I had been hearing about Marine Week St. Louis on NPR so when Jackie asked me if I wanted to go, I jumped on it. I honestly am quite ignorant when it comes to armed forces and thought that this would be a great way to gain some knowledge--and sweet friend time.
So, I woke up at 4:45 this morning and met Jackie half-way down town at Starbucks (which sadly didn't open until 6:30am...bummer) and headed down to The Arch/Riverfront area.
The morning started off nicely once we were down there--we enjoyed walking around..catching up..and, well you know, posing in front of Hummers..
(A "professional photographer" approached us and took our picture...turns out his specialty is taking pictures of vehicles...I'm not sure how to take that...)
You may be wondering why we needed to be there so early in the morning... Friends, let me show you why.
Here it is:
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| We got to see this baby land! |
Pretty cool, eh? It is a CH-46 and is used to move platoons. They were first manufactured in the 1960's (Vietnam, anyone?) and are still used today.
It's one of those things that you've seen in movies...aghem...cough...Forrest Gump... and always wondered what it would be like to be inside one.
Turns out, it's really hot inside...and not as big as it looks on the outside...
But still super cool:
We stayed until 8:30am...enjoyed checking things out and learning more about the helicopters, etc. It spurred some great discussion about the courage and diligence it takes to serve our country...something I feel I under-rate sometimes.
So, thank you Marines and other armed forces. Your service is appreciated. Thank you for helping make this life possible.
....The end of this experience is especially fun and is related to a parking garage...
We arrived at the parking garage at 5:58am..just in time for 6:00am early bird special (ie. 4 buckaroos from 6am-9am instead of the usual $6.00). So we thought, sweet! We had a $5.00 between us--so we were covered unless we stayed for an extraordinary long time. So we went, enjoyed, and returned to the car at 8:40am or so. Just in time...to pay $6.00.
"What?!" you say..." That doesn't make sense!" I know, right?! Well, it turns out that they are sticklers about that 6am rule, and the fact that we were there three minutes early means we were not true early birds (though I beg to differ)...
So here we are with only $5.00 and they tell us we can leave an id and go to the ATM. (Wait, what?)...so we scrounge for change, fall 40 cents short...and have to ask the car behind us for some cents... Jackie hops out of the car...and the attendant who is fully irritated with us shouts out, "Ma'am your car is moving!"
Here I am sitting in the front seat, completely oblivious to the fact that the car is rolling--and then when I realize, I have no idea how to work the stick-shift so I freak and bend over to press the brake pedal with my hand. (Totally by-passing the emergency break that is conveniently right beside me.) hahaha
Jackie rushes back to the car---40 cents from the cranky man behind us---and we are on our way. Car in tack...and dues paid.
So that was my experience at the River-front all before 9am this morning---
The Marines will be in town all week bringing awareness about their skills and also helping construct a greenhouse on the Saint Louis Riverfront and also to build a garden in a local community...
And, if you head down to the Riverfront, be sure read all signs in parking garages and know that they mean it when they say the times...
Click here for more information about Marine Week!
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