VIP Fair Fiasco

Live from St. Louis:

We have traveled to my parents house in Swansea, IL. We left early yesterday morning (around 7:30 AM) and got into Swansea at 5:15 PM. We only had to stop about every two hours for the baby, so we traveled pretty well.

For those of you unfamiliar with the area, there is a huge fair that St. Louis puts on every year at July 4th called the VIP Fair. The firework display on the fourth for the VIP fair is one of the largest in nation and gets recognition as one of the best. However, the fair goes on for several days prior to the fourth with fireworks, concerts, and other activities going on. On Friday night, Kenny Rogers (one of my Mom's favorite artist) was scheduled to appear. Mom and Summer (my sister) left for the fair Friday afternoon to stake-out some good seats.

When we arrived at home, we decided to go join them...not so much to hear Kenny Rogers, but to see the fireworks. So, my Dad (who had stayed home to wait for us), Erin, the baby and I left around 6:35 to go to the riverfront. We drove to the local MetroLink (a light-rail, public transportation system) to catch a ride to the Arch for the concert and fireworks. There was also a home Cardinals game being played at Busch Stadium, so the train was very crowded, standing-room only. So Dad (carrying two folding, "camping/lawn" chairs), Erin (carrying Mihaela) and I (carrying the stroller) loaded on. Not surprisingly, no one offered Erin their seat.

We finally make it to our stop and get off with about half the train. Those people going to the game have two more stops. We walk across the street and while we are in line waiting to get our bags checked, it begins to rain lightly. This is not a big problem since we have umbrellas. We walk on in and head off to find Summer and Mom.

We find the rest of our party and setup the chairs. In the distance, we see a few black clouds and start getting some more light rain. We don't really worry because we can see blue sky past the clouds. The light rain stops and I went and exchanged money for tickets (this is the "currency" for the fair) so that we can get something to eat. While I am at the Exchange booth, it starts to rain...not lightly this time...but heavy, very heavy. I run back to our seats and find everyone safely under umbrellas. The rain starts to beat down very heavily and the wind starts to blow the rain under the umbrellas. So, with Mom holding the baby, we surround her with three umbrellas forming a little "umbrella hut" to keep Mihaela dry.

The storm gives no signs of letting up and we realize that the evening activities will be cancelled. Summer packs up all of the chairs, getting soaked. After Summer gets the chairs packed up, I hand her the two umbrellas I am holding and I go get the stroller and the Neat Sheet and bring it over to the "hut." Mom put Mihaela in the stroller and I draped the Neat Sheet over the top to form a protective barrier over the baby.

So, with Dad pulling the little cart that they had rigged together to put all the chairs in, the rain beating down on us, lighting streaking across the sky, thunder booming and the baby was screaming in the stroller I am pushing (with no umbrella), we headed back to the MetroLink station. On the way, the cart broke. Erin and I kept on going to the station. Mom, Dad, and Summer gathered the materials in the cart and met us under the overpass. So, Dad carrying four chairs, Mom carrying one chair and the cooler, Summer carrying the pieces of the rigged cart, Erin carrying the baby, and I carrying the collapsed stroller all piled onto the loading dock to await a train to take us home. Even though we were all sopping wet (except the baby who we had worked hard to keep dry) were happy just to be under protection.

The ball game was cancelled and the MetroLink stop that serves the stadium was prior to ours so the first train that appeared was stuffed full yet many people at our station pushed their way on. We waited. The second train that came was also full and there was no room for us and all of our junk so we waited. The third train came and there was room for us to stand, so we boarded and headed home. This time though, a gentleman saw Erin standing with the baby and offered her his seat.

We finally got home about 9:30. We were tired, hungry (Erin, Dad and I hadn't eaten because we were going to eat at the fair...but never got a chance), and drenched. Needless to say, this wasn't a great experience. However, we met some really nice people on the train rides to and from the Fair and on the loading docks. It is amazing how people will talk to you when you have a baby.