A Blast From the Past!

To begin…

Happy New Year!

May 2018 bring health and happiness to all…

Peace in the world would be nice too!

The fact is that I’m still writing posts based on our terrific trip to Scotland and Ireland in September of 2017.  In between, I’m posting accounts of our family visits to St. Louis and Omaha over Thanksgiving week or some of our more recent dining or home based experiences here in East Tennessee.

In this instance, it’s all about the St. Louis area.  Laurie is from there, most of her family lives there and that’s where we met on a blind date almost 40 years ago!  St. Louis is also where I had my first job in Retail Loss Prevention with Venture Stores, a division of May Department Stores.  

Both retail entities no longer exist but my relationship with the fellow in the photo standing in front of BC’s Restaurant in Lake St. Louis Missouri actually dates back to a bit before I met my better half.   We worked together at Venture and Bruce not only once helped save my bacon but he was instrumental in making me look good on many occasions!  We’ve stayed in touch over the years.  I can remember when Laurie used to give him haircuts at our house… Time flies!

BC’s Kitchen is a bright, clean and cheerful place.  We were seated in a semi-private corner which worked out best for us and for those near us.  Lots of stories and humor dominated our lunch!

I actually got so caught up in our conversation and camaraderie that I forgot to take photos of our food!  Laurie had a nice French Dip (sliced roast beef with Swiss cheese and crisp fried onions) sandwich on a toasted French roll with potato chips.  It was accompanied with sides of au jus and horseradish cream sauce. ($14.75)  I ordered an All Natural Niman Ranch Beef Burger topped with Pepper Jack cheese along with a side salad. ($10.75) The burger was cooked just right and it was nice and juicy.

BC’s Kitchen is located at 11 Meadows Circle Drive in Lake St. Louis Missouri.  Phone: 636-542-9090.  Their website is found at: http://www.billcardwell.com/bcs.html.

After our lunch at BC’s Kitchen, we joined Bruce and his much better half, Margaret, for further conversation and humor at their home in Lake St. Louis.  Bruce recently retired and he’s getting used to the idea.  It turns out that he’s a big model train buff…while I’m into more about the full size railroad version. 

This photo was taken by their handsome and intelligent son Andrew.  He promised to ensure that his dad’s computer was set up so Bruce would be a ‘follower’ for my blog site.  Are you really reading this posting Bruce?!

This was the other member of Bruce and Margaret’s family.  Tillie is a pretty cat and since our cat J.D. is now playing with his toys in cat heaven, Laurie was able to get a quick ‘cat fix’ during our visit.

The same night…continuing with my “Blast from the Past” theme while we were in the St. Louis area, we decided that we should return to Lou Boccardi’s, an Italian restaurant on “The Hill” that we had frequented many years ago. 

Lou Boccardi’s hadn’t changed at all since we last dined here!  This restaurant has been around for many, many years…

“The Hill” is an Italian American neighborhood located on a hilly area south of Forest Park.  It was settled in the late 1800s.  The area is home for many Italian businesses and restaurants.  Baseball greats Yogi Berra and Joe Garagiola, Sr. grew up here, with their boyhood homes just across the streets from each other.     

Lou Boccardi’s is located in a house with a store front at street level.  The restaurant is a 3-story affair.  We were seated in the back right corner in this photo.

Even the murals on the wall hadn’t changed.  The restaurant is a little shabby but it has a ton of character.  In this photo Laurie, Bonnie and Bill were ready to depart after our dinner with a take home box but I had to take a photo first!

Laurie and I went for our old standby at Lou Boccardi’s…a 16” pepperoni and Italian sausage pizza. ($14.90) This is the way that Laurie likes her pizza, cut into little squares so it’s easy to eat. 

FYI, this proves that you ‘can go back’ to experience what you remembered from the past!  The pizza has a very thin crust, just like we enjoy most.  While it isn’t the best pizza ever, it is very good and it brought back a lot of memories… The last time that we dined at Lou Boccardi’s was with our mothers…and that was about 36 years ago!

This was Bill and Bonnie’s pizza.  This is a 16” Godfather Pizza. ($22.50) This creation includes just about everything except the kitchen sink.  It was loaded with Italian Sausage, hamburger, bacon, black olives, ham, salami, pepperoni, mushrooms, onions and green peppers!  Bill loved it but it wouldn’t have been Bonnie’s choice.

Thanks for the memories!  Lou Boccardi’s is located at 5424 Magnolia Avenue on The Hill in St. Louis Missouri.  Phone: 314-647-1151.  This restaurant doesn’t have a website but they are on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/boccardis/.

That’s it for now.  Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave