SUNDAY

Time to explore St. Louis, home of Nelly, the Arch, gooey butter cakes, Ted Drewes frozen custard, Busch, and the Cardinals! After attending the services here at Faith Lutheran, the entire group packed into our 15 passenger van and headed north to downtown St. Louis for a day of sightseeing and group bonding. It's hard not to bond when 15 people are sardined into a 15 passenger van!

First stop: Union Station. The city's original train station has been transformed into a mall full of shops, restaurants, and a hotel. Here we enjoyed some entertainment at The Fudgery, a candy shop where employees make fudge while singing and engaging the crowd. You should have seen our U of M group singing along and having a great time with the staff. Of course, the free samples of fudge at the end served as pretty good motivation!

Then it was time for the quintessential St. Louis experience: The Arch! Though we had not planned on riding the elevator to the top, once we got to the base of the structure most of the students could not resist paying the $10 fee to check out the view. Unfortunately (or fortunately for those thrill-seekers in the bunch), it was an extremely windy day, so most of them were surprised to learn that you can actually feel the Arch swaying in the wind once you get to the top! Once the entire group had made the trek back down to the base, we took advantage of the beautiful day by conducting a mini-photo shoot on the lawns with the Arch as a backdrop. Keep an eye out for those photos here on the blog once we get back! The U of M marketing department is going to be knocking down our door to get their hands on these ;)

Last but not least, it was off to Forest Park. This gorgeous and huge stretch of land is home to the Art Museum, the Zoo, the History Museum, and the Science Center, as well as ponds with boats, walking trails, a golf course, and plenty of benches for taking it all in. Best of all, every last feature is FREE! And you know we Alternative Spring Breakers like free! Though we arrived right as the museums were closing, we all enjoyed playing outside and even managed to get interviewed for a local television station! If you ever find yourself in southwestern Illinois, keep an eye out for the U of M on Healthy Living!

It was time to head home, and we finished off the evening with some pizza back at the church and a few rowdy games of Taboo. By this point, we were all pretty excited to get started on the real reason for our trip: Serving St. Louis!