Home > Full Speed Ahead > Archives > 2008 > July > 04
Friday, July 4, 2008
This is typical
Me in nutshell.
I start off to do something good, that needs to be done, I get distracted, I forget something, and a minor disaster strikes.
Drake Bell rocked. We managed to get close enough to see him. But my camera had no memory card because I failed to reinsert it after emptying the files.
The process was necessary to have enough memory to record Bell and other stuff at the fair.
This type of thing happens, I guess, to a lot of folks, especially after 900 miles and two days on the road from Greenville to St. Louis for the Fourth of July.
But one of the great things about this trip, so far, is that we have muddled through little things like that pretty much with a smile.
At least I got some audio, and I made some great images from some of the other things we did, and will be posting them soon along with, I hope, great shots of the fireworks, tonight.
Right now, we need to eat. So I will sign back in again later.
Bobby Burns is associate editor of Internet news and information at The Daily Reflector. A native North Carolinian, he grew up in St. Louis, Mo.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
Coming into St. Louis
Madison and Abigail, my 10- and 7-year-old daughters, students at Wintergreen Intermediate and Primary schools, have never been to a big city, at least not that they can remember. The idea of going to St. Louis thrilled them, even if it meant two days in a car.
In fact, the idea of driving excited them two. Abigail, who loves geography and interesting facts many of us know as trivia, wanted to see states besides North Carolina that she had read about in her world record books.
Still the driving with your family for 16 hours and 900 miles offers it’s hazards in addition to the excitement.
I’ll post more about the journey’s ups and downs later. Some of it’s cool, some of it is interesting, and some of it is family drama at it’s best. But for now, here is a video of us coming into St. Louis, which at the very least captures some of the excitement.
It also captures my wife Crystal’s inexperience with the camera, one of those things that could really make you mad after a long trip.
It also captures some of the white-knuckle driving that makes me glad I live in Greenville. (The footage was shot at 60 mph.)
And of course it captures some pretty cool sites, more of which I hope to provide as the day progresses and fireworks blast tonight during one of the biggest shows on earth.
Bobby Burns is associate editor of Internet news and information at The Daily Reflector. A native North Carolinian, he grew up in St. Louis, Mo.
Hope you enjoyed the video. It’s about 11:15 a.m. here, central time. I’m off to gather up my nephews and get them back downtown, hopefully in time for the Drake Bell concert. My wife and kids are on the street right now watching what sounds like a pretty good parade. I will post again this afternoon.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
900 miles later, the fun begins, at least after some sleep
It’s 12:24 a.m. on Friday, Central Standard Time. Happy Fourth of July.
Twenty four hours ago, we were settling into a Howard Johnson in Biltmore Forest off I-40 near Asheville, N.C.
My 74-year-old mother, my daughters, 7 and 10, my wife and I tucked ourselves into a couple of double beds and a roll-out for a few hour’s sleep before hitting the road again.
Now I’m on the 18th floor of a hotel on the riverfront in St. Louis, Mo., with a view of the mighty flooded Mississippi, the Gateway Arch, the new Busch Stadium and the impressive dome of the Old Court House, where the Dred Scott case was heard.
We arrived here after driving 16 hours and 900 miles over two days, on the road from Greenville. We pulled in about 6 p.m. Thursday, then headed back out to visit a high school friend and her family, visit my sister-in-law and nephews and drop my mom off at the home of her best buddy.
We’ll get a good night’s sleep tonight because, one, we’re tired and, two, we will need it for tomorrow.
The Fourth is one of the city’s biggest days. Tens of thousands head downtown for the annual Veiled Profit Fair, which features free music, great food from St. Louis’ melting pot of German, Italian, African and Irish cultures, and, of course, one of the biggest fireworks shows around, with rounds shot from a river barge on the Illinois side of the Mississippi.
Drake Bell from one of my girls’ favorite Nickelodeon television shows, Drake and Josh, will be singing, and my nephews will be spending the day with us.
We might even swim in the pool on the top story of the hotel.
Obviously there’s a lot going on, and that’s just Friday.
Not as much detail is necessary for Saturday. Suffice it to say we’ll be climbing the 630-foot arch and watching the Cardinals take on the Cubs in sold-out Busch.
Of course we hope to catch up with a lot of friends along the way, and eat a lot food that they just don’t make back in the North Carolina.
Before you know it, we’ll be back on the road for another 16-hour trek back to Greenville.
But until then, we hope you have a great Fourth and keep checking back here for a lot more, including some photos, video and audio we’ve shot along the way.
I’ll post as soon as I can in the morning, but now, some much-needed shuteye.
Bobby Burns is associate editor of Internet news and information at The Daily Reflector. A native North Carolinian, he grew up in St. Louis, Mo.
Here is an image from the room of the Arch on Friday morning, after a good night’s rest. Fireworks will be shot from a barge on the far side of the river tonight.
Here is an image from the room of the Old Courthouse. Just behind it is the new Busch Stadium, some lights and red seats peak out between the dome and the building to its right. We’ll be watching the Cards play the rival Cubs there on Saturday. People are beginning to line the street for the 118th Veiled Profit parade.
