George Clooney will be filming some scenes in the empty office space across the hall from my office. Larry, the shoe shine guy, told me so it must be true.
I Heard a Rumor That…
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Monthly Archives: January 2009
Eagle Days at Old Chain of Rocks Bridge
Today, Jen, Kate, Katie and I went out to the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge to take in Eagle Days. This is the time of year when bald eagles from all over the upper midwest flock (HA!) to the Chain of Rocks for good fishing and socializing. The Old Chain of Rocks Bridge is one of my favorite things about St. Louis. I mean, how often do you get to walk on an old ass bridge over the Mississippi with our beautiful downtown in the distance? On this day, it was cloudy and quite cold, so the standard scenery was kind of drab, but it made up for it with the majestic bald eagle.
For those who don’t know, the bald eagle is the Official Bird of the USA. Now, that lesson time is over, let’s focus on the photographs.
In this photo, you can clearly see two bald eagles sitting on a submerged rock in the middle of the Mississippi:
Here, you can see two eagles chilling in the branches of this tree:
OK, so the images weren’t that awe-inspiring (time for a digital SLR with a badass telephoto lens), but Kate had brought along Dad’s binoculars, so we were able to watch the eagles fly around and catch fish. A helpful Missouri Conservation Department volunteer gave us lots of great info about bald eagles and let us look through his super scope, which had even more magnifying power than the binoculars. He said that they had spotted 64 eagles, which is a lot, even for this time of year. He also confirmed Katie’s hunch that if it wasn’t cold and miserable out, then the eagles wouldn’t be out in such force. To sum it up, it was fricking cold out, so we didn’t dilly dally as much as we might if it was sunny and 70 degrees, but it was still a great time.
In addition, we can now scratch off another from the STL101 list:
9. Eagles fly while you stand gravity-bound on the Chain of Rocks Bridge, gazing jealously through binoculars on a chilly January weekend. Even better, try watching them dive for fish in the churning waters at Lock & Dam 24 in Clarksville. Well worth the drive.
A grand time was had by all. Click here to see all the pictures.
A Birthday Party at Jive and Wail
Last night we celebrated Stephanie’s 26th birthday at Jive and Wail, a St. Louis dueling piano bar. This was the first time that we’ve been there and it was such a blast. We’ve been to previous piano bars (Pat O’Briens, Howl at the Moon Saloon, and Big Bang) so we knew what to expect – a whole bunch of fun!
I guess we’re not the only ones who are fans of dueling piano bars because you need to reserve tables up to two months in advance or you’re SOL. Luckily, Doug had us come up early to stalk some tables and it worked! There were quite a few parties that night and if you paid enough money, you can get that special person up on stage to be serenaded. Doug, being a romantic, requested this special song for his lady (NSFW):
Aww, isn’t that sweet? Highlights of the evening included:
- The Devil Went Down to Georgia complete fire-twirling bartenders.
- The lesbian football team with soft-core porn action at the table next to us.
- Watching some random guy get bounced by two VERY masculine bouncers.
- A medley of rap songs done in piano bar style.
- The obligatory songs: Margaritaville, Friends in Low Places, Sweet Caroline, Piano Man, Tiny Dancer.
- Stephanie leaving her own party early.
- 6 people in Mr. Squeakers traveling back to West County.
So, Stephanie, Happy Birthday!
For the rest of the pics, click here. (Um, yeah, we didn’t get many pictures of the birthday girl, most of these pictures were taken after she had retired for the night.)
Star Wars Retold (by someone who hasn’t seen it)
Supper Club: January 14, 2009
Appetizer: Avocado-Mango Salsa with Roasted Corn Chips. This salsa was good but heavy on the lime flavor. We will have to try this again when mangoes are in season to get the full character of this dish. And props on the blue tortilla chips, so much easier than making your own chips.
Entree: Inside-Out Bacon Cheeseburgers with Green Onion Mayo. Okay, so we are Rachael Ray haters but as long as we don’t have to watch her on TV, we can handle it. It has been a while since having a hamburger dish and so I was excited when Monika decided to make one. One thing we have learned about Rachael Ray’s burgers is that they are huge (that’s what she said, tee-hee). So, a couple of tips, make the burgers smalller (but they will crumble a bit with the cheddar and bacon stuffed inside of it) and half the green onion mayo, no one needs that much mayo. Excellent burger.
Side Dish: Spinach with White Wine. The spinach was a good, healthy choice to balance out the burger and fries. Peas were not added due to Bob’s recoil when asked if we had frozen peas at the house.
Side Dish: Spicy Steak Fries. A super easy dish to make. I used Old Bay’s Seasoning and it turned out great. The only thing I forgot was to salt the fries after they were done baking, whoopsies. My bad.
Dessert: Banana Splitsville. This was more about playing with sugar. Katie bought a torch and caramelized the sugared bananas and we each got to form doodads (I was not very successful). It was a fun, little dessert.