St Louis Labor Day 2008

This morning I got on a bus at 9am and arrived in St. Louis just before 2:30pm.  It was a very relaxing ride: reading and listening to music.  The scenery was classic Midwestern Americana: farms galore, highway stretching for miles, tree lines dividing the properties, and billboards just in case you didn't see the three billion other signs for this or that local attraction.  Once in town it took me a few minutes to get my bearings.  More than enough people, seeing me with three bags of luggage, willing to assist me at a moments notice.  "Where're you headin', hon?"  The lost and bewildered look very obvious on my face.  ^_^  So after walking about a mile, I found the bus stop and plopped down across from the federal building.  Plenty of men in uniform entering and exiting buildings.  Funnily I don't think I felt any more safe.  The 40x got me to the Best Western out in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE in about an hour.  Luckily there is a Cracker Barrel right next door that serves child sized portions to kids of all ages.  What this means is I got a house salad, three grilled chicken tenders, and a single scoop sundae for about $10, including tax and tip.  Huzzah!  Also, directly next to the Cracker Barrel, there's a gas station with plenty of microwavable food, should I get hungry in the middle of the night.  Yay Easy Mac!  Now I begin the planning for tomorrow.  Transport into town will be easy because I'll get up early and take the 40x downtown.  From there nothing is planned, but I think I'll go to Forest Park for the day.  Shouldn't be too busy during the day on a Friday...I hope.