Last week I fulfilled a trip that quickly became a staple of my time in college: my spring break trek through Missouri and to my hometown of Bloomington-Normal Illinois. You may be asking yourself, why would you go to Missouri instead of straight to Illinois? Well, it’s the ride I could get, and what’s spring break without a little bit of adventure?
Every year at the start of spring break, I road trip the five-ish hours to St. Louis, Missouri, with my companion and fellow journalism student JJ Gruetemeyer, who lives in St. Louis and has a car. From St. Louis, I take a train headed north through Illinois that stops at the Normal Illinois Amtrak station.
Getting around without a car is an interesting experience, especially if you have to travel for cheap out of necessity and across state lines.
On Friday, March 14, I packed up my duffle bag, camera and reporting gear for what would undoubtedly be a journey back to the town where I was raised. JJ pulled up around 10:30 a.m., and we loaded the red Chevy Cruze Eco he’s lovingly named Tom Cruze and hit the road.
Trenching through the planes of rural Iowa can feel treacherous at times — you have to keep your mind relaxed, your eyes on the road and the vibes immaculate. I was in charge of music through our trek out of the fields of Iowa and into the rolling countryside of Missouri. The 5.5 hours went by fast as we passed the time jamming out, bantering back and forth and — of course, no road trip would be complete without it — some horrendous (at times) singing.
As we get further into the more populated areas of the state, it becomes incredibly apparent that Missouri has an excessive amount of billboards for defense attorneys. We land in Lake St. Louis, ending our road trip at JJ’s apartment to drop off our stuff.
Throughout the day, we’ve been receiving warnings of the impending winds and possible tornado. Normally on this trip we’d get together with some of JJ’s friends from home and hang out, but after heading to a friend’s apartment, we found that the weather wasn’t safe to be out and gathering. We opted to stay in after dinner with JJ’s parents and watched “Pitch Perfect” as I completed a midterm for criminology.
The next morning, I woke up to find that the tornado had luckily missed us. With the weather not looking any better, I opted to get my train ticket from St. Louis to Bloomington for 5:40 p.m. This day started slow as I woke up before JJ, so I made a cup of coffee and listened to an audiobook for 45 minutes until JJ woke up.
The initial plan was to go to the City Museum, an interactive art exhibit mainly aimed toward children and one of the only things in St. Louis that I was truly excited to see. Because it’s a very interactive experience and JJ wasn’t feeling too well, we opted to go check out the St. Louis Art Museum, as it’s free entry and wasn’t going to be literally crawling with children on this glum Saturday afternoon. We headed out with the sole goal of showing me everything the gateway to the west has to offer.
Art has always been a part of life that I’ve greatly appreciated, as the work is subjective and the different kinds of emotion that a single piece can evoke is what I believe makes art so powerful. We got halfway through the museum before getting hungry, so JJ brought me to a burger joint called Hi-Pointe Drive-In. The prices were semi-steep for any regular burger joint, but between the stature of a burger boy covered in tattoos named Hi-Boy outside of the entrance and the Burger Mobile from the Good Burger movie right inside the entrance, it was an interesting place I’d have never expected in St. Louis.
Walking into the restaurant itself there’s a soda fountain with sodas made from sugar cane, a line where you can see the chefs dress the sandwiches and a menu with insane burgers on it. The decorations are of everything from the Ozzy Osbourne Memphis mugshot with him in a Blues Jersey to these aliens who, for lack of a better word, were straight chillin’.
When our food arrived, I was in awe after the first bite. Everything from the service to the experience to the food itself was immaculate. I got a Frisco melt with jalapenos. If you’re ever in the St. Louis area, no matter how far you are from the actual location, Hi-Pointe Drive-in is worth the trip.
To end what little time I had in the great state of Missouri, we went for a walk in a local park then drove around the city to see some sites before JJ brought me to the Amtrak terminal around 5:20 p.m. And, just like that, I was on a train out of Missouri and back to my home state of Illinois.
Earlier that day before we started sightseeing I texted my best friend Jack to let him know that I would be coming into town via train around 8:30 p.m. As I made the last leg of my journey home alone I reflected on this tradition I’ve come to love because it’s the culmination of an adventure. When I travel, I like to play things by ear, which,, most of the time, results in a decent story and a holistically new experience.
As my train finally pulled into the Bloomington-Normal station, I walked across the Uptown circle, where I spent so much time as a kid, to the parking lot, where Jack and one of his good friends waited in a grey Chevy Impala. As I dropped my bags in his trunk and we pulled out of the parking lot, I was hit with a sudden relief, one I’ve never really felt for this town… I’m home.
Now onto this week’s Brief.
The Church presents Overtire, Formerly Gifted, Box Truck and Jake Bowser
If you’ve never been to a house show here’s your chance. On Saturday, Mar. 29, The Church, located at 1441 29th St., will have a set of 4 bands, Des Moines NuMetal band Overtire, Ames Funky Indie band Formerly Gifted, Des Moines Hardcore/crossover band Box truck and Des Moines Hype Rap group, Jake Bowser. Doors will open at 5 p.m. with the show starting at 6 p.m. The cover for this music-filled night is $10.
Break N’ Paint
Sometimes you just need to let it all out. What better way to do that by making something for no other purpose than making something? If that sounds appealing to you on Sunday, Mar. 30, Broadlawns Drake Student Counseling Center will be hosting Break N’ Paint, an art therapy activity aimed to help students get creative while unwinding. The event will be held in the upstairs of Olmsted center from 3 to 4 p.m.
54th Annual Juried Student Exhibition opening reception and award ceremony
On Sunday, Mar. 30, the Anderson Gallery’s 54th annual Juried Student Exhibition will be having its opening reception from 1 to 3 p.m. with an award ceremony at 1:30 p.m. judged by Fredo Rivera, assistant professor of art History at Grinnell College. Come out and support our Drake art and design students who’ve made it into the show!
Teenage Bottlerocket, Mest, Makewar, North of Grand
On Wednesday, Apr. 2, the Wyoming Skate Punk, Pop punk band Teenage Bottlerocket will be performing at Lefty’s Live Music with Illinois Pop Punk, Alt Rock band Mest, Brooklyn New York Pop Punk, Emo, Rock band Makewar and local Des Moines Pop Punk band North of Grand. Tickets will cost $20 if bought in advance or $25 on the day of the show. Doors will open at 5 p.m. with the show starting at 5:30 p.m.
The 46th Annual Bucksbaum Distinguished Lectureship; an Evening with Misty Copeland.
If a concert isn’t how you’d like to spend your Wednesday evening, maybe the 46th annual Bucksbaum Distinguished Lectureship is just what you’re looking for. This year’s distinguished lecturer is “award winning ballet dancer and cultural icon” Misty Copeland. Copeland will share her experience within her career at 7 p.m. on Apr. 2, in the Knapp Center.
