Sensational and Surreal Start of Summer Season 2019!…part 7: Fantastic End- of-June Mini-Trip Weekend!

     Still on a high from the Blues recent Stanley Cup championship and victory parade, it was time to get back into the normal routine.  There was daily work, but still fun times in the following 13 days.

     On Sun, June 16, it was Festa Junina—a Brazilian event at Kirkwood Community Center. 



















Next was the Volcanic Ash concert at Faust Park, worked from start to finish on my 72-page photo album for our post-Christmas Tulsa area trip, went to the Cardinals 4-2 win over the Angels on June 22 to join in on the Albert Pujols standing ovation following his home run. 

Later that night, went to The Family Arena with several friends to see the Silver Bullet and Big Love tribute bands.

     Followed those activities with purchases of Blues Stanley Cup memorabilia in June 23, attended a big wine and cheese house party on June 25, made dinners and all the while made detailed plans for our June 29-30 Evansville weekend mini-trip.

     Few people would consider Evansville much of a hot spot, but I had already traveled in all 50 states, including most major and secondary cities within a six-hour drive of St. Louis.  I have long been a big time travel researcher and a trip planner.   In fact, I even used a good deal of my Junior High Study Hall time to plan detailed vacations for my own family and that of several of my classmates. 

     My girlfriend Pam was looking for a city that wasn’t as large or hectic as most we had visited, and I did find quite a few real gems in Evansville!

     On Saturday, June 29, we left at 7:30 a.m. and drove non-stop the 175 miles to the Mesker Park Zoo and Botanic Garden in that southeastern Indiana town.  We were there from 10:20-1:30, and especially loved feeding the giraffes and going into the Budgie Walkabout, featuring several dozen small birds with a variety of colors, resembling parakeets.

    

The Children’s Enchanted Forest was also interesting.  I enjoyed looking in on a variety of both physical and learning activities for kids.  This was the first extremely hot weather weekend of the year, reaching a 105 heat index.  Since Pam hates hot weather while I hate cold temperatures, she waited inside The Rain Forest Grill while I toured the Amazonia section.  It featured gorgeous flora, colorful toucans, short-tailed opossum, Amazon milk frogs, Brazilian Rainbow Boa, giant cockroaches, Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula and the brightest orange-colored birds I had ever seen!

     The zoo also featured a large ship with adjoining bumper boats, a Discovery Center, a giant animal-themed carousel, huge Galapagos Island tortoises and the beautiful Port Victoria area with large-swan boats in the lake’s waters, and flowers galore lining the adjacent walkway!

     One thing the zoo grossly lacked was decent eating areas.  So, we drove to the closest food source:  Taco John with really good food & a variety of lemonade flavors for just $1 apiece!

     Our next stop was the Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science.  It far exceeded our expectations, featuring a fantastic variety of local, national and international art.  There were also good displays of local, regional and national history with a terrific Abraham Lincoln area, plus terrific hands-on science exhibits!

     There was also an extensive display of World War II memorabilia and description of how a small city like Evansville played such a major role in the war effort.

     There were exceptional astronomy exhibits with award-winning space program artwork in a juried competition dubbed, “By the Light of the Silvery Moon.”  But the piece de resistance was the planetarium show.  As a long-time astronomy nut with a Celestron 8-inch reflecting telescope from the mid-1970s, I was incredibly impressed by the 45-minute planetarium show, “Space Next” in the strangely-shaped Koch Immersive Theater!  Both the audio and the images were astounding!

Leaving there at 4:50, we walked about 200 feet to the Ohio River, then about the same distance to the Mickey’s Kingdom playground, given to Evansville by the Elks Club. After exploring that site for about 15 minutes, we walked back to the car so I could make two nights’ reservation at the Comfort Inn East.

     After settling in to our room, we enjoyed a fantastic dinner in the great atmosphere of Mission Barbecue!  There was military, police and firefighter memorabilia on every wall!  There were several dozen medals of honor, patriotic photos, flags and this giant wall sign:  “Choose the Harder Right Instead of the Easier Wrong.”

     Pam and I have never been on any trip of more than a single day without some live music event.  So, our final stop was the Tropicana Casino.  We enjoyed great music and some dancing to The Herchel Bailey Band, featuring sounds from the Motown era through the 1970s.

