"We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time." T. S. Eliot
As I drove home from work in Lake St. Louis, through the lovely fall foliage, my mind turned to all of the pumpkins I would soon be drinking...
...at the Rev. John T. Milito Annual Pumpkin Beer Taste Test Showdown! We collect pumpkin beers we find at like every alcohol store in town, and then sip them like dandies while we give them fairly meaningless ratings.
I gave myself a tattoo so I would never forget these friends.
It was then time for some games.
Now I don't know if it was the alcohol or if drinking 14 pumpkins triggers some sort of testosterone boost, but at this point in the night everyone competed in various feats of strength.
I like to lurk on the St. Louis subreddit to keep abreast of St. Louis happenings.
Then I saw this beautiful Ric Flair tweet and it was on. Nature Boy and Hulk Hogan?!
I watched this about 50 times to get into the right headspace and to practice my "Wooooo!"
It was funny when I asked Lydia if she wanted to see Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair she quickly agreed. When we arrived at the Enterprise Center though, she seemed confused. She didn't realize that we were going to see professional wrestling! Like did she think this was going to be a book tour or what?
We watched a few fights and waited for the legends to emerge. In between fights the silence was broken with lots of "Woooos!"
I was doing my best Macho Man Randy Savage impression. Lydia agreed that the cream rises to the top.
As far as fan experiences went, there was some left to be desired. For example: they were playing commercials in between fights! The hell?
Lydia was being a bit of a poop and kept talking about the damage all of this stlylized violence was doing to the children watching. Teachers are a real bummer sometimes.
I haven't watched wrestling in a long long time. I understood that bringing the greats out was probably a way to appeal to a certain demographic and get me interested in the new talent. I... really didn't care if the new talent lived or died to be honest. Bring out the Hulk!
Now I assume neither of them wrestle anymore. I know that Ric Flair has had some health issues. Despite that fact I was still happy to see them. It was like a little gift to my 8 year old self. I don't really do much for that kid these days.
Here's a match between the two from back in the day.
It was kind of funny that each of them was sort of like a promoter for another dude who was actually going to do the wrestling. I was a little annoyed that they did get in each other's face and do some trash talking, but they weren't miced! The audience couldn't hear a single thing either of them said. That combined with the ridiculous commercials they kept playing kind of soured me on the experience a bit. Oh well. It was fun.
Back in the lobby we did some important business.
Speaking of business: I went to the merch table for amusement and I was not disappointed. That red and gold belt in the center? $425!!
Zoe needed some attention so she bought matching Halloween costumes for herself and Vinny the dog.
A couple of days earlier we did a dry run.
Then it was time for the big game. Howloween was the most prestigious Halloween dog costume parade and contest in southeastern University City. It was make or break time, and Vinny knew it.
We gave Vinny a pregame walk, as is part of his training regimine.
The Moonrise Hotel was the site of the showdown.
We got there a little early.
We saw pretty quickly that there was some stiff competition. This Pennywise the Clown and Georgie from IT were especially disturbing.
A demogorgon from Stranger Things.
Vinny strutted his stuff so well that we thought we had a chance at victory.
We were wrong.
While Vinny's shark impression was panned by critics, the audience loved it. He ended up winning a pretty cool prize pack due to all of the Instagram love he received.
This year for Halloween we mixed it up a bit and did a Halloween bar crawl in Tower Grove.
We wore the best costumes at Target that not very much money could buy: hotdog and praying mantis.
I did come correct with the hotdog jokes though.
What did the Buddhist say to the hotdog vendor?
Make me one with everything.
Joel wore his Nebraskan tuxedo. I'm not convinced he even knew this was a costume party.
Steph and Neil had a pretty great Macho Man and Slim Jim costume that won a prize. Fittingly the prize was in the form of a pro wrestler looking belt.
Found some kindred spirits.
We met up with Viry and Lolo and Le French at some point. They were multiple drinks ahead of us.
They were dressed up like Batman villains. Here some of them are sleeping on a pool table, as is the custom in France. I think one of them knocked over one of those free standing heater towers. Good times.
"If someone asks if you are a god, you say, 'yes!'"
We ended on a high note: delicious bar food at Stella Blues. I distinctly remember Le French knocking over someone's drink and getting yelled at here.
Our crew loves a pop-up bar. The only problem is that there's about 50 of them during the Christmas season and then 0 of them the rest of the year. It's sad.
So when I heard that Corpse Reviver, a Halloween-themed pop-up bar was on the loose, my frown immediately turned upside down. We headed over to Yellowbelly to check it out.
They had this pop-up bar thing down.
Cool decorations and themed stuff everywhere? Check.
Fun themed drinks with wild ingredients and wilder names? Check.
The Numbskull Punch was: banhez mezcal, duckett blue rhum, aperol, blood orange, strawberry, pineapple, coconut cream, lime. All that for the low, low price of $34.
Ridiculously priced drinks that make you glad it's a pop-up because you'd never pay these prices twice anyway? Check.
Halloween movies playing? Check.
They had some treats too. These were buckeye balls.
