Crown Candy Kitchen

If you know anything about me, you know I am a big St. Louis Cardinals fan.  I was looking forward to being able to attend games again this year.  Fans were not able to go to games in 2020 because of the Covid pandemic.  I had eyed a couple of games against the Marlins for the week of June 14^th.  As those dates got closer, the Cardinals began losing games in groups.  I waffled back and forth about whether to go or not.  Finally, a couple of days before the games were to occur, I pulled the trigger on tickets.

Donna and I got club seats to the first game.  This allowed us to go up to the club area to cool off during the game (the temperatures were in the 90s).  The game was close.  I got to see my favorite player (Adam Wainwright) pitch.  The game was close throughout.  However, the Cardinals ultimately won 4-2.  The second night, I went by myself.  This time, I got tickets in the Champions Club.  It also has an air conditioned club area.  The difference was that it had a full buffet before the game that was excellent.  Also, someone brought iced tea to my seat during the entire game.  This game was close as well.  The Cardinals won in the bottom of the ninth on a walk-off home run by Paul Goldscmidt.  So, I got to see two Cardinal wins.   However, I went to another place (one I’d never been to before) that I enjoyed just as much.

 I’d read of Crown Candy Kitchen before.  When we visited the Collinsville church of Christ a few years ago, someone told me about the BLT they had.  It had 14 strips of bacon on it.  That sounds wonderful to me.  I promised myself we’d go there.  We finally did on this trip to St Louis.  It’s a couple of miles north of Busch Stadium.  The neighbor was slightly sketchy, but I had been assured in reviews that there were no issues.  We parked on the street in an spot with a number posted on a pole next to it.  You go to a parking machine (as I call it) and enter the number of your spot and then money to cover the time you expect to be there.  I paid 1.35 to be there for 1.5 hours.  There was a sign in front of the restaurant indicating where we should stand outside to wait to be seated.  Almost immediately, a young lady came out and took us to a table. 

The restaurant has an old time feel to it.  There are many old signs hung up in it.  We got menus but I knew what I wanted.  I ordered the BLT.  Donna got a chicken salad sandwich.  Very soon, my sandwich came out and I was not disappointed.  It was huge and delicious.

 

I ended up with a dilemma.  I wanted to get a milkshake.  I knew if I ate the whole sandwich, I could never hold a milkshake.  So, I ate half of it and got a box for the other half (to eat for breakfast the next day).  I then ordered a chocolate milkshake.  Donna ordered coffee ice cream on a cone.  They brought me out a metal cannister with the milkshake in it and real glass to pour it in. 

I filled the glass up three times with milkshake and it was great.  Donna was equally pleased with her ice cream cone.  I was thoroughly stuffed.  They had a glass case with all sorts of homemade candy.  I was much too full to seriously look at it.  If you are in St. Louis, I’d certainly recommend a visit there.

 

The Paducah Chiefs

Now that I am fully vaccinated, I really have looked forward to being able to get out a bit more.  Last week, we finally ate in a restaurant (Culvers) for the first time in over a year.   I saw an advertisement about the season for the local baseball team starting on Friday, so I decided I wanted to go to that.  We’d gone with Jonathan and Lucy a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it.

The Paducah Chiefs have a long history in the area.  The original team formed in 1903 and played in various iterations until 1955.  The team was reformed in 2017 as part of the Ohio Valley Collegiate League.  You can read more about them here.  One thing I do like is unlike most collegiate type teams, they use wooden bats.  They play in Brooks Stadium which is the home of Paducah Tilghman.  It’s a really nice small stadium very close to where we go to church.  They have really good concessions as well (always a plus for me).

 The game Friday was at 6:30.  I left about 5:45 and got there about 6:10.  The parking lots were much fuller than I remembered last time.  I got in with no problems.  General Admission tickets are 5.00.  You can sit in a chairback seat for 10.00.  There really isn’t a bad seat in the place.  I stopped at the concession stand on the way in and grabbed some food.  I was able to get a good seat in the shade.  I would say the stadium ended up being almost 2/3 full.  I sat close to some fans of the visiting team (the Fulton Railroaders).  They enthusiastically cheered on their own team but were not obnoxious or overbearing in any way.  The game went back and forth.  The only thing that I must have forgotten was these games took longer to play than I remembered.  I held out as long as I could but in the bottom of the 7^th, I finally left (it was after nine). 

 If you’d like some inexpensive entertainment (and especially if you like baseball), I’d recommend you check it out.  I’ll give you one tip and it’s about parking.  Be cautious about parking too close.  If you do, a foul ball can easily hit your car.  From where I was sitting, I saw several fouls bounce off of cars.  Fortunately, mine never got hit.