Friday, June 01, 2007

Getting from Point A to Point B: Old-School vs. New

MARYLAND HEIGHTS, MISSOURI--We're on the "chill day" of our tour (as in no performance today), so I'll divert a bit from the usual travelogue to discuss something interesting that I've discovered on this trip;

It's been quite a few years since I've taken an extended bus trip, and I'm pretty sure this is the first time that I've been on one that exclusively uses GPS for its navigation. Having gone the Texas-to-St. Louis trip many times as a kid, I was surprised that we didn't use the interstate in certain situations, but the GPS evidently goes strictly by the shortest possible distance to your next point, regardless of road type. I'm wondering how much the time that is theoretically saved by going the shortest distance is negated by going on "slower" roads. Anyone out there have experience with this thing? I'm still thinking that my best personal GPS is that thing called a "map" (or would that be a GPS hard-copy?). Chime in if you have an opinion on this.

Arch deluxe: This afternoon was spent in downtown St. Louis, going up the Arch one more time, as well as a lunch at my favorite local food place, the Old Spaghetti Factory in Laclede's Landing. Had the Cardinals been in town today (ironically, they're in Texas while we're here), a bunch of us would have definitely been at the game, but we settled for watching them on a number of plasma TV's in Ozzie Smith's sports grill, just a short jaunt from here. (I have a new Arch picture, but I can't quite Bluetooth it over to the computer yet; this is a great hotel, but they need more electrical outlets spread across the room to deal with the various chargers for laptops, cell phones, etc. As I write this, the phone is charging in the bathroom, while the computer is doing so--rather awkwardly, I might add--on the recliner chair. It's not ideal, but it works.)

UPDATE: Here's the Arch from the river side:
And New Busch Stadium, as seen from the Arch:

Tomorrow is the biggest performance of the trip; we're the opening act of the Saint Louis Jazz and Heritage Festival, which is headlined by the likes of Poncho Sanchez, George Benson and Ramsey Lewis. I'll have a full report tomorrow night.

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