Some people have traditions a bit different. Today, Saturday, December 5th, 2009, Donna indulged one of hers’ along with me and Coffey. Highway 40 has been in the process of being rebuilt between Kingshighway and 270 for the last few years. Fears and fretting about much disruption this was likely to cause proved exaggerated, though it has made for a lot of grumbling. But the highway department has come in pretty on or before schedule and within budget and Monday, the 7th, it the whole thing is about to reopen for traffic.
So we went down to one part of it this morning to walk the highway. Tomorrow there’s supposed to be a big to do, lots of people, a party. Uh uh. This was for us. This is a tradition Donna brought with her. Way way back in our childhoods, Highway 44 was built through South St. Louis and they all walked it before it officially opened. I remember riding my bike on it once with a couple of buddies but it never registered as something to make a tradition from. But this is cool.
So here, on a much too cold December morning, is the place-keeper of the memory. Behind her is the Skinker overpass, which won’t mean much to people who don’t live here, but you can see, partly hidden by trees, a great big Amoco sign. Now, Amoco doesn’t exist anymore—it was bought up by BP—but that sign is a St. Louis landmark and received special dispensation to remain. It’s huge. At night, with the spotlights on it, you could probably navigate a plane by it. To the right of it is Clayton Ave, to the left, completely hidden, is the Hi-Pointe Theater, our last standalone art movie theater surviving from the heyday of such things. Far, far to the right is Forest Park and eventually Washington University. Far, far to the left is Dogtown. (Don’t ask. But if you ever saw the film White Palace with Susan Sarandon and James Spader, Dogtown is made famous by being Susan Sarandon’s character’s place of residence.)
Famous, trivia-inspiring stuff.
But it was for us a fun walk.