Friday night (30 June), after a long and hot day of work, I drove to Julie's house in Florissant. There, I met her friends Mike and Sandy, who were in town for a weekend trip. Julie drove the four of us to the Missouri Botanical Garden for Chihuly Nights, an evening version of the Chihuly in the Garden exhibition currently at the Garden. This display has blown glass sculptures of artist Dale Chihuly placed among natural settings.
It rained slightly as the four of us entered the garden. After a brief stop in the gift shop, where Julie and Sandy bought umbrellas, we began our tour of the garden. Seeing these glass sculptures among the Garden's natural scenery was a real visual feast.
After we spent a wonderful time at the Garden, the four of us got into Julie's car and we returned to her home. There, we had a light dinner and conversation before I left for the night.
The next afternoon, I drove back to Julie's house to pick her up to go to that night's St. Louis CITY SC match against Colorado Rapids at CITYPARK. The drive to Downtown West St. Louis took longer than expected, though, due to a storm that had just blown through Metro St. Louis. (There was concern the match would be delayed due to the weather, but word came by 4:30 pm that it would go on time.) We had to get off I-170 at Olive as the Interstate Highway was closed. We drove east on Olive, seeing the results of the storm in downed trees and buildings without electrical power. After turning onto Skinker, Julie and I got on Forest Park Parkway and exited at 22nd Street. We found a curbside parking spot about three blocks northwest of CITYPARK, then walked towards the St. Louligans Street Party near Schlafly Tap Room. Julie and I arrived in time for the march into the stadium with the supporter groups.
The marchers entered CITYPARK through the Northwest Gate as usual. While Julie freshened up, I used the CITY app on my phone to order some popcorn from The Block, one of the dining concession stands. Not more than two minutes after placing the order, I picked up the popcorn in a reusuable souvenir box. (It was my first time using the app to get food at the stadium.) After buying a bottle of Budweiser from another kiosk, I met up with Julie and we walked to our standing place in the North End.
We found a place high up in the section and under the roof, in case it started to rain again. It turned out there was no need to worry, as the weather was good the rest of the night.
After the teams came out on the pitch and the coin toss was held, the match was underway. CITY kicked off to the north, and we were able to see the action coming right for us. It didn't take long for things to get really interesting, as defender Tim Parker headed in a pass the fourth minute to score for CITY. Jared Stroud added a second tally seven minutes later.
CITY went on cruise control the rest of the way, as they ran out 2-0 winners. Roman Burki made three saves in posting his fifth shoutout of the season. (This past week, both Burker and Parker were named to the MLS All-Star team that will face Arsenal at Audi Field in Washington on 19 July.) The win gave CITY sole possession of first place in the MLS Western Conference.
After watching CITY's players and coaches acknowledge the supporters, Julie and I walked out of CITYPARK and back to my car. Driving her home, we went west to I-270, rather than take the chance of I-170 still being closed. After dropping off Julie with hugs and kisses, I headed home a bit tired but most happy.
Later.
Websites of Entities Mentioned in this Post:
Missouri Botanical Garden: Missouri Botanical Garden
St. Louis CITY SC: St. Louis CITY SC (stlcitysc.com)
CITYPARK: CITYPARK | St. Louis CITY SC (stlcitysc.com)
The Block: The Block (theblockrestaurant.com)
Budweiser: Budweiser American-Style Lager | King of Beers since 1876 | Budweiser
Major League Soccer: MLSsoccer.com - The Official Site of Major League Soccer
