August 17-20, 2018

Some weekends are meant to be remembered.  Such was August 17 through the 20th for us, as we flew to St. Louis, Missouri for our Godson’s wedding.  We caught a very early flight out of Traverse City on Friday morning for Detroit, then a hop over to the Gateway to the West following that.  When we got to the counter at Alamo Rent-a-car, we informed the agent that we were going to picking up two more people, and I asked if a standard SUV was big enough.  When I informed him that one of the people was a hair stylist, Charles looked at me and said “You need a bigger car.”

He set us up in this awesome Ford Expedition for a slight up-charge.

Perfect for Carpool Karaoke!  Where’s James Cordon?  To be fair to Christine (2nd from left), her civil engineer sister Nina had more luggage.  🙂

That evening, while the families of the bride and groom were at rehearsal dinner, the rest of us hung out in Alton, Illinois at the Bluff City Grill.  Mike asked Christine to tell us about her travel day.

Hands flying, she proceeded to go into detail from start to finish, leaving us all in stitches.

The next morning, we all prepared for the big event.

Here is the father and mother of the groom, Jim and Sue, with their daughter Jess.  After a lovely ceremony in Edwardsville, Illinois, we all headed to the reception in Alton.

Here are our first and second generation Western Michigan University friends who attended the wedding.  From left:  Sarah, Brian, Mike, Cindy, Bill, Christine, Nina, Billy, Alissa, Karen, Sheryl, Paul, myself, and Diana.  After dinner, we all got up to dance for the first song and pretty much remained on the dance floor the rest of the night.  I can’t remember a reception we’ve been at that was as much fun as this one was!

The next morning rolled around quickly.  Over in St. Louis, Josh and Jaclyn were ready for another day of celebration with their families and friends before they headed off on their honeymoon.

Here is the happy couple!  No doubt who the bride and groom were.  🙂

We all planned a get together later in the afternoon, so several of us headed to the Gateway Arch for a ride to the top.

Heading in, Alissa’s look summed up her thoughts.  “We are going up THERE???”  

Once inside the base of the arch, we checked out the museum.

I’ve always thought Mike had a resemblance to Teddy Roosevelt; here was my chance to make the comparison.  Do you see it?

Once we were at the top, the little windows offered us a great view of the city.

And since they are angled at the bottom of the triangular shape of the arch, it is possible to look straight underneath, over 600 feet down!  The curved, dark streak is the shadow of the arch.  The people below look like ants.  🙂

Before long, we lined up for the tram back down.  Once on terra firma, we went out for lunch and then took a trolley ride around the city.

Either this group is fascinated by the view of Forest Park, or they are mooning the photographer.  🙂  All too soon, our weekend came to a close.  It is, no doubt, one we will remember for a long time to come.

Next up, a fascinating bit of maritime history that just about floated by us.  Be sure to stay tuned for that.  Until then, safe and happy travels to all!