St. Louis - The gateway to the west

1st Day - In the middle of midwest

Sasch, Harry, and I were best friends in the MBA program. We not only had fun together, but studied, and shared life experiences together. So we decided to take a trip together before we left here. I actually initiated the idea cuz I wanted to go to Six Flags, riding on those crazy roller coasters and screaming for fun. So we booked the hotel, and headed to St. Louis, the gateway to the west.

The first destination, was not the Arch, but the Budweiser Brewery. Since Harry is almost an alcholic, he will never skip something so fun. So we had a nice tour and of course, 2 glasses of free fresh beer. Hmm, yummy!!

The most reknown thing in St. Louis, of course, is the Arch. Erected to attract more visitors, at least in my view it is, this Arch actually appealed Sascha a lot in the sense of its construction engineering and the ingenious idea of a tram ride to the 630 foot high top. After watching a documentary movie "Monument to the Dream", we headed to the famous Laclede's Landing, the business district for dining. Thanks to Sascha's complaining all the way, we had a terrible dining experience there. Not only did the service sucked, but the food was cold. And it was the most famous restaurant in the area - Morgan Street Brewery. Not recommended!

We went back to the hotel and took several stupid pix, pretending the three of us were sleeping on one bed (of course not, we slept on three beds!), and the old uncle Harry fell asleep so easily, almost in a blink.

2nd Day - Six Flags and Harry's

I never expected Sascha to be such a coward until we saw those roller coasters towering over us. He actually had cold sweat when we waited in the line. Haha, and he even skipped several rides, leaving me and Harry to ride together. Of course, I know Sascha is not into rides, and not until we switched to the water park, the other side of Six flags, did we realize how much fun it could be here.

There are several new facilities, especially the exciting Hurricane, throwing a little boat into the jumbo tube while it circled around us till we fell into the water. We also did various kinds of exciting slides several times until suddenly the park closed unexpectedly one hour early because of some private event. We sighed because we spent so much time on the roller coasters

Then we went to this restaurant called Harry's. Just because the name is same as Harry, it aroused our interest and it turned out to be the best dining experience ever, what a contrast to last night's dinner! The waiter was very informative, well manner with a lot of knowledge about wine and matching food, with an amiable attitute. We were very happy with the atmosphere, food, well, actually everything. It was a fine night on the outdoor terrace with a great view of downtown and the Arch. Everything was perfect, and I was very satisfied with best friends there that we gave the waiter more than 20% tip. Most guests were well dressed, making the atmosphere even better, and after 10pm, all of a sudden this restaurant changed into a fancy club, with an excellent rock band and outdoor bar severing drinks. We enjoyed the music and dance until late into the night. Sascha was so excited about the bar and all the pretty girls there that he couldn't fall asleep and tortured us till very very late.

3rd Day - We found Germany in Missouri

The fine waiter last night told us Missouri is actully well known for its wine, and the best wineries are just an hour away from St. Louis. Huh! Before that we didn't even know that Missouri produces wines! So this morning we decided that going on a winery tour would be the best ending of the trip.

Only one hour west of St. Louis, the scenary changed completely. No more flat plains anymore, but all the winding roads along the hills and pretty houses scattered among vineyards. The facinating scene actually captured Sascha and Harry's hearts cuz they were in Germany last winter, and according to them, the scenary looked exactly like Germany. Then we visited a couple wineries until Sascha suddenly found some German words on the brochures and he asked the staff in the winery for the reason. The answer was unexpectedly simple: Germans settled here several hundred years ago and they introduced the skills to make wine. No wonder, no wonder this place looks like Germany and the wines tasted like German wines. We kept visiting small towns and historical museums to get to know more about the German settlement. However, the language has been lost here, only the skills of making wines is left. Interestingly, the area doesn't even have a German restaurant, so we didn't have a chance to eat German food.

On the way back, Sascha saw a winery and was interested in its German name. So we visited it and it turned out the best winery we visited. The wines were of good quality and the surroundings were nice. So we bought a bottle of white wine and enjoyed it outdoors at the white table under a blue unbrella on the terrace. With the nice wines, bratwurst (German hotdogs), and great outdoor band playing 80's music, I was very content about the trip and everything we had, especially friendship, so I drank a few glasses happily and fell asleep while Harry and Sascha were chatting. I don't remember how long I slept but when they woke me up, the winery was closed and people were leaving. I stood up and was about to follow them to the car, but suddenly I couldn't see anything and passed out. The next thing I remembered was that Sascha patted on my face, called my name and I sat back into the chair. It's obvious that I just lost consciousness and fainted. I saw Harry and Sascha look at me with horrified eyes and they were busy putting wet napkins on my neck and forehead. People around us were also scared and stayed to see what was going on. Some members of the winery staff helped to get ice water and napkins, and I was very embarrased. Harry said it might be because of the hot weather, the wine, and the dehydration that caused me to blackout. Thank God I regained consciousness in a minute and while I fell, Sascha happened to catch me in time. Then when I thought I should fell better, I threw up everything. Poor Harry, I didn't even have time to walk to the restroom and he was the one who held a plastic bag for me to throw up. It sounds terrible but with the help of Sascha and Harry, we found it quite interesting. On the way walking back to the car, we felt it was so funny and we said it would be a memory that lasts a lifetime for all three of us.

I really appreciated that I had an opportunity to travel with them, and gained such great memories. You know, friendship doesn't show its value until something really serious happens.