More guests and almost tornadoed!

Guest no 3 arrives. Our lovely son, determined to have the full mid-west experience. He has had a week of West Coast fun and frivolity, it's time for the real thing!

He is very impressed with the museum, and Wren church and amused by our down town position; handy for pizza, a hair cut all that Fulton has to offer. He is his father's son. Walmart is a big hit with it's T shirts, jeans and hats, which are far cheaper than back home. We end up buying a second suitcase so he can take it all back. I am also hoping to squeeze a few of our things in, but at this rate there will be no room.
We visit Ozarkland- a must for any visitor. Skomer gets a few questionable items- a rebel hat and the like. I buy a plastic, painted, golden eagle money box. Who could resist? Judging by Roland's face, he could have.

Since we were last in the USA micro breweries have proliferated. Between them, father and son are doing their best to taste the lot! Here are a few of the empties.

We visit Crane's store. An old fashioned country store with food and clothes. More clothes are bought.

We have a night on the razz in Fulton with the archivist. Beer, bar football, pool and pin ball machines, then on to a fairly revolting meal at a bar in town. It's fun, but the son and heir is not impressed with our knowledge of the local bars. He has to find out where they all are from the shoe shop owner, who is a Fultonite.

We have a trip to Jeff City and get a private tour of the Capitol. See, we do know some of the right people.
We are getting to know this building very well, but it impresses each time. This is a mini version of Washington, well not that mini. The House is in session and there is a real buzz about the place. I am very impressed again with the openness of the place. No security barriers, x-rays or the like. We mingle with the state's representatives. Very refreshing. It's how a democracy should be.

 We get to see inside the dome. This gives you some idea of the scale of the place.

 and get to go up on the roof for a view over the Missouri and beyond.

We are on flood alert. The water is high. There have been quite a few storms and more are expected. There are also lurking tornadoes.

The next experience is shooting. This time indoors with hand guns. A new experience. I have been recommended a place, whose website urges us to exercise our 2nd amendment rights! A friend takes us for our first go with hand guns

We get a bit of advice as to what to choose and start with three very different guns. Skomer feels he has to try a magnum. Wonder why! I end up with one that looks like an old fashioned cowboys gun, a 22. It has very little kick back, which is more than you can say for the magnum.  Our friend chooses a Glock 9mm with a bit of a kick in it. They are all heavy. We all get a box of bullets , ear protection, which is essential and eye protection. Then we get to choose targets. We are now ready for the range.




Some of the targets you can choose might be considered to be non PC and their description in the shop certainly is.

We find that we are pretty good at killing the enemy and defending the country from terrorists and the like! We can hit the bits we want to hit.

Someone felt the need to try an even bigger gun!!!! and is rather pleased with the results.

It is an interesting 2 hours. Long enough to realise it is pretty easy to kill someone with a lethal weapon in your hand and an ability to aim vaguely in the right direction. You don't need any practice. We have a fellow shooter several lanes away happily obliterating the figure of a man with bullet cases flying in all directions.
A fun experience as well as a worrying one. It makes me think no one should ever be able to own a hand gun and have it in their home. These guns held up to 14 bullets in one magazine. Lethal. Far too easy to use if you lost it and felt like having a go at someone.

We leave the charms of Fulton behind and set out for the big city. We have tickets for a Cardinals match and a tour of the Budweiser factory, the biggest brewery in the world! Now you have to see that.
The drive to St Louis is in torrential rain and the forecast is not good.
We do a quick trip into the downtown. Skomer has to see the arch and the sun comes out especially.

There are tornado warnings further south and to the east and we sit down to a very nice meal in Clayton, with lightening and thunder and all mayhem being let loose outside. We are unaware that as we happily chomp away on scallops and the like, the main international airport in St Louis is getting a direct hit by a tornado. Skomer is due to fly out sunday morning. Panic sets in.
We are going with St Louis friends to the Bud factory and the match and he kindly lets us use his office so that Skomer can change his flight to leave from Kansas City, the other side of the state! We still have the day to enjoy, so it's beer first.

The Bud factory is enormous and has a lot of it's original victorian buildings and artefacts.

The interior is also interesting.

The production is phenomenal and at the end of the tour you get to have a couple of half pints of any of their products. Bud on tap at the factory tastes pretty good. I think we are all getting in the mood for the match.














Our friends have got us brilliant seats, with a really good view of the game. When you first enter you just see a mass of red and white and the arch and towers of down town St Louis. Very impressive.

The weather is holding......just. It's warm. The wrong sort, you know there's going to be more rain.

The game is between arch rivals the Cardinals, the St Louis local team and the Cincinnati Reds. Last year when they met it all ended in a punch up. One of the Cincinnati players is supposed to have kicked one of the Cardinals in the head and not surprisingly, is not very popular. Every time he comes out, the crowd stands and boos, in a fairly good natured way. It doesn't seem to put him off his game and his team wins.

This is Skomer attempting to explain the finer points of the game to his father! Our friends are very impressed that Skomer's knowledge of the game is excellent and he has the shirt and hat, thanks to Walmart. He is described as 'one of the guys'. He certainly doesn't look out of place.

We do! Roland and I noticeably not red. I have got red sandals on though.
Having never been that enthralled by the game on television, I have to say watching it live was a lot better and the atmosphere in the stadium was great. We drink more beer, eat hot dogs and nachos and generally it's an all american experience.
Then, unfortunately we have to leave. The drive to Kansas City is 250 miles + and Roland wants to do half of it tonight. So we go back to Fulton for a few hours sleep. The drive is in torrential rain but the next morning, the sun shines and the drive to Kansas City is easy, if somewhat dull.

Skomer get's off safe and sound only to be delayed by storms in Washington. I think he had a pretty good time. We are exhausted and just have enough time to get ready for offspring number 2. Caelia and Ben fly in this saturday. They want the full Missouri experience too.

Before they come we have our own version of the royal wedding at the museum. We are all going to dress up, wear hats, drink champagne and eat cake! A bit of fun and frivolity. The weather is still stormy, there are still tornadoes and floods, but Fulton has survived to party on- so far.