St. Louis

So we have been here about a month and a half now. So far, here are my impressions of St. Louis:

-Imo's is gross. 

My kids (who live on pizza) did not enjoy it either. Sydney now specifically says on pizza night that she doesn't want "st. louis pizza. JUST regular pizza." Lol! Kirk does not agree with the kids and I, but maybe he's more of a St. Louisian than we are?

-It feels like a small town, even though it's not.

I like this a lot. Houston always felt like a city that just oozed out because people didn't know how to contain it. (Don't get me wrong, I love Houston. But seriously, city planners? What were you thinking?)

-There is tons of small town pride.

Out in St. Louis County, there are lots of different little towns that kind of bleed into each other. We live in Manchester, which has a population of about 20,000, but we are super close to Ballwin, Ellisville, etc. In fact, half the time I'm not really sure what town I'm in. Yet despite these overlapping towns, each town has it's own pride. No joke, on my first day here I told my mom  in the Walmart parking lot about how Ballwin Days was the following weekend and a young chap about my age was passing by and turned to me to say, "Ballwin Days are this weekend?? I love Ballwin Days!" Adorable.

-Toasted ravioli is the bomb.

It's fried ravioli, and it was invented here. Ummm...yeah. Enough said.

-Summer ain't too bad.

Ok, so people have told me this summer has been pretty mild. It's supposed to be similar to Houston heat-wise. But so far it's only gone up to 95 degrees. It's not uncommon to go into the 100's in Houston. Now maybe I'm wrong and it's going to get way hotter here, but thus far it's bearable. Hot, but bearable.

-There are bunnies in my neighborhood. 

And chipmunks. Adorbs.

-People don't do the smile and wave thing here.

Once you talk to locals here, they are super friendly. But it's different from Texan friendliness. In Texas, you'll have just met someone and they will give you a big bear hug, chronicle their family lineage, and vent to you about the drama in their lives, all in about 10 minutes. People here will talk to you, but there's still a wall there. A low wall that you can peek over though. Oh and randomly waving at people while driving your car? Hmmm...they look at me like I'm a little cray-cray.

-It has "varied topography."

This is quoting my dad. I liked he way he put it, despite me making fun of him. Houston is flat. It makes training for a half marathon so much easier, but it's not very varied. :) As we drive around St. Louis, the girls and I love to squeal "whee!!!" as we go down a hill.

-The Cardinals are gods. 

People wear Cardinals gear all.the.time. Not just on game days. I mean, they can't be playing games every day of the week, right?? Fans here are the real deal.


I think the list is long enough. All in all, I'm enjoying exploring this new part of the U.S. But I'll always be a Texan!