Let’s Own It, Guys!

Our going in plan for today was for another hard humping day in the saddle, except that yesterday’s respite from the rain was only a one day affair. It rained for most of the morning. After gloriously sleeping in for a change, we decided to do brunch, after all today is Father’s Day. Anne always tells this origin story about Father’s Day. About six weeks after Mother’s Day, some Dad suddenly came to an epiphany, “Hey, what about me?” And so was born Father’s Day. We did brunch at the Peacock Diner in the Loop. The Peacock is the latest Joe Edwards property there. He has almost single-handedly developed almost everything along both sides of Delmar, turning a once dilapidated neighborhood into a national go to destination. Now he has turned his eyes on Delmar Avenue itself and the Loop was just settling in again after last year’s completion of the two block reconstruction that houses the Peacock.

Pictured below is the newly started construction for the reestablishment of a trolley line in the Loop. Those are the old fifties era railroad ties that have been paved over for 65 years. I looked for the old rails too, but I couldn’t find any exposed ones. They may have been taken up, but elsewhere in the city you can see the old trolley line rails peeking through the asphalt, one of the insights that bicycling around town gives you. This reboot is slated for completion next year. It will run from U-City Hall in the Loop to the History Museum in Forest Park, a little over two miles. It should be fun when it’s done. Wait for it:

Clang, clang, clang went the trolley
Ding, ding, ding went the bell
Zing, zing, zing went my heartstrings
From the moment I saw him I fell
– “Trolley Song”, Ralph Blane / Hugh Martin

After brunch we did our Father’s Day calls home. I love my Dad, as Anne loves hers and would not miss a chance to honor them on their day. I love you Dad! We did sneak in a little bit of a bike ride in-between the storms today. May’s weather was so delightful that June’s weather by comparison seems so dreadful. Today, both the heat and the humidity were racing each other to the top of the chart. Throw in a little humanity and you have a recipe for misery, I mean Missouri. I hate to keep harping on about the weather, because it is hardly a news flash that Saint Louis summer weather sucks. It is just that all of our activities draw us out into it. I’ve recently turned on the weather alerts feature of my iPhone’s Weather Channel app. I don’t expect to leave it on forever, but it is helpful now that we are spending so much time outside.

Delmar Loop Trolley Construction