In all my years of traveling, I’ve always wanted to stay at a Holiday Inn, but for whatever reason, I never had until this past weekend. I usually just Motel 6 it on my road trips, or occasionally upgrade to Red Roof Inn now and then. My original plan was to stay at the Red Roof along I-44 in St. Louis near “The Hill” (more about that below) for $75 a night, but I waited a day before booking that rate, and during that time, the rate suddenly shot up $14 a night for the same freakin’ room! That’s when I decided to give myself a late birthday present by splurging a little and booking the Holiday Inn right next door to Red Roof for $110 a night instead, and it was totally worth it because the accommodations were outstanding. My room came with a terrific panoramic view from the balcony of the surrounding area to the north and east of I-44, including the former site of the old St. Louis Arena (which once dominated the horizon straight above the highway billboard sign in the foreground in this pic), and I merely needed to lean over the balcony and look to my right to see downtown and the Arch. Meanwhile at Red Roof, I would’ve had an enthralling view of the Public Storage facility next door (and no balcony). In addition, I got free Internet access in the lobby and two free breakfasts out of the deal, as well as a killer LG plasma TV in the room with 80 channels. My only two real complaints were the elevators (too slow and not enough of them for a building that size) and the hotel bar—closing time @ 10PM on a Saturday? Ditto goes for the Dirt Cheap liquor store just across the parking lot. Seriously, people?!? I bet even Amish bars are open later than that…ARTY-FARTY!
“THIS USED TO BE A PLAYGROUND…”
And here be 5700 Oakland Avenue, the above-mentioned former site of St. Louis Arena, which I paid tribute to in a 2007 post here. My friends and I spent several nights there doing Blues hockey and Steamers soccer games in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, and it was my favorite old-school sports venue outside of K.C. Located just across I-64/U.S. 40 from Forest Park, it now houses a semi-bland mixed-use complex comprised of office buildings, retail outlets, loft apartments and a Hampton Inn hotel. The Arena used to sit in a bit of a hole, but they’ve since raised the ground level so it slopes up north toward Oakland Avenue, where I snapped the current photo. I also didn’t realize it until I drove through the place that they actually built the whole development around the original footprint of The Arena itself, leaving a nice green common ground in the middle, thus you can walk your dog and let him/her poop right where center ice once was! They’ve also placed a nice fountain dedicated to organ donors and transplant recipients approximately where the back wall of the old building was situated. That’s all fine and dandy, but unless I missed something, there’s no plaque, no Blue Note, no historical marker, no nothing on the site to commemorate the “Old Barn”—and that’s just plain wrong! The only hint of its existence anywhere nearby is the Arena Liquor store around the corner on Hampton Avenue. Rather surprising too, considering how much the city of St. Louis usually reveres and honors its rich history. Let’s get on the ball (and/or puck, in this case), St. Lou!CAN YOGI COME OUT AND PLAY?
Barely a mile south of The Arena is the locality in St. Louis known as “The Hill” (or “Dago Hill” before it became politically incorrect), an area heavily populated by those of Italian descent. I’d heard of The Hill for many years, but never knew where it was located until recently, and I feel like a real dolt now, because for years I’ve driven up and down Hampton Avenue (the western boundary of The Hill) and never knew I’d been passing right by it all that time—there’s definitely A hill going up Hampton, but I never realized it was THE Hill! Anyway, you’re looking at the boyhood home of one Lawrence Peter Berra, Hall of Fame catcher and King of the Malapropism. It’s only natural that he and fellow catcher/character Joe Garagiola would become such lifelong close friends, because they literally lived right across Elizabeth Street from each other (I was standing in front of Joe's place when I snapped this photo). Liz Street was also home to one other rather famous St. Louisan…WHERE’S THAT JOE BUCK?!?
