High School Reunion
On Friday the 13 (my lucky day) we drove to St. Louis, MO and stayed at the Courtyard by Marriot in Maryland Heights (close to my old neighborhood). It was an 8 1/2 drive with a stop for lunch and another for gas. We only got mixed up twice. The Hwy 18 exit off of I-35 going East was confusing so we ended up going through town on business 18.
The Courtyard motel was very nice and in the heart of industrial businesses. All farmland when I grew up in the area. It was close to my Saturday reunion with the class of '53 which was at Granite City Brewery & Pub. It was also close to the Doubletree Motel at Westport where all of the Lutheran High graduates of 50 years or more gathered on Sunday.
Nineteen of the '53 graduates were at the Saturday shindig. We started at 10 am at the old Lutheran High Building (which is now City School - a private school from pre-kindergarden to 6th grade.) For the upper grades tuition is only $16,000. Students even come from Illinois as their parents work at one of the hospitals nearby or another business. Needless to say I didn't recognize some of my classmates. Some I had never talked to in high school. I was very shy back in those days. The one I was closest to was Ron Kasten whose parents had a mom and pop grocery store 3 blocks from our house. Ron and I played checkers and chess. He usually won checkers and I usually won at chess.
Saturday we went until 4 pm. Darlene and I drove back to our motel and met up with Andrew and Joe. They had come down several days earlier to visit with Joe's sister and her husband.
Dana, Real and Hudson were coming up from Jackson, MS. Their alternator went out early in the trip but they managed to make it just shy of Festus, MO where the car gave out completely. Andrew picked up some jumper cables and drove down from our motel to charge their battery so they could come on up. Since it was dark it took more juice from the battery so they had to stop another time to recharge. Festus is only about 40 miles from our motel.
So it was after 9 pm when they got to the motel. Instead of going out we had pizza in Andrew and Joe's room. Hudson was wound up. He has grown so much since the last time we saw him. So we went to be early?
Sunday morning we ate at the bistro at the motel and headed down to the arch. We had a 10 o'clock time which we switched to 11. It was great to get up 630 into the air. From there we took the river cruise on the Tom Sawyer. It was a great one hour ride.
From there Darlene and I rushed back to the motel, after getting lost trying to get on I 70 (not marked very well). Rested a couple minutes, changed clothes, and went to our Sunday reunion of the classes over 50. Only 9 of my classmates showed up for that. There were 89 in all - and many had spouses - so we had a large group. Now knowing many people outside my class we left early to spend time with family. Since we had snacks the family went to Patrick's where Darlene and I had eaten Friday night. We finally got over there about the time they finished so we came back to the motel.
The courtyard was nice and we sat out there and had our snacks and drinks. Real put his "mirrored" windows in the trunk of our car. And finally got to bed.
Monday morning after Andrew took Dana, Real and Hudson to Napa to pick up an alternator and then to a GMC garage to install it, we went to First Watch for brunch. It was good. Two of my classmates were there and came over to our table. The kids thought they were mother and daughter because Lois looks so young.
From there the kids went to get the repaired car and we headed for Minnesota. We got through St. Louis all right but found out the Hwy 61 was closed at Wentzville, MO. So we stopped for supper and then headed over I 70 to Hwy 63 to head north. We got as far as Macon and stopped for the night. The Budget Motel was not fancy but satisfactory.
The Courtyard motel was very nice and in the heart of industrial businesses. All farmland when I grew up in the area. It was close to my Saturday reunion with the class of '53 which was at Granite City Brewery & Pub. It was also close to the Doubletree Motel at Westport where all of the Lutheran High graduates of 50 years or more gathered on Sunday.
Nineteen of the '53 graduates were at the Saturday shindig. We started at 10 am at the old Lutheran High Building (which is now City School - a private school from pre-kindergarden to 6th grade.) For the upper grades tuition is only $16,000. Students even come from Illinois as their parents work at one of the hospitals nearby or another business. Needless to say I didn't recognize some of my classmates. Some I had never talked to in high school. I was very shy back in those days. The one I was closest to was Ron Kasten whose parents had a mom and pop grocery store 3 blocks from our house. Ron and I played checkers and chess. He usually won checkers and I usually won at chess.
Saturday we went until 4 pm. Darlene and I drove back to our motel and met up with Andrew and Joe. They had come down several days earlier to visit with Joe's sister and her husband.
Dana, Real and Hudson were coming up from Jackson, MS. Their alternator went out early in the trip but they managed to make it just shy of Festus, MO where the car gave out completely. Andrew picked up some jumper cables and drove down from our motel to charge their battery so they could come on up. Since it was dark it took more juice from the battery so they had to stop another time to recharge. Festus is only about 40 miles from our motel.
So it was after 9 pm when they got to the motel. Instead of going out we had pizza in Andrew and Joe's room. Hudson was wound up. He has grown so much since the last time we saw him. So we went to be early?
Sunday morning we ate at the bistro at the motel and headed down to the arch. We had a 10 o'clock time which we switched to 11. It was great to get up 630 into the air. From there we took the river cruise on the Tom Sawyer. It was a great one hour ride.
From there Darlene and I rushed back to the motel, after getting lost trying to get on I 70 (not marked very well). Rested a couple minutes, changed clothes, and went to our Sunday reunion of the classes over 50. Only 9 of my classmates showed up for that. There were 89 in all - and many had spouses - so we had a large group. Now knowing many people outside my class we left early to spend time with family. Since we had snacks the family went to Patrick's where Darlene and I had eaten Friday night. We finally got over there about the time they finished so we came back to the motel.
The courtyard was nice and we sat out there and had our snacks and drinks. Real put his "mirrored" windows in the trunk of our car. And finally got to bed.
Monday morning after Andrew took Dana, Real and Hudson to Napa to pick up an alternator and then to a GMC garage to install it, we went to First Watch for brunch. It was good. Two of my classmates were there and came over to our table. The kids thought they were mother and daughter because Lois looks so young.
From there the kids went to get the repaired car and we headed for Minnesota. We got through St. Louis all right but found out the Hwy 61 was closed at Wentzville, MO. So we stopped for supper and then headed over I 70 to Hwy 63 to head north. We got as far as Macon and stopped for the night. The Budget Motel was not fancy but satisfactory.