I just won an all-expense paid trip to St. Louis and was wondering if any local SDers wanted to get together.
I understand the standard procedure is to leave Auraseer sitting in the bar but if any of the rest of of you want to meet and talk I’d be honored.
My best guess is that I’ll be there for at least two days sometime in the week of the 7th through the 11th of February. I know there are plans for a meeting in Springfield later in the month but I don’t think I can stretch my plans that far.
If St. Louis isn’t sufficiently central I’ll have a car and could drive somewhere but probably not more than an hour or so away.
p.s. If more than one of you shows up we will outdo the Puget Sound SD Meeting, which consisted of BurnMeUp and myself.
p.p.s. I don’t drink but I don’t mind meeting in a bar – I can eat buffalo wings and drink Sprite while y’all dance with Demon Rum.
p.p.p.s. I’ll also be in Anaheim sometime very soon and I know I’m going to Utah 17-20 Feb but the Utah trip is for personal reasons, not business, so I won’t have much free time. But I’d like to meet folks in So. Cal. too!
Wish I thought I could promise to be there, but odds don’t look good. If something goes right (HA!) maybe it could come together.
And forget the demon rum stuff, pal. If memory serves me right, there’s a great Italian neighborhood with purely killer unpretentious food and modest wine. And a renovated train depot or something right beside a renovated something else that’s now a very upscale mall-like presence.
It should be chicken wing/Sprite/wine intensive.
No matter what, report back. Dopers want to know: what does one call residents of St. Louis (other than AuraSeer)? St. Louisians?
St. Louisites? St. Louisers? Cardinal fans?
Archers?
The Boeing Company. It’s just my way of saying I have a business trip. I’m trying to avoid spending evenings flipping through all twelve stations on the hotel TV system until 2 a.m., which is normal behavior for me in a strange town.
Well, pluto, I’ve already upset the schedule at my PT job by demanding the weekend of the 26th off, so I don’t know how feasible that weekend will be. I will try, though, and hopefully Aura will see this.
He weathered a firestorm of agony and did not break.
And while Yori raged against his unbending
courage, we took Kyuden Hiruma back.
His loss is great, but so is the gift his suffering brought.
-Yakamo’s Funeral
As a native St. Louisan myself, I think St. Louisans are called “St. Louisans”. But that sounds a bit strange. Most of us just say “I’m from St. Louis”.
Be sure you have some Imo’s (or other local-style) pizza. You can’t get pizza like that anywhere else! And remember, when ordering, a hungry person can eat a whole large St. Louis-style pizza.
Ignore what Auvmede is telling you. Avoid Imo’s restaurants at all costs. If someone offers to feed you a St. Louis style “pizza”, shoot him immediately and flee for your life.
To simulate the thing that Imo’s calls pizza, start with a big, round cracker. Not a Saltine cracker, because they have some flavor. Use a matzoh instead. Preferably, use one that’s been laying on a windowsill somewhere for several months, so it’s extremely stale and crumbly.
Now get some tomato sauce. Don’t use the canned stuff you buy in the store; that is smooth and has spices in it. No, just drop a bunch of overripe old tomatos in the blender, and whip 'em for a couple seconds. You’ll end up with some squishy chunks and bitter juice. Pour that over your cracker.
Then get some soft plastic, in a sickly whitish-yellow color. Shred it into fine strips, so it looks almost like cheese (but not quite). Sprinkle this over the top of your creation.
Pop the whole mess into a 900º oven for about six seconds, burning the bottom without even making the rest of the thing warm.
Take the thing out of the oven and cut it in two-inch squares. Serve it to an unsuspecting out-of-towner and watch them struggle to avoid puking their guts out.
pluto, I’d be happy to meet up with you sometime that week. Once you learn where you’re staying, I’ll figure out which bar or restaurant would be closest to you.
Thanks, Aura. I’m guessing I’ll be staying close to the airport since that’s where Boeing’s (formerly McD’s) facilities are. I’ll let you know for sure once the arrangements are finalized. I don’t mind driving a ways – sometimes “near the airport” isn’t always the best part of town. I’ll resurrect this thread when I have more details.
