Monthly Archives: March 2012

St. Louis Boomer Living

St. Louis is the city where I was born.  At age 5 my parents moved back to a small town in Arkansas.  Many of my memories as a child came from small town living.  Then at the age of 17, I returned to St. Louis to call it my home.  Most people think of St. Louis as a big city, which it is.  For those of us that live here, we include St. Louis counties, St. Charles counties, and even across the river in Illinois as St. Louis.  That makes St. Louis even a more desirable place to live.  There are a variety of things to enjoy as a resident in the area.  Within minutes you can cross the river and be in another state.  Just a short drive away is the state capital, Jefferson City.  Also it is very close to the beautiful Ozark mountains and Bagnell Dam area. Many residents of the St. Louis area, slip away to these areas for site seeing, boating, and lake fun.  Yes, there is much to be seen and enjoyed in St. Louis.  It is appealing for retirement living.

I can remember many enjoyable days spent in Forest park.  My children and I always enjoyed the zoo which is one of the largest in the United States.  The Science center, the Art Museum, and History museum are wonderful places in Forest Park to visit on a Sunday afternoon.  For night time entertainment in Forest Park, I love the Muny outside theatre.

The St. Louis Arch is a site to behold.  I remember watching as it was built.  My first time to the top of it was exciting.  The view for miles away was beautiful.  On the way I stopped at Union station.  The dining was wonderful there, not to mention the shops to visit.  Another place that I have enjoyed in down town St. Louis is the Bush Brewery.  The tour was fabulous.  I also remember my horse and buggy ride at Laclede’s Landing on the river front.  Some of the streets are build with old bricks as they were back in the day.  The landing offers great dining places, night clubs for music and just an all around wonderful time.

One other place that I have always enjoyed is Grants Farm.  Many couples take their grandchildren to enjoy the camels, elephants and other animals.  You can walk or ride the little train which is relaxing. Oh and speaking of trains, transportation is great in St. Louis with the Metro link and other transportation services.

Now I am sure everyone has heard of the St. Louis Cardinals.  The new stadium is very nice.  I have had the pleasure of watching many Cardinal games and even met some of the players back in the day.  There is nothing like being in St. Louis for a World Series.  It is a site to behold with people from everywhere wearing their Cardinal red.

Then there is the Sou lard district.  The Sou lard Market is huge with fresh vegetables and fruits.  At night the clubs come alive with great dining and music.  Once a year you can attend the Sou lard Marti Gras.  If you like to party then this is the place to be, not to mention the wonderful parades and etc.

SmallTownRetirement.com

I have also enjoyed many evening listening to poetry readings at Maryland plaza along with great places to dine with outside seating.  Another place that I would recommend for boomers to visit is the Loop.  It is a great time at Blue Berry Hill where many great bands such as Chuck Berry have entertained.  There is a variety of dining places at the Loop for every one’s enjoyment.

At the Fox Theater I have seen many performances and performers.  Phantom of the Opera and Amy Grant live were among my favorites.  On another occasion I went to one of Cher’s concerts downtown.  I was still rocking and rolling to her music a week later.

I just realized that there is no way that I could possibly write all the neat things that I have seen or that St. Louis has to offer in a blog.  There are parades, festivals, and any event that you can imagine.  You can shop until you drop, eat Italian food on the Hill, walk the Katie trail, or listen to the the orchestra at the Symphony.  St. Louis comes alive with everything during the holidays.  Just see for yourself on the 4th of July.  Some of the best entertainers can be found downtown for the three day event.  Yearly, I eat my way along the vendors stands on the street at the Strassenfest.  Yes, I love German food.

If you are considering city retirement or a wonderful vacation, I would suggest that you visit St. Louis.  Make sure that you allow plenty of time because you might want to visit the many casinos on the river front, which offer not only gambling but shows, shopping and great dining.  Can you believe that I have only touched upon just a bare beginning of what St. Louis has to offer.  I hope that you come and see for yourself.  Come expecting good things because you will find it St. Louis.  You may find that you love the spirit of St. Louis and check out the many retirement housing options that the area has to offer.

Visiting the Boomer Era

Last night my wife and I with our good friends were down at The Fabulous Fox theater here in Atlanta, GA.   We went to see The Moody Blues.

We saw the local Public TV station promoting this show with a performance of The Moody Blues from the Royal Albert Hall in London.  They were good and we made a note to pick up tickets if they came to town.   Well of course they were coming to town as we heard shortly on the pledge break.  Ha!   But rather than several hundred dollars per ticket, we elected Ticketmaster to buy directly.

