Marching with the St. Louligans at Soulard Mardi Gras 2020

Yesterday morning (22 February), I drove to downtown St. Louis, parked in the garage just west of Busch Stadium and Ballpark Village, and walked to the staging area just south of the stadium. There, the floats and marchers of the Bud Light Grand Parade of the Soulard Mardi Gras (https://stlmardigras.org/) were assembled. I was there to march in the parade with others from the St. Louligans (https://stlouligans.com/). We were also promoting Saint Louis FC (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/) in the parade.

We gathered for just over two hours before the parade began at 11:00 am. Our group socialized, drank, and prepared our two carts that will hold the beads we would fling to the crowds gathered along the parade route.

We were early in the parade--unit 25 of approximately 100--and we began going down the path from south of Busch Stadium to just north of the Anheuser-Busch brewery in Soulard. Early on, I helped carry our banner at the front of our group. I switched off with someone later in the parade and went towards the back, and helped throw beads to the spectators. It was a lot of fun to do, helped by the pleasant weather for a February in St. Louis. It was the first time I ever attended a Mardi Gras celebration, much less marched in a Mardi Gras parade.

After the parade, I caught a ride on one of the cards up towards the staging area. I then walked around Busch Stadium and Ballpark Village before getting back to the car and driving out of the garage.

I stopped by a Popeyes (https://www.popeyes.com/) restaurant in Affton for lunch before returning home.

Later.

Helping Enterprise Celebrate PrideFest 2019

Last Sunday morning (30 June), I made my way to the Downtown West branch of Enterprise Rent-A-Car (https://www.enterprise.com/en/home.html). I was there to help prepare some vehicles for that day's PrideFest Parade (https://www.pridestl.org/) through downtown St. Louis. We had a stake bed truck from Enterprise Truck Rental (https://www.enterprisetrucks.com/truckrental/en_US.html#_ga=2.97405727.1020205400.1530151678-1638779697.1529286224) and three convertible cars from Enterprise Car Sales (https://www.enterprisecarsales.com/) for the parade. The truck also brought in supplies, such as water for the marchers and candy to give out to parade watchers.

After affixing Enterprise signs to the cars and truck, we drove the vehicles to the staging area on Market Street, immediately south of Kiener Plaza. I drove a Volkswagen Beetle convertible to the site. There, more decorations--including a paper garland in rainbow colors, rainbow flags, and balloons--were mounted on the vehicles.

We waited by the vehicles, which were parked beside the Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark Hotel (https://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/missouri/hilton-st-louis-at-the-ballpark-STLBVHF/index.html). More Enterprise employees--mostly from corporate headquarters, but also from rental branches and other operations--arrived in their company t-shirts to march in the parade. Mostly, we waited in the shade, as it was very hot that day. The temperature hit around 100 degrees F (38 degrees C). The drinking water we brought along was a great help. While waiting, my former Enterprise colleague Liz Laskowitz came by to say hello. She was with colleagues from Aon (https://www.aon.com/home/index.html), her current employer, who had assembled near us. We posed for a group picture before the parade began.

The parade began at Noon, but we were near the end of the parade, and did not step off until around 1:20 pm. I got behind the wheel of the Beetle--gingerly, due to the heated seat--and slowly drove off to join in the parade going west on Market. The truck lead off, followed by the walkers, then the Beetle, and then the two other convertibles.

We slowly made our way west, and we received much cheers from the crowd lined along Market. I sometimes took off my hat to wave it to the crowd on both sides of the street. Also, I sometimes gave three toots of the horn, sometimes followed by someone in the crowd saying "Let's go Blues!" (It was just over two weeks before this that the Blues had their Stanley Cup Championship parade, going east on Market.)

Our group passed the reviewing stand across from Soldiers Memorial and greatly appreciated the announcer's shout out. This was the first time I ever drove a vehicle in a parade, and thoroughly enjoyed this moment.