“pluto … a seriously demented but oddly addictive presence here.” – TVeblen
I go to Saint Louis University and I completely agree with Auraseer. Pizza that is not round cannot be trusted!! Under my estimation, getting a prize to go to Saint Louis is equal to some form of punishment. At least the place has gotten a bit friendlier now that the Rams are about to win it all. The complete and utter lack of driving skills by the Saint Louis population, though, will never change.
Oh, and I recommend Vito’s Pizza Pub for some all right pizza.
“The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents.”
-H.P. Lovecraft, “The Call of Cthulhu”
I’m telling you, have some Imo’s! I will not guarantee that you won’t be totally disgusted… but it’s a true St. Louis eating experience. I personally think it’s delicious. Ignore AuraSeer’s comments … overripe tomatoes are the best tomatoes for sauces (any cook will tell you that). Yeah, the cheese is whitish - that’s because it’s not mozzarella but is provel (if I can remember the name of that cheese…) The crust? Delicious! And best of all - since they cut the round pizza into squares, they have these intensely cute little corners of pizza.
I’ve lived in St. Louis for the last 20 years. I happen to think the thin crust is a nice change of pace – it’s the yellow cheese I don’t like. But Imo’s is not the place to find the best of the breed. Better to try a small, family-owned Italian restaurant. Out in my neck of the woods, Farotto’s seems to be the favorite.
The St. Louis airport is actually in a pretty decent area. There’s not much up there as far as entertainment goes-- it’s mostly hotels and restaurants-- but you don’t need to worry about crime or anything.
There’s also a Metrolink station there; that’s the local commuter railway, and it’ll take you as far as downtown for $1.50. So if you wanted to go see the Arch or any of the other touristy stuff, that’d be the way to go.
I live only about 15 minutes from the airport, and I drive past it every day on my route to/from work. So again, once you’ve got some plans made, it’ll be no problem to set something up.
Whatever. I’m from Chicago so I’m used to being spoiled with the best pizza in the world. Nothing compares to Gino’s East pan pizza.
I guess that’s enough about pizza. I’m starting to get homesick.
“The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents.”
-H.P. Lovecraft, “The Call of Cthulhu”
Man, I wish I still lived there! I sure hope someone from the SD can meet up with you, Pluto.
As for the pizza thing, I have to agree that I love the thin, crunchy crust of St. Louis pizzas. Imo’s used to be really good many years ago, but I think it’s gone down hill somewhat. If you want a really awesome St. Louis style pizza, there are none better than at Balducci’s. It’s just a little hole-in-the wall Italian place, but the pizza is the best. To me, a pizza should be about toppings, not all crust. And at Balducci’s they pile it on thick - yum yum!
If you’re into gambling at all, check out Harrah’s. It’s not too far from the airport, and really easy to get to. Just a short jump off of I-70 (which runs right in front of the airport).
There’s a map on the page that I linked above. And if you want to try Balducci’s, it’s easy to find too. On that map you’ll see where Page Avenue appears to dead end after it crosses Hwy 270 to the West. Balducci’s is on a street called Bennington that intersects with Page right where the line ends on that map (Bennington doesn’t appear on the map, but you can’t miss it when you’re driving). Just turn right off of Page and it’s in a little strip center on your left.
Westport Plaza isn’t too far from there either (it’s basically at Page and 270), and if they still have the comedy club there (it’s called The Funny Bone), that’s always a good time too.
I hope you have fun whatever you decide to do. Say howdy to St. Louis for me!
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” - Anne Frank
I’ve only just now finalized my plans for the trip and it’s a little different than I thought at first. I’ll only be there two days, one night, and that night will be Feb. 14th, which, IIRC, has special meaning to many folks.
Having already spoiled mine and Mrs. Pluto’s Valentine’s Day plans I won’t impose on others. I will take the advice offered in the previous posts and find some good St. Louis pizza, although apparently I will have to have several different pizzas in order to please everyone. Well, it’s a dirty job, but somebody’s got to do it!
It just now occurs to me that restaurants will be extra busy Monday night with all the men trying to make up for a year of neglect by buying their sweethearts dinner. I hope most of them aren’t buying pizza!
well well said the royal desiccation my political opponents back home always maintained
that i would wind up in hell and it seems they had the right dope
Don Marquis archy interviews a pharaoh