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SEA TO SHINING SEA: Chillin' in St. Louis

The venue is Blueberry Hill on Delmar Loop.  Fats Domino, Chubby Checker and, as my friend Tom says, Pudgy Parcheesi.  The American Planning Association in 2007 named the Delmar Loop - on Delmar Avenue - one of America's top ten streets.
dennis_forney
July 11, 2013
This statue of Chuck Berry, called the father of Rock and Roll, memorializes another of St. Louis's heroes.
Raven Wolf, with his five-toed Vibram shoes, blows sax outside Vintage Vinyl on the Delmar Loop.
What could be more fun on a Wednesday night in July than sitting on the sidewalk and listening to people's stories.  These two said ours was the most interesting so far.  I think we were number two.  I told them to give our dollar to Raven.
I wrote about guns in my Barefootin' column for the July 12 edition of Cape Gazette. This sign is on the St. Louis Metro.  Like in Delaware, I guess it's OK to carry weapons in St. Louis as long as they aren't concealed.
At Fitz's, you can get all kinds of micro-brewed soft drinks on tap.  Their root beer and cream soda are awesome.
Here's a fine bronze statue of Sacajawea in the high-ceilinged reception room of the Missouri Athletic Club. We lucked into a room here when everything else in downtown St. Louis was booked.  The classic old facility with lots of fine old wood and marble dates back to 1904. Not many hotels can claim a fullsize indoor basketball court, large lap pool, billiard room and fitness room. Becky noticed one anomaly.  They sell a fine selection of cigars next to the reception desk and still allow smoking in the bar and elsewhere throughout the hotel.  Smoking and an athletic club?
I thought John the Blacksmith, King of Play, would take particular pleasure in this sign that hangs above the basketball court in the Missouri Athletic Club.
The MIssouri Athletic Club building stands on Washington Street in downtown St. Louis.

DAY 58 - Soaking up the culture across America. So much culture to soak up.  Man on the street said we should check out Delmar Loop, out on Delmar Boulevard. Hip.  Tattoos.  Music.  Lots of restaurants.  We hopped the Metro and headed west.

In 2007, the American Planning Association called the Delmar Loop one of the nation's 10 best streets.  Shade trees. Public art.

Raven Wolf blows the sax in front of a vintage vinyl shop.  "Promoting my CDs.  They sell them inside. I'm healing hearts one at a time.  That's what music is for me."

Raven wore five-toed Vibram shoes like the young man I interviewed at the campground back in Oregon, just west of McKenzie Pass. "They wok all my toes and that's good for the little muscles.  If the little muscles work well, the big muscles can too."

Raven is all about love and five-toed shoes.

You could learn a lot about the culture of America reading the names of St. Louis-area stars and their biographies on bronze plaques in the sidewalk of Delmar Loop. Some serious American culture here: Tennesee Williams, Vincent Price, Albert King, Bob Gibson, Drs. Masters and Johnson, Dick Gregory, Miles Davis, Yogi Berra and Stan Musial, Phyllis Diller, Robert Duvall, Joseph Pulitzer, The Rockettes, Nelly, Robert McFarren . . . and the list goes on.

Here are some scenes from St. Louis.  No riding on this work day.  Total stands at 2,182.

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