Evan Whitton's Day Off - Day 29 - Sat Feb 19th

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Life moves pretty fast and if you don't stop and look round once in a while, you could miss it...."


So, we met up with Wayne & Charlotte to plan the day ahead. We got Ev's stretches and PT homework out of the way early on, although he definitely seems very tired. He has had a full on week of PT - probably the first, and only one he will have, when he has been firing on all cylinders. So he definitely deserved a day off. We joined up with Steve, Sarah, Holly & Lucy (Man U fans - so we outnumbered the one who wasnt...)  and we made our first stop at Tigins - as we had discovered it was showing the Man Utd v Crawley game - my first game of soccer for more than a month. Well, I need to start reacclimatising I guess....

After that, we walked a couple of blocks down, and through the park to the Arch. However, while it is very quiet during the week, there was a mass of people there today. Cant blame them, I'm still simply in awe of it. As you walk around and view it from different angles, you get new and more complex views, with different lines and the reflection from the steel is bedazzling. Unfortunately, there was about a 3 hour wait for a trip to the top so we will have to revisit later on. However, I am definitely taking Ev to the top. The highest part of the big journey.

We had passed "Laclede's Landing" on the way down and, having read about it, we decided to take a look through. It was basically an old, St Louis cobbled street, lined with bars and restaurants, and then it was off to Pappy's Smokehouse- which was Wayne's special request for somewhere to eat. Apparently, being on "Man vs. Food" is a wonderful recommendation (http://www.manvsfoodfans.com/missouri/pappys-smokehouse/ - about 7mins in). It's difficult to explain, but it's basically best to sum up in one word; MEAT. Quite a basic spot, but the queue to get served was approx 45 mins. Which I guess says something about it. We actually managed to swing getting a table straight away, and it was great food, as well as a great experience.

We hopefully burned off a few calories by walking down to our final venue, The Chaifetz stadium to watch the basketball. Having been previously, with Maya, the Smithsons and the Wardleworths, I definitely wanted to go again. We weren't let down,as the atmosphere was equally as bonkers as my previous visit and everyone loved it. I simply cant explain what it's like. So im not even going to try. Instead, I will let you watch Ev's response at the end of the game.