Friday, December 31, 2010

Return to Monday, December 26th

After packing a few things, we left the house mid-morning bound for St. Louis, for Santa was gracious in providing Blues tickets in our stockings! It was a gorgeous sunshiney trip through the deepening snow as we drove north on dry roads. We went to Steinberg Rink in Forest Park to skate in the sunshine and chilly breeze. It felt really good to breathe in the cold air and get this body moving!

After skating (and a snowball fight with Gabe) we drove the parkway downtown to Union Station - its castle-like towers shining in the sun. We took our bags and skates from the trunk, handed the keys to the valet, and entered the grandly ornate lobby of this historic train station. We were delighted! After checking out our luxurious room, we explored the many shops and curiosities in the Station. The kids picked out some Blueswear for the game, we visited a little museum, rode the escalators and found the Hogwart's Station 9 3/4. At game time we took a short but chilly walk to the arena and found our seats during team warm-ups. 16 Rows up on the Blues goal-shooting end! There were no fights and only one penalty. The Predators did not play the fast paced game we saw the RedWings play the previous game. The Blues were up 1 to 0 from the first with a goal by Backes, until the Blues empty net goal in the final minutes of the game. We had bottomless popcorn and sody and an unexpected visit from the mascot Louie!

We returned to the hotel amidst the throngs and frigid temps, jacked up on fun and Mountain Dew. We entered the Station to the harmonious sounds of eight young people filling the space with "Joy to the World." We strolled back through the shops to our room, to bounce on the beds, shower and snuggled up to watch the "Sound of Music." The kids stayed up reading but Chip and I fell asleep.

At about 10:45, I awaken to the kids whispering at the window and the faint sounds of "Star Trek" alarms sounding across the courtyard in another wing of the hotel. I just lay there, not wanting to move from the warm bed, thinking it was nothing of concern. Then soon after, a hotel authority knocked and walked into our room to tell us to evacuate. So there we sat in the glorious lobby with about 80 other guests in their various pajamas, sleeping children on the floor, waiting for an hour as firemen used obnoxiously loud fans to move smoke from the Einstein Bagel shop below. Exciting stuff!

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