Mynee's Musings

David Eckstein Bobblehead

We went to our last Cardinal game of the season yesterday.  It was David Eckstein Bobblehead day.  David Eckstein was the 2006 World Series MVP and even though he only played for the Cardinals for three seasons (2005-2007) and he's now retired, St. Louis still loves David Eckstein.  My mom wanted to add his bobblehead to her collection so we went to the game.  

As I've mentioned in pervious posts, during the games, you can text your name and city to the Cardinals and they post it on the video screen.  We're always from somewhere in Hawaii...hee hee hee.  This time, Greta joined us...

We all had a great time...LOL.  OK, actually we're not really from Hawaii and Greta wasn't really at the game but I'm sure you already knew this.  Anyway, The Cardinals beat the Pirates 4 to 3 and now the whole season comes down to today.  We're still in the Wildcard race but the Dodgers need to win and the Cardinals need to win in order to tie.  Ugh, the pressure.

Little did when know when we bought the tickets that this game would be Matt Holliday's last or second to last game as a Cardinal. It was announced on Thursday that the Cardinals would not be offering him a contract for 2017.  I am sooooo sad. He asked to be activate off the DL and then in his first game back on Friday night during what everyone thought may be his last game, he hit a pinch hit homerun.  Yesterday, he got an RBI.  I wonder if Mike will put him in the game today.

We were walking to our car after the game and my sister texted to say that they were nearby and were going to Four Hands Brewery which is just a few block from the stadium so we decided to meet them there.  We've tried most of their brews and we actualIy went to the brewery once but it was too crowded.  Well, come to find out, there is also seating upstairs.  Ha!  We enjoyed a brew and some tacos and then headed to McGurk's since Lisa and Randy had parked near there and walked over.  It's been years since we've been to McGurk's.  Since the weather was great, we sat outside on the patio and enjoyed another brew.  

Great day of baseball, food, family and brews.

Fiddler on the Roof

This week's Muny production was Fiddler on the Roof which is one of my favorites.  I just love the songs, the story, the characters, everything.  Here the video clip...

 

We ate dinner at Heavy Riff Brewing.  We are definitely going to visit them more often.  They have great beers and great food.  I especially love their smoke pork chili verde over the pineapple cornbread.  I just need to remember not to order a whole bowl (only a cup) after an appetizer of the spent grain beer bread.  It was very tasty but it was seriously like a whole loaf of bread.  LOL, can you say very full?  

Next week is the last show of the season; Aida.

Mamma Mia

This week's show was Mamma Mia.  It's not one of Bill's favorites (it's too girly...hee hee hee) so I went with my sister, Lisa.  We ate dinner at Pappo's Pizzeria & Pub (former home of Six Row) before the show.  Yummy hand tossed crust with pesto, mozzarella, artichokes, kalmatas and pine nuts.  Super yummy.  Lisa enjoyed their wheat beer (of course) and I had the IPA (of course). 

I love how The Muny is posting short videos of each show online this year...

 

 

The weatherman was predicting 100 degrees with high humidity.  Well, I'm not sure what happened but it cooled off and it was a pretty evening with temps in the low 80's.  The fans that were installed a few years ago do help tremendously too.  Good thing because Lisa hates the heat.   She told me to remind her about how well the fans work if she's ever hesitant to go to future shows.  :)

No show next week, Fiddler in two weeks.

42nd Street

TAP DANCING!!! YES!!! Oh how I love tap dancing.  Eeeeeee, did I ever tell you how much I love tap dancing?  I want to take tap lessons.  OK so, last night at the Muny, 42nd Street, tap dancing and sparkle, oh yes that's why I love it so.  I vote for it every time it's on the ballot.  Every. Single. Time.  This is the third time we've seen it.  The first was in 1996 and the last time was 2009.  Check it out...

 

We decided to eat dinner at Bottleworks.  We were going to have a picnic in the park but the weatherman was predicting rain during the afternoon so we decided we didn’t want to sit in wet grass.  LOL.  It didn’t rain but that’s OK because Bottleworks is always a good dinner choice.  

Next show in two weeks; Music Man

 

Wizard of Oz

The 98th Muny season opened this week with Wizard of Oz, one of my all-time favorites.  I'd be happy if they staged Wizard and Hello Dolly every year.  LOL.  We have our usual Friday night tickets and have the same seats we've had for about 6 or 7 years now.  Anyway, Stephen Wallem, Thor from Nurse Jackie, played the Lion.  This was his 3rd appearance at the Muny; the first was 2013 in Shrek and the second was 2014 in Seussical.  He and the rest of the cast did an awesome job.  

Here is a video clip of the show...

