took advantage of this to visit five of the 12 participating merchants. I bought a candle from Maven Bath and Candle Co. and a book from The Book House using the event's discounts.

We got through the tour by approximately 10:30 a.m. and I took Julie back to her apartment before going home. I stopped by Office Depot to get some home office items and browsed at Schaefer's Hobby Shop before returning home for lunch.

Late that afternoon, I returned to Julie's place to pick her up and take her to downtown St. Louis for St. Louis CITY SC's match against DC United at CITYPARK. After parking in a lot south of Enterprise Center, we walked approximately 0.5 mile (0.8 km) to "Louligan Street" (21st Street between Locust and Olive) for the St. Louligans Pre-Match Street Party. Julie and I each got dinner from a Schlafly good tent and I got a Schlafly Supporter Session Hazy Pale Ale from a beer tent.

We also bought Schlaffle raffle tickets from the St. Louligans and also a St. Louligans button. Raffle and merchandise sales that night benefitted the St. Louligans' Charity du Jour, Colorectal Cancer Alliance. I got lucky as one of my raffle tickets was drawn. I selected one of two prize packages: two replica jerseys (Norwich City Josh Sargent replica and Inter Milan), some Fulham FC magnetic buttons, and a $50 Mission Taco Joint gift card.

Soon after the raffle, it was time for prepare for the march into CITYPARK. Julie and I joined in the chanting on Louligan Street before the supporters marched into the stadium for the match.

After arriving inside CITYPARK, Julie and I found places in the Supporter Section to watch the match. Prior to kickoff, St. Louis soccer legend Lori Chalupny brought out the kickoff ball and then walked to the Supporter Section to wave one of the giant flags there.

 

The match was uneven, with players having problems putting passes together. Fortunately, Josh Yaro connected in the 19th minute to put CITY ahead. 

However, DC United tied it up two minutes later and took the lead in the 28th minute. In the second half, both teams made efforts to score, but CITY would equalize on a Joao Klauss penalty in the 70th minute. DC United and CITY got into each other's faces in the late going, with several cautions issued. Even with over 10 minutes added to the second half, neither side could score, and the match ended drawn at 2 apiece. CITY remained undefeated in the first five games of the season.

Julie and I each picked up a team poster on the way out of CITYPARK and walked back to my car. I then took her back home before taking myself back home. It was quite a terrific day for us.

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in this Post:

Maplewood Coffee Crawl: Coffee Crawl (cityofmaplewood.com)

Maven Bath and Candle Co.: Maven Bath & Candle Co. – Maven Bath & Candle Co. (mavenstl.com)

The Book House: The Book House - 7352 Manchester Rd., St. Louis | Located in historic downtown Maplewood, a browser's paradise - expect the unexpected (bookhousestl.com)

Office Depot: Office Depot OfficeMax | Official Online Store

Schaefer's Hobby Shop: Hobby, Beads, R.C. Cars - Schaefer's Hobby Shop - St. Louis, Missouri (schaeferhobby.com)

Schlafly Tap Room: Tap Room Brewpub - Schlafly Beer

St. Louligans: Saint Louligans – Supporting Soccer in the St. Louis Area – St. Louligans – Supporting St. Louis Soccer (stlouligans.com)

CITYPARK: CITYPARK | St. Louis CITY SC (stlcitysc.com)

Colorectal Cancer Alliance: Colorectal Cancer Alliance

St. Louis CITY SC: St. Louis CITY SC (stlcitysc.com)