St. Louis

Every year, Marc and the students he advises attend the NACA conference. NACA is aimed at advisors and students who are involved in college programming boards, so there are showcases with lots of comedians, musicians and speakers. Then there is a marketplace where vendors and agents talk to the students about bringing their products to campus.

The guys from Reno 911!

Which one is the monkey?

Marc has a great group of students who serve on the University Union Board of Governors, and I enjoyed meeting them.

Marc's Kiddies

This year's conference was in St. Louis. And since I have never been to Missouri, I decided to join him for the weekend. I expected a downtown that would be a little quieter, since it was the weekend. But one with shops and resturants that we could enjoy. What we saw was very different.

The shuttered shopping mall - so sad!

St. Louis was a ghost town. We joked that I Am Legend could have been flimed in St. Louis since there was no one out and everything was closed. There was a very sad shopping mall that was closed down, and the library was shuttered. We did see a lot of high end lofts for sale, so maybe in three years it will be a different place, but for now it was dreary and empty.

Even the Library was closed down!

St. Louis is probably most famous for the Arch, which is magnificant. I would have liked to have taken the tram to the top, but it was $25 per person! I just couldn't justify spending $50 for a view of a dying city when I am saving money for a wedding!

So if you are looking for a vacation spot, I wouldn't recommend St. Louis.