Saturday night, the rain came. It poured enough to cause the cancellation of Fair Saint Louis for the night, but it did cool things off some. There was still spotty showers on Sunday, so Anne and I decided to do an inside activity on the Fourth. We went to go see the “America I AM” exhibit at the History Museum. Afterwards, we enjoyed a late lunch or early dinner at Blueberry Hill in the Loop.
With 200 artifacts that chronicle the African-American experience over 500 years, “America I AM: The African-American Imprint” is a mighty exhibition. The size of the exhibit is large; it takes up both of the History Museum’s two rotating gallery spaces, but it was the quality of the show that impressed me the most. A few of the show’s artifacts that impressed were John Brown Jr.’s rifle, Jesse Owens’ Olympic medal, Rosa Parks’ fingerprints, Malcolm X’s diary and Qur’an, Muhammad Ali’s robe and Prince’s guitar to name a few. “America I AM” is the brainchild of television personality and political commentator Tavis Smiley. The exhibit will be in Saint Louis until September, 25th.
After the History Museum, we went to the Loop and Blueberry Hill. Blueberry Hill is a rock’n roll bar and not a cowboy bar as then young toddler, Daniel, once dubbed it when upon viewing it exclaimed in his always loud voice, “You’re not taking me to another cowboy bar, are you?” Anne and I were mortified, because Anne’s parents were with us at the time. That time was a winter night and the brightly lit neon beer signs peering from every window only lent credence to Dan’s accusation. This time was in the afternoon and the Loop’s sleepy summer indolence belied anything like a honky-tonk.
No, it felt more like Ann Arbor of old, back in our halcyon days there. We sat at a window table and watched the world walk by outside. After our meal, we crossed Delmar and toured the plaza where the new Chuck Berry statue has been installed. The plaza is still under construction and lyrics from his catalog of songs are just now being inscribed into the pavement. Berry still performs monthly at Blueberry Hill. Now where did I put my thrill? It was just here. 😉
Ah, kids in bars…apparently, ensconced securely in a high-chair at a bar somewhere north and west of Seney on a rainy day when we’d been exploring in the woods with friends of my parents in a huge four-door sedan with a wide bench seat in front (and a shovel and axe in the trunk for any bad spots in the road), the waitress asked my brother in his high perch what he’d like to drink, and he sat up straight, took a deep breath, and said in a piping toddler-voice, “I’ll have a whiskey sour, please.”