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Saturday, May 08, 2010

Meet Me

Hello all! I am alive and DONE with the semester! It was a fun semester, and I had lots of fun in two of my classes (Writer's Workshop and 'the Fairy Tale Class'). I could do without math and astronomy, but they weren't bad.

So now I'll get back to a promised entry...

I went to St. Louis!

My hotel (Hyatt) was right next to the Arch.

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And the hotel was pretty sweet too.

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And had a sweet view of the city.

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The beds were so comfortable and there was this lounge that we got access to (for like $40 a night or something?) that had food out all day. MMMM. It was like free food basically (since the school funded the trip). The only thing more delicioso than good food is good FREE food!

Here's the obligatory photo of me with the Arch.

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In case you forgot, I was in St. Louis to present a scholarly paper I wrote about The Bluest Eye. That went well. I was only asked a few questions from the audience and they were all easy to answer.

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Here are some of the fun things I experiences in St. Louis:

The City Park
Just a few blocks from the hotel was this park filled with sculptures and interactive stuff, like a set of panels that played different notes when you stepped on them. Here's some of the cool stuff found there.

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Hooters
I went to Hooters for the first time! And it was pretty delicious.

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St. Louis Zoo
YAY! I love the zoo! Here are some pics from the zoo.

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Giraffes - St. Louis Zoo

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City Museum
This was one of the coolest places I went to in St. Louis, and ever in my life. It was basically this huge building that was filled with games and tunnels and stuff for adults. It was amazing!!

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Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my own camera (got those pics from friends) but trust me, there was A LOT to explore and I spent like a half hour just running through a set of tunnels on the first floor that seemed to never end. It was amazing and if you go to St. Louis, you must go.

I also went to the actual museum.

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And to the Museum of Westward Expansion, which is located beneath the Arch.

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Of course I rode up the Arch too! You have to ride up in this tight little pod. Here I am with my friend Todd as we rode up.

Me & Todd in Pod

And the view from the arch:

I also took a nap in a very strange position:

Sleep Oh, Oh

And I played Scrabble. And yes, Todd and I won (duh!)

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Here's a group shot of the juniors who went on the trip.

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While I knew everybody from seeing them at school, I had fun getting to know them better.
But since I'm not that social, I mostly hung out with my good friends Rebecca and Todd.

Me, Rebecca, Todd

Aww!

Here we are on the final night, eating at the banquet.

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Our school won like 7 (thousand?) awards that night so we were very proud. GO TCNJ!!!

So in summary, I had a wonderful time there, loved the city, and would definitely go back.

15 comments:

Tam said...

Wow, looks like a great time. Gorgeous room and the zoo looks very nice. Glad you had fun time and enjoy your summer off.

Mel said...

I've never been to St. Louis, but I was just in a training course with two women who live there. One of my roommates in vet school also did a summer internship at the zoo, as I recall (It's been a long time).

If the pod going up the arch is really that tiny, though, I will pass on ever going up in it. Just reading about it was enough to make me panicky.

Delisa said...

I didn't know you could go up in the arch. This looks like a fun trip I'd like to go on. Too bad I don't write papers like you guys or I would go to the next conference or not.

I'm going to stalk your facebook pictures now!

Adam said...

Looks like a fun trip! The tunnel place looks cool ... I wanna go!

Garret said...

City museum rocks!

john said...

Look how cute you look doing your best imitation of Richard Parker in the little hamster tunnels.

Looks like you are had a great time and excellent for the school.

Polt said...

Ah, john, you beat me to it! I was gonna say Richard Parker taught him well how to navigate tunnels and wheels! :)

And punkin, you've now down something that I have not! Visited a Hooters. Very brave of you. :) :)

Looks like the entire trip was nothing but funtimes! :)

HUGS...

Michelle M. said...

john beat me to it as well (some remark about you, Richard Parker and the hamster wheel). Love to read/see pictures of your travel adventures. You have convinced me to put St. Louis on my list of places to visit.

And you're looking very handsome in your tie/sweater.

Craig said...

Great pictures!

Jere Keys said...

I like the picture of the ceiling cage best.

that's J-O-S-H said...

I WANT TO GO TO THAT MUSEUM! It reminds me of the Franklin Institute which is probz one of mah favo places ever [sans the walk-through corazon that I always got lost in while going insane due to the amplified heartbeats. SCARY!]!

Nathan V said...

Looks like you had a lot of fun!

Chris D. said...

Thanks for sharing the photos. It seems like a fun trip. Congratulations on a success full presentation.

dpaste said...

I love zoos!! And that museum looks like a great time. And you look super cute in your final night party togs. And I'm glad Uncle Polt was restrained enough not to comment on your odd nap position.

Justin said...

Awesome post, Enrico!!! I'm glad you finally posted pix of your STL trip!!!! I'm glad you got one pic of you with not just the arch, but the Mississippi behind you. :-) This is a great set of pix.

You look so scholarly giving that presentation. Kudos again on being invited to do that!!!!

Now on to the obligatory puntabuperv comments:

1) Yes, I'm surprised too that your creepy uncle Polt skipped over the odd nap position; I have to say that what *I* notice about it the most is that -- my -- you *do* have very. big. feet. ;-)

2) Why am I the only one pervy enough to comment that your friend Todd is teh cute?