     Since it’s less than three hours from home, we also enjoyed a full Sunday in Evansville.  Actually, we first crossed over into Henderson, Kentucky on a very old, rusty bridge.  We parked by the Ohio River and walked along it to see a few signs of the area’s history and also some of the sculptures of renown naturalist, ornithologist and painter John James Audubon, who lived in Henderson for nine years.

     There were also signs about W.C. Handy, “The Father of the Blues,” who lived in Henderson for 11 years, and Lewis and Clark, who passed through the town in November 1803 on the way to Oregon’s lands end.

     











From there, we drove about a half mile to John James Audubon State Park.  The hiking trails there were average at best with the highlight being fantastic reflections on Wilderness Lake.  But we enjoyed the visitor center and especially the John J. Audubon Museum and Nature Center.

     Audubon was known for his love for birds and the museum itself was a bird lover’s paradise!  There were soooo many beautiful bird paintings and a large, round room with glass windows to view a wide variety of birds on outdoor feeders.

     There were also Audubon panoramas and dozens of his sculptures and paintings.  Audubon is a great example of how someone can best achieve success while following his or her passions.  This display perfectly described that message:

     “Audubon’s failure as a businessman forced him to make a bold choice that dramatically changed his life.  He had honed his artistic talents to a keen edge, and was ready to put them to use in making a living.  He would forsake his business career to follow the subjects of his artwork, spending much of his time and energy collecting new species to draw.

     “His ultimate goal was to publish his drawings.  The seed was planted that would grow to be the four-volume expression of his love for birds, known as ‘Birds of America’.”

     Our final stop was back in Evansville, along the Ohio River.  Once again, it was something highly historical!  The 2 p.m. heat index was 101, but that didn’t keep us from taking a guided tour of USS LST (Landing Ship Tank)-325.  It’s best known for Normandy landings at Omaha Beach in early June 1944.

    It is now a living museum and memorial with several dozen displays and historic artifacts! It’s also on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places! 

          But prior to that, the LST-325 was part of invasions of Sicily and Salerno, Italy. That was mostly in 1943. Even after D-Day, LST-325 made 40 trips across the English Channel, carrying thousands of men and far more pieces of equipment to help liberate Europe.

 Some of the below deck highlights for us were maps and photos of Operation Overlord, the code name for the D-Day invasion; memorabilia from the Evansville Shipyard, historical photos of the LST-325, several manikins of men on the ship, serving in their regular uniforms and positions, that well-known glamour photo of actress Betty Grable.

Our tour began and ended on the deck.  It gave me such a special feeling just standing there, thinking about my own dad, who served on the USS Argentine in the south of France just a few months or so after the D-Day invasion that started on June 6, 1944.

     Since it was equally hot below deck as in the bright sunshine atop, we returned to the car with air conditioning blasting on our faces with happy and vivid memories of our weekend in Evansville, returning on the final day of June, 2019, completing an incredible five weeks of early summer!

Sensational and Surreal Start of Summer Season 2019!…part 6: What St. Louisan Wouldn’t Love This Parade?

     Saturday, June 15 was officially declared St. Louis Blues Day!  Our friends Dave and Pam Stephens had asked my girlfriend Pam and me if we wanted to join them and Paula for the downtown St. Louis Blues Stanley Cup victory parade. 

      While my Pam declined on the basis of many potential pain plus hours of continuous walking and standing, I was certainly game!  After following hockey religiously in St. Louis for 56 years (including the St. Louis Braves of the Central Hockey League from 1963-67), I was WAY overdue for an official victory celebration!

     I was naturally up very early and was picked up shortly thereafter at a restaurant parking lot on St. Charles Rock Road.  There was still some very light rain downtown when we reached our 18^th and Market standing area around 9:30.  Nearly all of the sparse gathering at that early hour stood under umbrellas.

   Within a half hour, it stopped raining for the rest of the day.  Around that time, I pointed up toward the sky that I could see (Blues rookie goaltender) Jordan Binnington parting the clouds just as he had often performed miracles on the ice! 
 