Meantime, I’m still doing my A-Z by song title thing on my iPod (which I started in March!) and I’m up to the W’s, so it was perfect timing that it tracked through all the “Walking” songs (“Walking In L.A.”, “Walking On Sunshine”, “Walking Down Your Street”, “Walking To New Orleans”, etc.) as I hoofed it through the streets of The Hill. Synchronicity personified…
“I DON’T TRUST NOTHIN’ BUT THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER”
YOU’LL FIND YOUR THRILL…
Mr. Edwards also took a page out of the Hollywood playbook by founding the St. Louis Walk Of Fame, which Blueberry Hill resides along. Unlike the Hollywood WOF, which merely lists the name of the honoree, each sidewalk star in the St. Louie version is accompanied by a brief bio, as they honor numerous famous St. Louisans. In addition to entertainers, people from other realms like sports, local history, architecture, the arts and culture are included as well. This was also quite educational for me—for example, I wasn’t aware that actor Robert Duvall was from St. Louis until I saw his star on the Walk. But just as with the Hollywood WOF, I have issues with some of the more questionable inductees, Cedric The Entertainer?!? Riiiiiiight. And there’s something warped about placing the likes of Nelly right next to Scott Joplin, but beyond that, the STLWOF is quite boffo, and Kansas City needs one of these—it would slot in perfectly in the new Power & Light District.
EAST ST. LOUIS, TOODLE-EWWW!
NOT PICTURED HERE
Does anyone know the average number of beers announcer Mike Shannon goes through during a typical Cardinals game broadcast? I listened to parts of all three games this weekend with the Royals, and he sounded pretty incoherent most of the time…
I paid my first visit to Lumiere Place casino at Laclede’s Landing this weekend. For all the hype and hoopla about Lumiere, I was pretty unimpressed. Gaudy décor (for a casino, anyway), unattractive cocktail waitresses, bland-looking sports bar and an overpriced dinner buffet (which I passed on). Meh—I’ll stick with Harrah’s and Ameristar…
Why are there Gulf Oil logos on the outfield wall at Busch Stadium? There ain’t a Gulf station within three states of St. Louis, is there?
The mighty K-SHE 95 never fails to play some cool old song I’ve never heard before on their Sunday morning lost classics show whenever I’m in town. This time it was 10CC’s “Rubber Bullets” from 1973. I must take a few points off K-SHE, however, because of the 20-something chick DJ in the afternoon who was yapping about a new Jimi Hendrix DVD set that will feature his appearance on the “Dick Cavett Show” back in the day. Instead of ‘CAV-ut’, DJ chick pronounced Dick’s surname ‘Cuh-VETT’. Fail!
2 comments:
The official answer to your Mike Shannon question is none, as the kidney ailment that ended his playing days supposedly keeps him from drinking as well. Most Cardinals fans know better. Although I suspect that a lot of his incoherence these days is due to advancing age. I still remember the infamous 25-inning game at Shea Stadium in 1974 where Shannon sounded noticeably drunk by the 12th inning, sloshed by the 15th, and gone altogether by the 18th - as time went by, word spread that Shannon had passed out, leaving Jack Buck to call the remainder of the game solo. Most long-time St. Louisans know a few Mike Shannon stories, not all of them complimentary.
East St. Louis makes me sad. As a little kid I remember a vibrant downtown shopping area, especially the big Sears store. In the 50's and early 60's Metro-East folks went to East St. Louis to get the stuff they couldn't buy anywhere else, just as they go to the mall at Fairview Heights now. The city was doomed by political corruption, racial strife, neglect, and plain bad luck. Grandpa always used to say East St. Louis never had a chance.
My old stomping grounds are down the road from the Memorial Hospital Metrolink station, a little less than a mile to the south.
I didn't see anything when we were up in St. Louis a couple weeks ago, but back in Nashville there are billboards everywhere announcing the return of Gulf Oil. IIRC, the Gulf stations in these parts were bought out by BP in the 80's - could it be that the oil spill has trashed BP's reputation so bad that they're thinking of converting them back to Gulf?
I was actually being a smart-ass about Shannon, but he does sound kinda loopy sometimes. I was never all that big a fan of him as an announcer, really. I still can't believe he asked (on the air), "How's your Dad doing?" while interviewing late Missouri governor Mel Carnahan's children.
We used to have two Gulf stations here in Raytown, but that was 40 years ago. One of them is near my house and is still standing, but now houses a landscaping/nursery business.
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