Now on their way to a city more than 2,000 times the size of their original destination, the stallions were excited but still unsure of how things would pan out in such a large city. Then, a call from Tom, the museum director, came saying that Jerry at the Bowling Museum would only be able to get them tickets at 11am the next morning. Instead, a man named Bob Elder and his wife Buella of Belleville, IL, a eastern suburb of St. Louis, would be entertaining the stallions that night. From their conversation with Tom, the stallions gathered that Bob new how to treat his guests; he had arranged a room for them at the Fairfield Inn and was going to take them out for dinner that evening. The stallions’ minds were blown by the kindness they had received from complete strangers.
The first stop on their way to the Gateway to the West was the often-mispronounced Keokuk, IA, a quaint little town on the Mississippi where three states (IA, IL, & MO) meet. They grabbed a quick bite at the Halftime Deli & Bar where they failed to get the name of their waitress. What a shame…
The stallions then took a stroll out over the Mississippi River on the Damn and Lift. The view was impressive…
Then, the boys hit up the other two states in a matter of minutes.
On the road again, diving down highway 61, the next major landmark was the hometown of Samuel Clements, better known as Mark Twain. Unfortunately, the boys had recently had a meal, so there was no room in their tummies for some Mark Twain Fried Chicken.
They also dropped by the visitor center where they met Bo, the director of tourism for the town of Hannibal. Bo definitely knew his Mark Twain history as he spoke of a ghost bridge that now spans the Mississippi River.
When the stallions rolled into Belleville on their high horse, they found their Fairfield Inn by Marriott to be warm and hospitable. The boys found inspiration in their readings from the Bible.
Next was dinner at Fischer’s where the stallions were introduced to Sue, apparently the #1 waitress in all of Belleville. All enjoying the same meal of fried cod and au gratin potatoes, the 4 shared stories of their trip to date and heard stories of Bob’s time as an apple peddler to a car dealer and Buella’s time as the first and only female president of a stockyard. Bob had grown up on a farm with a love for tractors and racecars- a love that jokingly surpassed his love for his wife of two years. Besides owning a Cadillac dealership in town until recently, Bob knew such sports legends as Jay Hass and Jimmy Conners.
Bob & Buella with our waitress Sue
After an excellent meal, the stallions were given a quick tour of the Elder’s beautiful home. Before calling it a night, the stallions hopped in the tub for an extremely relaxing evening.
Bob had few ideas for a place to send them, so they went to bed wondering who and where they would be tomorrow!
The next morning was kicked off with a heavenly visit to Our Lady of the Snows Shrine in
Belleville.
Bob had been working his contacts in Belleville that morning and would meet the stallions at the shrine to bring them to city hall for a 10:15am meeting with the mayor. However, on the way just happened to be the first ever Dodge dealership franchise in America, the Oliver C. Joseph Dodge. Of course, Bob knew the long-time, Dee, who was the now 80-some year old son of the original founder. Immediately, the stallions knew they were in for a treat when this charismatic character hopped up from behind the reception desk to greet them. This man, with his computer (actually a small blue notepad in his front pocket) and his ‘cabbie’ hat, told stories of his filmmaking with old-school 8mm and his recent shoots of mating lions in Africa. This man reminded the stallions of Jerry Maguire’s mentor to a tee! Another intriguing character at the dealership was Lyle- brother of the former president of GM and boyhood friend of former Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog. While short, this would turn out to be a very worthwhile stop…
Lyle is on the left, Dee in the center
Now it was on to the mayor’s office, where jolly Mayor Mark Eckert greeted the stallions with enthusiasm. He spoke of the community that Belleville was trying to create, which perked up the ears of those community builders.
After saying farewell to Bob for one last time and thanking him for his amazing generosity, it was across the river to St. Louis and the International Bowling Museum which was just across the street from majestic Busch Stadium.
They were treated to comped tickets, but were disappointed to never meet the owner, Jerry, who was so kind enough to give them the tickets. The stallions’ usually unwavering confidence was now beginning to weaken as they were still scratching for a destination for somebody to send them to. Lunch at Al Hrabowski’s Bar & Grill found them a very friendly waitress will to do all she could to help, but unfortunately her contacts were not far-reaching enough.
It was now approaching 3pm in the afternoon and the boys were reaching desperate measures to get moving to their next state. After a brief conference, the stallions decided their best bet was back to the dealership which they had previously enjoyed. Dee was still behind the reception desk, cool as ever. With a sense of urgency now, they began asking if anybody had contacts in nearby states to send them. Luckily, one sales manager, a powerhouse of man named Daniel, had a brother in the town of Osceola, Arkansas who would be a great person to meet. Daniel boasted of his days a s a running back and of his extensive personal network. It was done- the stallions were off to Osceola to visit Ed Richardson.
As the boys left the dealership, Dee gave them these words of wisdom, “It’s better to be healthy one day of the year than to be sick the entire year. Think about it.”
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