Our group excitedly took photos of one another, proudly posed in our long-time or very new St. Louis Blues garb.  I was also thrilled to have a photo or two taken of myself with PuckMan!

     Over the next two hours or so, the crowds kept building dramatically as did the anticipation level.  Hundreds more joined us in our own small area, with most standing more in front of us than behind.  Tents were set up several hours before us right on Market Street by those who appeared to have camped out for the parade. They all finally heeded the loud and lengthy chants of “Take them down” prior to the parade’s commencement.

     We stood in our area from 9:30 until noon, talking and joking around with sooooo many former strangers.  There were also a few people carrying mock Stanley Cups over their heads as they walked in front of us, heading east toward the Arch. There were people ranging in age from newborns to those who appeared to be in their 70s and 80s.  

     After all, we all had one thing in common, whether long-time hockey fans or ones who just got into the mix some time this season.  We couldn’t wait to see our heroes motor down Market Street for what seemed like an impossibility in the first few days of 2019 when we stood dead last among 31 National Hockey League teams!

     The one-hour parade pretty much started at the 1 p.m. scheduled time.  Immediately, cell phones and a few regular cameras came alive and were snapping away relentlessly!  Since I’m rather short at 5-8, and my cell phone is not of the $900 variety, I probably ended up deleting nearly half and cropped the vast majority of surviving ones.   But like everyone else, I was just thrilled that parade time was finally upon us! 

Leading the way was Blues mascot Louie, as in “Meet me in St. Louie, Louie!”  This wasn’t the 1904 World’s Fair, but it matched the overall thrill of the very best of St. Louis celebrations, including the Rams’ 2000 Super Bowl parade and several for the St. Louis baseball Cardinals!

     Then, there were “Gloria” signs referring to the Blues late-season fight song released back in 1982 by the late Laura Branigan.  There were also huge Stanley Cup Championship banners and signs that read, “Hey, buddy.  The Cup is ours” and “History Made.” The first among very few actual parade floats included the Old Courthouse in front of the Arch. 

     For much of the time, it was a matter of trying to figure out which of the few old-time Blues and the regular-playing Blues could be sighted because there were quite a few backup players also there well beyond the traditional NHL roster of 20 or so.

     
The first I noted was forward Robby Fabbri, who had missed the entire 2017-18 season with a knee injury.  It’s noteworthy here that all members of Stanley Cup champions can hold onto Lord Stanley’s Cup and do almost whatever they want to during those days.  Would you believe that Fabbri served spaghetti from it?

     Rough-playing defenseman Robert Bortuzzo was the next active player I recognized.  Next was forward Oskar Sundqvist and defenseman Joel Edmundson.  They were followed by a lengthy stop in front of us from Blues number two net minder, Jake Allen with his wife and two young children. 

     Popular forward line mates Brayden (Schenn) and Jaden (Schwartz) rode together, followed by big, burly defenseman Colton Parayko, also known for his wicked slapshot. Blues perennial superstar Vladimir Tarasenko was there with wife and kids.

Next was a lengthy appearance high up on a float by popular center Ryan O’Reilly, who came to the Blues in an off-season trade from the Buffalo Sabres.  O’Reilly had previously stated how unhappy he was in Buffalo, and was seriously considering retiring.  But O’Reilly’s life changed dramatically after being traded to the Blues for veterans Patrick Berglund and Vladimir Sobotka and young prospect Tage Thompson.

     At the time, most NHL analysts considered the trade to be a big win for Buffalo.  But not only were the Sabres a below-.500 team during the season, the Blues came up HUGE as O’Reilly won the Frank J. Selke trophy as the league’s best two-way forward, and ultimately won the Conn Smythe trophy as the post-season’s Most Valuable Player as the Blues went on to beat Boston, 4 games to 3 in the finals. 

     O’Reilly just happened to have that Conn Smythe Trophy with him on the float, which featured an enormous replica of the Stanley Cup!  Sporting a flat and dark, wide-brimmed hat atop a head that features a huge, puffy beard, O’Reilly looked more like a member of the Amish community than a Stanley Cup elite!