Well I was a big fan of music back in the day and I bet if you are an older Boomer, then you were too.  We loved our music. The Moody Blues was just one of those bands of the era and I remembered liking their music but couldn’t remember exactly all their big songs.   So pre concert Saturday afternoon I really to into YouTube and played their music for a few hours.    I played Tuesday Afternoon, Your Wildest Dreams, I’m Just a Singer and Nights in White Satin.  I was pleased later at the concert they played all these favorites.

But this YouTube recording from 1970 of Tuesday Afternoon really got me to remembering how it was back then.  Wow, look at the smoke in this club; how could they sign in that stuff?  Look at the hair and clothing from that area.  And then to think this same singer would be singing the same song at the concert 42 years later.   The band has tour the world many times over and last longer almost any others; what an accomplishment.

At the concert the drummer Graeme Edge, who is an original member of the group, announced he is 70 years old! He came out and danced the jig on stage for a while and really got the crowd going.  He said when he started with the band 45 years ago when he was 25 yrs old, his hair was brown, his teeth was white and he made a V with his fingers and said that stood for the peace sign.  He said now his hair was white, his teeth was brown and the V is for Viagra.

Justin Haywood is the main singer who has been with the group since 1966 and who is 65 years old.   At the concert he sounds just like he did back then; just like he did on the Tuesday Afternoon YouTube video.   The other lead singer is John Lodge also with the group since 1966.  He is 67 years old.   Can you believe it?   They are still quite good and if you get a change, go see them perform.


The Fox was sold out and everyone was my age or older.  But when the lights when down and our music came out there was much dancing and grooving going on.   A good time was had by all!

Facing Life With A Little Boomer Humor

As some of you know, I use humor to deal with some of life’s little irritations.  It works for me!  Today thus far was no exception.  I woke up at 4 a.m. today full of things to get done prior to my work night tonight.  I wanted to write a blog about city retirement and things to do in St. Louis, Missouri.  Obviously that has changed due to my mind going in too many other directions using humor.  I am determined to write though because one of the first things on my mind today was a song from the past, “You Are On My Mind.”  Yes, computer friends, I mean you, so I am going to share a little boomer humor.  This is how I used humor to change negative thought to positives in just a few hours.

  1. I bought a new hair color product to cover my gray roots.  Since I have a cosmetology license, I did not see a problem with this.  It was!  The new product had totally different ways to color white and gray.  I read the directions.  I followed them.  The results was dark brown.  The box said light vibrant red brown.  I wanted what the box said.  Well, I will be trying to enjoy my new look of dark brown.  Lesson learned, I say!  It will grow out.  If necessary, I will wear a cap or hat for six weeks.  There is no use to sweat the small stuff.
  2. I look forward to the Retirement Media Daily News Paper that comes out in the evening.  There was no paper last evening due to some problem on the computer.  You got it!  There was no paper this morning either.  No problem, I will have double to read when it does appear.
  3. I wanted to air out the apartment today with the fresh spring air.  I opened the patio doors.  There was no sunshine but a nice rain with chilly air.  Instantly my head started to pound because I have allergies.  The lawn folks cut the grass yesterday.  Again, no problem.  The patio doors are closed and my head ache is easing down underneath my dark brown hair.   It will make a great day to sleep before my midnight work shift tonight.
  4. Then I remembered there were a few things that I still needed from the store.  With umbrella in hand, I proceeded out the door to my car.  Now, I am here to let you know that traffic in the early a.m. should be avoided whenever possible.  Even more so on a rainy day at the end of a week when day folks are trying to get to work.  That is another lesson I learned this morning.  The lady saved the day that horned her truck horn at me when she almost hit my car.  Need I mention that I was sitting still and she was the one moving.  No auto repairs or injuries and that is good!
  5. Sweetie, my dog, was a wee bit disappointed about the rain too.  She wanted to chase rabbits but she does not like her feet wet.  All the better for me because I don’t like my head wet waiting for her to do her number in the early morning hours.  Yep, that was another positive turned to a negative.
  6. I saw that the gasoline prices went up again overnight.  One more penny and it will be at $4.oo a gallon.  Lucky me!  I didn’t need gas today.  Maybe it will go down again before my tank is empty.
  7. The clothes that I picked up at the laundry mat are in good shape, even though I managed to drop them in the wet grass. They were nicely hung on hangers in strong clear plastic.  Whoops!  That was close!  I am so glad that I don’t have to go back to laundry mat and do them all over again.  Now how is that for turning a negative drop to a positive thought.

I have had a lot of fun writing this blog even though it is light and a little off beat but so is life at times.  Remember as I always say; This too shall pass.  Life is getting too short to waste on the small things that we can not control.  Try and find something that you can laugh about each day!  Have you had a good BELLY LAUGH today?  Just try it because it feels good!

You have a choice, laugh or cry.  I hope that you share your laugh with us so that we all can laugh with each other. Need some more boomer humor.