We reached the end of the parade route at 18th and Market, and the vehicles continued west back to the Downtown West Branch. There, we removed the decorations and trash from the vehicles and secured them to be reclaimed by their respective owners the next day. Despite the great heat that day, I felt so happy to help my employer do its part in celebrating the Lesbian, Gay Bisexual, Transgendered, and Queer (LGBTQ) community. This is personal for me, as I know a friend from high school and another from college, plus the brother of another friend, all of them in the LGBTQ community.

Later.

On Top of Something: The Gateway Arch

This morning, I continued my vacation with a trip to Downtown St. Louis. After making a brief visit to a placement firm for them to copy a document on myself for their files, I walked over to Gateway Arch National Park (https://www.nps.gov/jeff/index.htm). Earlier this summer, a multi-year renovation of the Arch's underground museum and the grounds was completed. This was my first visit there since completion of the renovation project.

I first walked to the west entrance of the Old Courthouse and looked out onto Kiener Plaza. Then I walked to the courthouse's east entrance and looked upon the statue there of the former slaves Dred and Harriet Scott. The Scotts sued for their freedom at the Old Courthouse in 1846, only for the Missouri and US supreme courts to rule against them. This case brought the US closer to civil war. I then looked east towards the Gateway Arch and made my way through Luther Ely Smith Square towards the new Visitor Center.

After crossing over the Interstate on a new artificial land bridge, I arrived at the new Visitor Center entrance, located west of the Arch. After passing through the doors and going through the security check, I made my way to the Visitor Center. This has six galleries: Colonial St. Louis, Jefferson's Vision, Manifest Destiny, The Riverfront Era, New Frontiers, and Building the Gateway Arch. These galleries feature many historical artifacts and interactive displays to help visitors gain a greater understanding of some 250 years in this nation's history. I was most impressed by this, and it's a great improvement over the previous Museum of Westward Expansion at this location.

After browsing through the Museum, I waited for my tram ride to the top of the Arch. I had ordered my ticket for the tram and for the movie at home, and printed off the tickets before I came to the Arch. At the appointed time, I got in line for the North Tram with 39 other passengers. After viewing a brief presentation on the 1960s when the Arch was built and posing for a souvenir photograph (which I bought later), I boarded the tram for the 4-minute trip to the top--630 feet (192 m) above the St. Louis Riverfront.

After the tram arrived just short of the Observation Room, I and the other passengers got out of the tram and walked up a short flight of stairs. We arrived in the Observation Room, which had windows looking east and west. I have been to the top of the Arch at least five times in my life, and it has never failed to impress me. Along with other visitors, I looked east upon the Mississippi River, with a bit of traffic, plus the Eads and Poplar Street bridges and East St. Louis. To the west, one could see the Old Courthouse, Busch Stadium, and the rest of Downtown St. Louis. I spent at least 20 minutes there and loved all that I saw from the windows.

Back in the Visitor Center after the 3-minute ride from the top, I got lunch at the Arch View Cafe. I had a nice meal with their Wurst Plate: two sausages on sauerkraut, with cole slaw. I added lemonade and a gooey butter cake slice. It was all very tasty.

Then, I entered the Tucker Theater there for a screening of "Monument to the Dream," a 1967 Academy Award-nominated documentary about the Gateway Arch's construction. I have seen this film many times--at the Arch, on TV, and on home video--and I still am mesmerized by its story from conception to completion. After watching the film, I bought a few souvenirs at The Arch Store before walking out by the South Leg. I admired the Arch from there before walking back to my car in the Mansion House Garage.

On the way home, I shopped at JC Penney (https://www.jcpenney.com/) at South County Center (http://www.shopsouthcountycenter.com/), where I bought two new dress shirts (taking advantage of a buy one get one free offer) and a tie bar. These should be most welcome additions to my wardrobe.

My vacation continues with a day road trip tomorrow. I'll write about that in my next post.

Later.