Adventures of The M & M Crimers: taking on the city

My best friend Morgan had texted me a while ago telling me that she signed up for a social studies teacher conference in Saint Louis and I was so excited for her to be adventurous and do that, but also to be coming to my city!! It had been in the back of my mind always, then the week before she told me that she still hadn’t really heard any details about it, but that should would let me know.

Thursday November 21 I woke up early scurrying to finish my two questions about the assigned reading that are do for every class in my Medieval Christianity class. The class has been so intriguing lately, and this day was not a let down. We have finished the chronological history and events that occurred, and are now looking at modern injustices in society and comparing them to the medieval ages. We discussed labor briefly, race, and disability. I really like the discussion on disability because it broadened my views and made me want to solve problems and make the world a better place with less stigmas.

After class I found a text on my phone that Morgan had sent me asking what the rest of my day looked like/if I was free at all. I happily replied telling her that I had just finished my one class for the day. I had made an extensive list about things to get done that day including laundry, blogging, and going to the gym. I had just lied down for a nap upon seeing Morgan’s response saying that she too was free all day. Excitement filled my body inside and out as I sat up smiling and letting out squeals of joy and clapping. I was just so excited!! We quickly plotted that I should take the metro and meet her downtown, so that is exactly what I did! I was a little nervous riding the metro alone, but it was fine!

After I got off at Busch stadium I saw the Hilton and made a straight beeline to it, including jaywalking and cutting through a parking lot. As I walked into the lobby I saw her, both with big smiles on our faces and gave each other a big hug. It was just so good to be reunited, and fun that it was in the city!

We decided to walk around downtown to find a place for lunch. Hardy’s and Fridays came up short for us. Thanks to Maggie’s suggestion, I had central west end in mind and told Morgan that I did know of one area we could try. She agreed to take the metro and journey to central west end. I am still a little amazed with myself at my directions, I still may get confused driving to the Tippecanoe mall, but I can manage my way around Saint Louis. 

Morgan and I decided we would give the Tortillaria a try, the Mexican restaurant that Maggie often goes to with her family when they come to visit. The food was really good! We got to catch up on a lot of stories over the past month, so fun! Then, even though we were stuffed we decided we could walk to The Cup for dessert.

We ordered a red velvet cupcake to share between us as we let more stories unfold. It is such a cute cupcakery, including sweet workers that wished us a good day as we walked out the door.

I figured we could probably walk back to SLU, but when I put it in my phone I saw that it was 5 miles away. I was shocked because I really didn’t think that was right. Then I realized my phone was talking us to the wrong place, and when I looked it up correctly, we were less than 2 miles away. This was much more acceptable in our full-belly conditions.

We walked straight down Lindell Blvd and made a pit stop at the beautiful Saint Louis Basilica. I was so happy to not being showing this gorgeous church to not just anyone, but my best friend who is also Catholic. We have shared so many experiences through both being Catholic including middle and high school youth group, a FIRE group, making our confirmation, NCYC x2, other retreats, and attending mass together sometimes. After taking pictures and taking a moment to just sit and reflect, we continued on our journey back to my apartment.

On the way back we also stopped inside of SLU’s beautiful church. I love that church so much. I was happy that the door was unlocked and we could go inside even though there was no one else in sight, though I was bummed that even though it wasn’t quite 5 oclock the sun had set and the beautifully illuminated blue stained glass was dark and black.

Once we got back to my apartment Maggie, Morgan, and I all laid down for naps. Even though I was tired, I was unable to fall asleep so I just rested.

Soon Evan came knocking on our door to watch The Big Bang Theory since he doesn’t have a tv himself. Then within minutes he left, White Collar came on, and Albert came for a visit. Albert talked to Morgan a lot about music and the concerts they had attended recently. He also asked me for the whole detailed story about why I decided to change from a physical therapy major. We also all talked about how it was sad we don’t see much of Ninert this year. It was great getting to catch up with him since now we only see him when he is working the front desk pretty much.

The rest of the evening we continued to talk about other stories and things that were happening in our lives. Then my friend Danielle said she could drive Morgan back to her hotel downtown so we didn’t have to do the metro at night in the dark. It was so great that she did that for us! We both appreciated it, and we were just so glad overall that everything worked out perfectly and we were able to spend our day together!