Our Sunday adventure did not begin well. The plan was to visit the shrine of Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne, because we live pretty close to her shrine, and when someone is made a saint? Respect. Or, as much respect as I can summon. (My first words after we parked were, "Where is this goddammned motherfucking saint?")
Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne must have heard me, because her shrine was locked down tight, despite web site promises that it is open every day from 9 til 4. It's too bad, because Saint Rose lived in Saint Charles where I live now AND Florissant, where I grew up. I feel a kinship.
After out aborted visit (see what I did there?) we went to Little O's Soda Shop, a relatively new place in downtown St. Charles. I had a lime phosphate. I demanded that Gary have the strawberry gooey butter cake milkshake, because it is a handmade ice cream milkshake with strawberries and a slice of gooey butter cake churned up in it. I like the free thinking that led to that combination. These are my people.
I'm pretty sure you can't even get a gooey butter cake milkshake even in Vegas. It's a special type of St. Louis gluttony.
We hiked around the riverfront for a while to burn off the gooey butter cake milkshake. Afterward, we decided to get pizza at Frankie Tocco's pizzeria, not because we were hungry but because we were passing by when my body decided it was time to use the bathroom. It's the price you pay for drinking things like gooey butter cake milkshakes.
They serve St. Louis style pizza, which is pizza with a cracker thin crust and Provel cheese, which is the Velveeta of Italian cheeses. The local chain that is famous for it is Imo's Pizza, and I am not a fan. The cheese sticks to your teeth. Nothing to write home about, especially if home is St Louis. However, this pizza made me see the light.
That pizza tasted like a giant, fancy hors d'oeuvre. Tremendous. It can't be, but I got the sense that there was cream cheese mixed in with the Provel. It just all tasted ... very lively. Really good pizza.
So, gooey butter cake and St. Louis style pizza. Had I eaten toasted ravioli I would have had the entire St. Louis food trifecta. Perhaps they could whip up a special pizza topped with toasted ravioli and serve it with a gooey butter cake milkshake.
Not surprisingly, I gained three pounds in the last five days.
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