The rest of St. Louis

After we finished up with pictures, my grandma changed into her dinner outfit and we headed over to Pietro's, where the "official" party was to take place. The food was so-so, but we all had a good time, unlike the table next to us, which had an amazing time. They walked in so sloshed that it wasn't even funny, plus they kept telling dirty jokes in their southern accents, even though they were also there as a family celebrating their grandfather's birthday. The dinner was nothing special, but it was one of those family functions that you will always remember. I know that I won't forget my grandpa coming around the tables to thank us all for coming to his party. I don't think any of us will forget that all of us were full from dessert, so we passed around Grandpa's birthday tiramisu and wound up splitting it between 23 people and passing it around four tables - though it's actually kind of gross when you think about it.

Before we left for home Sunday night, I made sure we made a stop at Ted Drewes so that I could get a concrete before we left town. Concretes are kind of like blizzards, except they are made with frozen custard (only vanilla), which has a higher fat content (read "deliciousness"), and you can choose from a huge amount of mix-ins. The Shake Shack in NYC has something similar, and they have more flavors of custard, but fewer kinds of mix-ins, so it's just not the same. Concretes are so good that they are the other half of the care package that we sent my Dad for his birthday. We had just enough time to finish our concretes and head to the airport, and finally come home.