Mandy & Trent's Trip to STL

We had a great time with Mandy and Trent here over Labor Day weekend! It got off to an interesting start, though. They had to fly separately because of Southwest's blackout flights for reward tickets. So, Mandy got in that Friday around 11:00am...we went to pick Colby up for lunch, and then went and did a little shopping that afternoon. Trent was supposed to get in around 7:30, but called around 4 to say that his flight had been delayed. We kept checking back in with him, and to our dismay, his flight had been pushed back so far that he was going to miss his connecting flight in Dallas, and there were no more flights out that night from Dallas to STL. Bummer!! Those of you who have flown out of Lubbock know that there are VERY FEW direct flights from there for Southwest...Dallas (and other select TX cities), Vegas (have to keep the gamblers happy!), and maybe Albuquerque, NM (who in the world needs a direct flight to Albuquerque??). Sometimes, connecting isn't that big of a deal...and sometimes (especially in the late summer months when afternoon thunderstorms can pop up at a moment's notice), it is TERRIBLE! This occasion can be chalked up to the latter. To make a long story short, Trent had to be re-routed to none other than Albuquerque and Phoenix...yep, you read it right...the opposite direction of St. Louis! Anyway, after several more delays, and long hours in numerous airports, Trent finally made at 3:00 in the morning!! It was insane! Anyone that knows Trent would not be surprised to know that Trent made the best of the situation, and made several friends throughout his annoying predicament, and had lots of stories to tell when we picked him up!

Thankfully, the rest of the trip was much more enjoyable!! :)
Saturday we got up early and went to the St. Louis Zoo. One of the last FREE zoos in the country! It's a great zoo: pretty big, and very clean/well-kept...especially considering that it's free! (*sidenote: Colby and I have proclaimed STL the "Land of Free Entertainment"...zoo, museums, parks, sporting events (at least for us...more on that in a later post)

The bears were putting on quite a show!

Saturday night, we went over to a couple's house from church. They had invited us and several of the other young couples at church over for dinner to help us meet people and get to know everyone. Since they had planned the whole thing around us before we found out M&T were coming, we figured we needed to go...so we just took M&T with us. We had a great time, and really enjoyed getting to know everyone better.

Sunday afternoon, we went down and did the Brewery Tour, then Monday, we ventured downtown to the Arch. We took the tram up to the top of the arch, which was really cool! Great views of St. Louis and the Mississippi! On one side, you're looking right down onto Busch Stadium, the other side, the mighty Mississippi and into Illinois. We then watched the movie about how it was constructed...which was truly fascinating!

The Park leading up to the Arch...a beautiful walk.

It is so massive, the pictures don't really do it justice.

Here's a little perspective for you...Colby and Trent are standing at the top of the steps in this picture (under the arrow), and I'm standing almost in the street next to the river taking the picture...
Waiting for our egg-shaped tram to the top of the Arch...if you are clauterphobic, you probably should not go up in the Arch!! Each tram car (8 in each leg of the arch) only holds 5 people, and you are sitting knee to knee, shoulder to shoulder...thank goodness we're family! :)
View from the top:
There are about 7 or 8 of these little windows on each side of the arch, and it's totally enclosed, carpeted and air conditioned! I thought it would be open air...but, it's not...and it's not very big at the top...so it gets crowded fast. We didn't stay up there very long.
Busch Stadium...right in the middle of downtown.
St. Louis Skyline...see what I mean, not really what you think of when you think of a big city "downtown". All of the tall buildings are pretty much in this shot...

Afterward, we ate lunch, made a quick stop by Ted Drewe's for the STL staple...frozen custard, then took Trent to the airport. Mandy left the next morning. It was a great trip and we had so much fun!!! We can't wait for them (and everyone else) to come back and visit again soon!! :)