Midwestern Adventures

I've gotten to the age where I'm going to work on a travel day. I went into work this morning after packing everything last night, and Saori picked me up and drove me to the airport at 10 for my noon flight to STL. I think I must have been either one of the last people to check in, because I got an oddly good seat. I was in the last zone to board, the flight was "full" yet the row I was sitting in was empty. Maybe they filled up the plane of the regular priced seats, then all they had left were the 'upgraded' seats with a little extra legroom, and then since they overbooked, they automatically located me to this nice row. The seat they gave me was actually in the middle, but with noone left or right, I slid over to the window seat to listen to Wait Wait don't Tell me on the 2.5 hour flight over.

I was actually pretty nervous once I got off the plane. I've never rented a car before, and my printout reservation mentioned the facility potentially being off-site, so clutched my duffel and wandered around following various signs. Signs pointing to the car rental desks, signs for Budget, sign on the empty Budget desk directing me to the platform to catch the Aivs/Budget bus, signs on the busses...

It's hot and humid in STL. Reminds me of Oklahoma. Beautiful cloudy skies though, with storm clouds roiling in the skies punctuated by bright, midwestern sunshine.

Two things I forgot to bring with me. A city street map, and directions to the hotel from the car rental place. Did I say hotel? I meant "motel." I don't want there to be any confusion with a place with class. I asked the bus driver if he knew how to get to the Ramada north of the airport, and he gave me verbal directions, involving multiple twists and turns. Amazingly, I was able to get there, but first I had to get my car.

The rental was actually pretty easy despite how nervous I was. The people in STL are very friendly, at least the ones I've encountered so far. I'd pre-paid and arranged the car and the hotel as part of a package, together around $70 a day. What that got me, walking down to the very last lane of the Budget lot, was not much. I was looking at the space numbers, but this tiny little compact, looking somehow narrower than the standard car, caught my eye between two standard compact cars. This was it. A Hyundai Accent, from the car maker with a reputation for tin-foil cars. I jumped in, adjusted the mirrors and the seat, and drove off.

It took awhile to find the hotel, I actually passed it twice trying to get to it. In LA the freeway entrances and exits are hidden, in STL they are clearly marked but for some reason, damned near impossible to get to the right one. This Ramada looked like the sketchiest hotel I've been to outside of China and Eastern Europe. At the end of a short road, overlooking the airport runway, the broken asphalt and concrete parking lot was relatively empty. On my way in, I passed the hotel restaurant, offering American and Italian food, was shuttered with a sunbleached printout in the door: restaurant closed until further notice.

After waiting about 20 minutes while the desk clerk helped other people and answered phone calls, it transpired that I was not at the right Ramada. I was registered at the one three miles away. The clerk asked if I wanted to just call them to transfer me to this one. I asked the clerk how to get to the right Ramada and left, humming "On the Road Again" as I walked back out the tiny Hyundai.

I did make it to the right hotel, right next door to the sports bar and the freeway, and got my netbook set up so I could locate a bookstore and buy a freaking street atlas so I would have some clue about where the hell I was. There's a fire sprinkler head coming out of the wall near the ceiling, and next to it is a sticker of a "do not hang clotheshangers from this." The Ramada I'm staying at is actually very close to a huge Boeing complex, and the road nearby is called McDonnell.

With the help of Google, I found a convenient typical shopping center, you know, the one with the GameStop, the Barnes&Noble, the Home Depot, the Cold Stone Creamery, and the Target? Picked up a street atlas there, and grabbed a bite at the Sonic. Flipped through the street atlas and worked on my next move. It was getting a little late, so I decided to just take a quick spin through the area we'd been searching for apartments to get a feel for the neighborhood.

There's a bit of a Chinatown, or Chinastrip along Olive road, close to the 270. The area of University City is quite beautiful. Very lush and green in the middle of summer, and it kind of reminds me of the old Ponca city, with mossy stone walls, small, old hilltop cemeteries, old houses and quiet residential streets. Delmar is a bit like Mill avenue, or really, any big boutique/bar/restaurant strip close to a major university. Mill avenue in Tempe, for example.

Wandered my way back to the hotel by backroads. Armed with a detailed street atlas, its fun to get lost and drive on whim and intuition. I've got a busy day tomorrow, so now I'm back at the hotel, planning out my day and mapping when and where I need to be.