     Finally, there was defenseman Alex Pietrangelo.  He took over captaincy duties a few seasons ago after long-time favorite David Backes left the team on July 1, 2016 to sign a lucrative free agent deal with none other than the Boston Bruins.  Inexplicably, the Bruins did not suit up Backes in the last three games of this year’s Stanley Cup Finals against his long-time team.

     But on this parade day, it was Backes’ team captain successor who felt the joy.  Riding atop the Budweiser vehicle, Pietrangelo reached high in the air, hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup into the air, just as he was the first to do so the night of June 12, 2019, when the fairy tale dream finally came true!

Sensational and Surreal Start of Summer Season 2019!…part 5: Blues Loss, Sad Departure, then 52 Years of Frustration Swept Away!

     I don’t know about you, but I was soooo excited all day on Sunday, June 9!  I was cocksure that with the Stanley Cup in town, the St. Louis Blues would come out flying and bottle up the Boston Bruins in all three zones to finally claim hockey’s top prize! On the other hand, my girlfriend Pam said she was sure it would not be tonight. 

     Trying to put game 6 out of my mind for awhile, there was another area of deep emotion on this day.  My son David and wife Marleen repacked their stuff to start tomorrow morning’s long trek back to Germany. I gave David my late father’s gold wedding ring with stones to resize and wear.  We looked through more old photos together.

     Since they didn’t feel like playing volleyball or socialize much, I took them to Pam’s to grill a whole lot of food items for dinner as we watched the Blues trail Boston, 1-0 after one period.  Naturally, it was a power play goal by Bruins’ veteran Brad Marchand.  The Blues had 20 penalty minutes in the game to just 10 by the Bruins.

     It was still 1-0 entering the third period.  So, there was a great deal of hope for a St. Louis comeback.  But hope subsequently turned to mush.  Ryan O’Reilly’s third period goal came after Boston had grabbed a 3-0 lead, and before even two more Boston tallies in a 5-1 setback. 

     So, the series would come down to a game 7 on Wednesday night, June 12.  Neither David nor Marleen would see game 7 as I was up Monday at 3 a.m. to take them past Enterprise Center and back to the Greyhound station.  A lot more emotion mixed in with goodbye hugs.

     Back to the regular Monday work routine, grocery shopping and catching up on things. I went home from work Tuesday for grass cutting. While I was doing yard waste, a couple walked by, saying that the yard waste could wait.  There’s a free concert down in the park!  So, I put a pizza in the oven, showered, changed & sat by that couple, Ginny and Ted, and we even had a few group dances!

     Dateline:  Wednesday, June 12, 2019:  I was among a large cast of characters wearing Blues clothes to work.  I also hoisted several memorabilia items to work from the yearbook following our very first season to rally towels, posters, commemorative bottles and pucks!

     It was extremely tough to focus on anything but tonight’s game 7! I pigged out at work and after work, showered, changed into my Blues clothes and headed to Johnny’s West.  I was one of the first ones there, waiting for some 20 others for reserved seating in the big-screen TV room!  My girlfriend Pam came straight from work and met me there.  By the time Pam arrived for her saved seat, the building was overflowing in numbers and anticipation!

     I probably knew just over half the people in our group.  There was one old friend I had not seen in nearly a year.  A couple people asked if I wanted to sit by her.  But she was with a few other ladies who were more the bandwagon types when it came to hockey. So, I opted to stay on my side of the table with fellow decades-long Blues fan Bobby and an entirely new acquaintance, long-time passionate Blues freak Gary. 

     After all, I had been following hockey religiously since 1963 with the St. Louis Braves, a Central Hockey League affiliate of our now hated rival, the Chicago Black Hawks!  I can still recall the names of nearly a dozen players from that era who played at the old Kiel Auditorium, but I will save you the agony.

     The Blues certainly did not get off to the fast start that their first-year coach Craig Berube had hoped.  The Blues were outshot, 12-4 in the opening period with a 9-2 edge in scoring chances.  But as he had done throughout the regular season and playoffs, rookie goaltender Jordan Binnington was phenomenal in a game following a loss. Also, the Blues record was an incredible 12-4-4 on the road from January 23 to the end of the regular season!

     In addition, Binnington was the prime reason the Blues clawed their way up the ladder from having the fewest points in the entire 31-team National Hockey League on the morning of January 3! 