 

We ate dinner at Heavy Riff Brewing which is right across the highway from Forest Park. We've visited several times.  The first time, they only had their flagship brew, Velvet Underbrown, on tap and they didn't serve food.  We visited them again about a year ago and tried a few more of their brews.  This time, we had food and brews.  Bill ordered the blue cheese brisket salad and I had the smoked pork chili verde which is served over pineapple cornbread.  Oh my goodness, it was good!  I started with the red ale and Bill had the Mamas and the Papayas which is a APA with papayas.  Bill then had the Rye Lager and I had the Left Coast Envy IPA randalized which is their IPA with orange peel.  Wow, it smelled like oranges and I could definitely taste the orange.  Yum!

What a great start to the season!  Next up, 42nd Street. 

 

Sound of Music

We saw our last show of the Broadway Series season Saturday at The Fox.  I've lost track of how many times I've seen it but it's definitely one of my favorites.  Each time I see it, I remember how much I love it and this time was no exception.  Maria, Sound of Music, My Favorite Things, Do-Re-Mi, Edelweiss, So Long Farewell, Sixteen Going on Seventeen, Climb Every Mountain...I love them all.  Bill calls Sound of Music "The King and I with Alp and Nazis."  LOL

When we went into The Fox, the weather was perfect; sunny and about 75 degrees.  After the show, we were walking toward the exit and heard someone say something about 70 mile per hour winds.  Sure enough, when we walked outside, it was dark and the wind was blowing.  It looked like it could pour any minute.  We started walking quickly to our car and got there just before it started raining.  We drove a few blocks to Pappo's (fka Six Row) and sat in the car for a few minutes before the rain let up a bit and we went inside.  Yummy pizza and brews, although I still miss Six Row.

That wraps up the Fox Broadway Series season until October. Next up, The Muny! 

Bridge of Madison County

We saw Bridges of Madison County at The Fox yesterday.  We’ve never seen the movie so I didn’t really know the story line other than some guy comes to town and some married woman falls in love with him.  Ha, yeah there’s a lot more to the story.  Before the show started, we were sitting in our seats and I decided to Google the story line.  I started reading it to Bill and it went on and on and on and that was only Act One!  Oh my, we weren't really sure what to expect.  As it turns out, it was much better than we expected.  I might even have to watch the movie sometime.

After the show, we were going to eat at Four Hands Brewing since we had never eaten there before.  We’ve had their beers numerous times and we really enjoy them.  The brewery is only a few blocks from Busch Stadium so it’s usually very crowded before and after the game.  Since the Cardinals weren't in town and since we knew that we’d be at the brewery by 5:15 or so, we figured it wouldn’t be crowded.  Wrong!  It was packed.  Oh yeah, the Blues were in town.  Change of plans; we ate at Morgan Street.  As always, great food and brews.  

Next up, last show of the season, The Sound of Music.

If / Then

We saw If/Then at The Fox yesterday.  It was about a girl named Elizabeth who moves to New York to start over.  She meets Kate who is a teacher and Lucas who is a Community Organizer.  Lucas suggests that she go back to her college nickname of Beth so "Liz" stays with Kate and "Beth" leaves with Lucas.  The play is then about the two paths her life could take.  It was different and I really enjoyed it. Idina Menzel aka Adele Dazeem (LOL) starred in the production on Broadway. 

We ate dinner at Copia (love the Living Social deals) and then headed to Alpha Brewing for dessert.  Next up, Bridges of Madison County,

Beautiful

We saw Beautiful at The Fox yesterday.  It’s the story of Carol King.  I had no idea she wrote so many songs; Take Good Care of My Baby, Some Kind of Wonderful, Will You Love Me Tomorrow and of course, Beautiful, I Feel the Earth Move and It's Too Late just to name a few.  She sold her first song, It Might as Well Rain Until September, at the age of 16 to music publisher Donnie Kirshner.  Of course I remember him as Don Kirshner on the show Don Kirshner's Rock Concert. LOL.  Captain & Tennille were even on the show a few times.  Click here to see one of those performances.  More on them later...hee hee hee.

After the show, we ate at Urban Chestnut in The Grove.  Always yummy food and brews. Next show, If/then. 

Newsies

We saw Newsies at The Fox yesterday.  It was the second show in this year’s Broadway series.  It was a very cute show and I didn’t realize that it was a Disney movie back in 1992.  It’s about news boys in 1899.  The cost of papers was 50 cents for 100 papers. The price was then raised to 60 cents and the news boys went on strike.  Cute story line and great dancing.

After the show, we ate at Bottleworks; hummus, 4 cheese mac & cheese (me), meatball sandwich (Bill) and brews.  Oh, and a growler of the milk chocolate stout went home with us.  LOL.

Next show, Beautiful.