St. Louis or Bust!

Just back from my trip to St. Louis. I wanted to let everyone know that we're home safely (hi Mom!). It's kind of late, so I'll make this brief. I'll post some pictures and travel notes as soon as I get a chance (hoping for tomorrow).

Recap:
Friday: Twins 3 - Cardinals 1
Saturday: Twins 3 - Cardinals 5
Sunday: Twins 6 - Cardinals 2

All in all, it was a great trip. We toured the Anheuser-Busch brewery, which was very interesting. We even got to sample some beer right out of the vat, just before it went to packaging -- very fresh. We missed out on a stadium tour (tickets were sold out), but we got there early enough to walk around. It's a beautiful place, and the city is all decked out for the All-Star Game. I loved it.

Friday's game was fun. It was hot, but not unbearable. We sat behind some really friendly Cards fans who were impressed with Perkins.

Saturday's game, on the other hand, was still fun, but the heat was awful. Our seats were directly in the sun. We could only sit there for the first two innings before I started to feel ill. We watched the rest of the game standing in the concourse area, but that was just fine -- it was shaded, there was a railing to lean on, and we could see everything. I'm willing to bet those spots are the "standing room only" spots. I wish the game would've turned out differently, but I wasn't totally upset. I admire Albert Pujols, so it was a little fun to watch him have a good day.

We were driving through Iowa during Sunday's game. Again, I was thankful for the XM radio. Listing to the STL feed made me think that the older man (I don't remember their names) must've had more than one cigarette and more than one scotch in his lifetime. I was pleased with Liriano's performance.

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A few things I learned on this trip:

• Hubby and I are smarter than our TomTom.
• Breweries make hubby very, very happy.
• The Cardinals struggle with left-handed pitching (according to several fans I met). Good thing we threw both ours at them.
  
• There is a "Red Car Club" (a group of retired couples who drive cool red covertibles) following the Twins on the MIL-STL-KC road trip. (I want to be them when I retire!)
• Tickets to the All Star Game events are still available behind home plate...for $13,500 a seat. (I could almost buy one of those aforementioned red convertibles for that.)
• I am a heat-wimp. I knew I was a cold-wimp, but being a heat-wimp is news to me.
• Cardinals fans really hate it when pitchers walk Albert Pujols, even when they don't mean to.

And my very favorite moment of the trip...

• Friday, when Joe Nathan faced Albert Pujols in the ninth with a man on second and nobody out. The entire stadium was rocking, cheering for Albert. And when Nathan struck him out, all the Twins fans went nuts. A terrific baseball moment.