     Meanwhile, the Blues proved to be real opportunists at the other end of the rink in period one of game 7.  Eventual Conn Smythe Trophy winner (playoff Most Valuable Player) Blues newcomer Ryan O’Reilly gave the Blues the lead with just 3:13 left in the period.  Fellow veteran Alex Pietrangelo stunned the crowd by making it 2-0 with just 8 seconds remaining!

     That second goal was the start of my off and on happy crying frenzy!  After a scoreless second period, it was still 2-0 midway through the second period. When young Brayden Schenn gave the Blues a 3-0 lead at 11:25 of the final period, I cried my eyes out!

     What looked like a total impossibility in early January, was about to come to fruition!  Rookie Zach Sanford’s goal at 15:22 made losing a near impossibility!  The surreal reality, if that is even a possible combination of words, was that the Blues led 4-0 with just 4:38 left in game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals! After posting an incredible 24-6-4 since January 23 to the end of the regular season, the Blues were about to complete a 10-3 road playoff run against the likes of Winnipeg, Dallas, San Jose and Boston.

     Tears of joy increased as I continued to think back to just over 49 years ago when I went to one of those Stanley Cup Finals games against Boston.  Perched way up in a corner of the Standing Room Only section at the old Arena with my sisters Debby and Sherry, I still recall veteran Jimmy Roberts give the Blues a 1-0 lead.  That was our only lead in the entire four-game series.  It was also our only goal in that game as we lost, 6-1 to the mighty Bruins with the likes of perennial All-Stars Phil Esposito, Bobby Orr, Johnny Bucyk, Ken Hodge and others!

     It also brought to mind my own dad.  He had followed hockey way back to the St. Louis Flyers of the American Hockey League in the 1940s and ‘50s. I was the last family member to see him alive on April 21, 2009, with a late visit to his hospice room.  Ironically, we were watching the final game of the Blues being swept in round one by the Vancouver Canucks.

     A few years before that, he told me, “It looks like the Blues won’t win the Cup in my lifetime.  It’s up to you.” 

     Boston broke Binnington’s shutout in the game’s final three minutes in this incredibly clean game, but the dream had actually become a reality!  Watching the highlights after captain Pietrangelo and other Blues players took turns skating with, holding up the Stanley Cup, kissing it, etc., I kept pointing to the screen when four words were being shown.

     In fact, while still crying my eyes out, I showed and mentioned that reality to every person in our group and as many waitresses and fellow customers I could:  “Blues Win Stanley Cup!”

     What an incredible reality to the end of a most unusual dream! So, this is what being on Cloud 9 feels like! It’s now 2 ½ months later, and I still feel the adrenalin high!  That will probably last for the rest of my earthly days!

Sensational and Surreal Start of Summer Season 2019!…part 4: Fun Wedding with Charles Glenn & Blues on the Verge

     We returned to the St. Louis area around 4:20 pm and I dropped off David and Marleen at my house so they could spend some time with area friends.  I then drove to Pam’s house, and we decided to eat, drink and watch Blues Stanley Cup Finals game 5 at Johnny’s West.

     Even though we knew not a single person there other than recognizing a few waitresses, it was FAR different from the couple Twin Cities bar and grills from the previous several days.  The crowd was huge and everyone was emotionally charged to cheer on the Blues! 

     It was against a different opponent, many Blues fans viewed this game as evening the score on this Thursday, June 6 evening in Boston.  As you recall, in game 3 of the previous series, San Jose scored an overtime goal on a hand pass. 

     In this game 5 against Boston, Blues center Tyler Bozak got away with an obvious trip on forward Noel Acciari.  Blues right winger David Perron scored moments later with assists from Bozak and Ryan O’Reilly.  But this goal was in the middle of the third period, and St. Louis already had a 1-0 lead on O’Reilly’s early second period goal.

     The crowd at Johnny’s West really erupted at this point in the game because previously, we were all cringing at the barrage goaltender Jordan Binnington had been facing throughout!  In fact, the Bruins outshot the Blues, 39-21, as Binnington was unbeatable until Jake DeBrusk’s goal with 6:28 left in regulation time.

     It was one of those pins-and-needles games for which we had become accustomed over the past few months.  The Blues garnered an early lead, dumped the puck to center dozens of times leading to opponents’ rushes into our zone.  And, as he had done throughout most of his late 2018-19 Blues stint, the rookie goalkeeper was remarkable!

     The clock struck 0:00, and we all collectively breathed a loud, lengthy, heart-pounding sigh, then exploded!  This was the atmosphere at households, bars and watch parties throughout the greater St. Louis area!

     After the game, Blues first-year coach Craig Berube said that it was great to survive the game and eke out a win.  He also said that they would have to play much better in order to claim hockey’s ultimate prize.  But it was yet another road playoff victory and the Blues were just one win away from capturing the elusive Lord Stanley’s Cup!

     Having another vacation day on Friday was like a double-edged sword.  I had soooo much more time to think about the fact that we were just three days away from what I waited for since October 1967:  a Blues Stanley Cup championship!  I was certain we would win it in game 6 on June 9 in St. Louis!

     But there were other things on my mind and the minds of my girlfriend Pam, my son David and his wife Marleen for the next two days.  Friday night was the rehearsal dinner for my nephew Keith and his bride to be Hannah! 

     Since David and Marleen were only going to be in town until early Monday morning, I spent more time with them and also got them gift bags and tissue paper ready for the wedding gifts they had brought from Germany.

     In order to kill more time, I drove to Creve Coeur Park, but the main road was still flooded & closed.  So, I spent some time in the upper section overlooking the flooded lake and boat rental area. While there, I snacked and wrote about what a Blues Stanley Cup championship would mean to me before heading back to Pam’s and posting it on Facebook.

     David and Marleen came by around 4:30 to change into dress up clothes as I did.  Pam was home from work around 5, and we left in separate cars before 5:30 for the elegant St. Louis Club in Clayton.  There were lots of fantastic food dishes and even more great speeches.

     A couple of the more memorable speeches were by groom to be Keith and his brother-in-law Kyle.  They had just come back from across the street at the Ritz Carlton.  The Boston Bruins just happened to be staying at that hotel.

     In their rehearsal dinner speeches, both mentioned that they ran into Boston coach Bruce Cassidy and another player or two in the hotel.  They ultimately met again heading down on the elevator as Keith and Kyle made their way back to the lobby to walk across the street.  While leaving, Keith decides to hum the Blues’ fight song, “Gloria,” recorded in 1982 by the late Laura Branigan.

     Everything that night was just right, and I was set off into a crying frenzy when I was told that Hannah’s wedding ring was my own late mother’s from way back in 1948!  Hannah and I also shared a lengthy cry while hugging one another over that fact.

    More surprises were in store the following night at the Meadowbrook Country Club wedding.  First, there were 12 bridesmaids and 12 groomsmen, and Keith’s nephew Bennett, just shy of a year old, was also wheeled up to the altar.

      On the way to the Reception Room, there was a table with large wedding photos of Keith and Hannah’s parents and grandparents.  That’s where again I got to be reminded of my own parents from a photo I had supplied from so many I had inherited after my mom had passed away in November 2014.

     But the piece de resistance occurred moments later.  Turning the corner to look for our table to the left, I gazed to my right and saw that tonight’s entertainment would be handled by none other than the Charles Glenn Band! 

For those who are not hockey fans, Glenn has been the “National Anthem” singer for the St. Louis Blues since 2000.  Recently, Glenn, who has been battling Multiple Sclerosis, announced that this playoff run would culminate his very last season serving in that capacity.

     The Charles Glenn Band not only performed a lengthy “Hava Nagila,” which we turned into a typical wild and frenzied one at this Jewish wedding, but they also performed many more mostly upbeat tunes from the past several decades.

     We were also all pretty psyched to be able to sing and dance along to the recently re-popularized “Gloria” and the 1967-68 version of “When the Blues Go Marching In.”

     The wedding was held on Saturday, June 8.  Guess what?  With the Blues leading the Stanley Cup Finals 3 games to 2, win or lose, tomorrow night’s game 6 at the Enterprise Center, would be Glenn’s last “National Anthem” performance!