Vintage games bring baseball history to life in St. Louis

The teams play games wearing vintage uniforms and don’t use gloves. Dave Moore photos

Baseball fans around the world will look to St. Louis as it hosts the 80th All-Star Game on July 14 at Busch Stadium. While the game and surrounding events will be exciting for the city that calls itself Baseball Heaven, a group of players work throughout the summer to preserve St. Louis’ rich baseball history–and they do it with bare hands.

The St. Louis Perfectos Base Ball Club and the new Lafayette Square Cyclone Base Ball Club play vintage-style ball using rules from 1858-69. Home field for both teams is Lafayette Park at Park and Missouri avenues, a Victorian green space that’s part of the Lafayette Square neighborhood about four miles southwest of downtown.

St. Louis Cardinals fans may recognize the team name Perfectos. In 1899, the National League team known as the Browns was renamed the Perfectos by new owners Frank and Stanley Robison. When a woman in the stands remarked about the new stockings being a “lovely shade of cardinal,” a sportswriter used the nickname in a newspaper column. In 1900, the team adopted the Cardinal name.

Rick “Sting” Rea has played with the Perfectos since the club formed seven years ago. This season, he’ll play for the Cyclones. He said baseball in the mid-19th century was a gentlemen’s game played by wealthy or middle-class men for exercise and fraternizing.

Requirements to play today are simple: players must be at least 18 years old and be able to walk the ball field. And it doesn’t hurt to be able to shake off the occasional jammed finger or black eye. The players do not use gloves. It was considered a sign of weakness to protect one’s hands while playing ball; gloves didn’t become part of the game until the 1880s.

The players, or “ballists,” wear authentic uniforms and try to play in character. When he officiates a game, Rea imposes 25-cent fines for spitting or foul language, per vintage rules.

During Major League Baseball’s All-Star Week, July 10–14, the Perfectos will play an exhibition game downtown, but details at press time were not available. For updates, visit www.stlcardinals.com.

The next home game for the Perfectos is July 26, and the Cyclones will be home on Aug. 8; both games start at 1 p.m. Visit www.stlouisperfectos.org for schedules, or call Rea at (314) 607-4352. Fans can bring blankets, lawn chairs or sit on provided straw bales. Coolers are allowed. Vintage base ball information is at www.vbba.org.

Visit www.AAA.com/Traveler for more about St. Louis baseball and the All-Star Game.

New massive waterpark is sure to keep Kansas City cool

The park will feature 24 slides and chutes. Schlitterbahn Waterpark photo

Kansas City is called the City of Fountains because it has more fountains than any city except Rome, but soon it might be known as the City of Waterslides.

In its first project outside of Texas, waterpark giant Schlitterbahn is building its fourth family destination on a 370-acre site near the Village West shopping and entertainment district in Kansas City, Kan. With a pricetag of $750 million, the Schlitterbahn Vacation Village Waterpark will be one of the world’s largest tubing parks with miles of interconnected rivers and attractions.

At press time for this issue, the first phase of the park was scheduled to open in June with 16 signature attractions encompassing 24 slides and chutes. Among the watery wonders are a tidal wave river, an uphill Master BlasterTM water coaster, a hot tub with swim-up bar, several mammoth tubing rivers, giant waterslides and a children’s area.

But what sets the park apart from other waterparks are the other developments being included in its construction, which will continue through 2011. When finished, a system of man-made rivers will carry guests between the waterpark, lodging units that will include cabins and “treehauses,” and a covered Riverwalk that will feature shops, restaurants and other entertainment venues. Eventually, there will be more than four miles of interconnected waterways.

Call ahead to see if the park is open. Admission is $32.99 for visitors 12 and over and $27.99 for seniors 55 and older and children 3–11. The park is located at the State Avenue East exit off the west Loop of Interstate 435 in Kansas. For details, visit www.schlitterbahn.com/kc.

 

For 200 years, St. Charles, Mo., has been attracting explorers

The First Missouri State Capitol State Historic Site. Greater St. Charles CVB photo

St. Charles, Mo., has preserved its history so well that cars will sometimes look out of place along the cobbled streets and visitors can easily imagine Meriwether Lewis and William Clark emerging from a shop laden with goods for their expedition.

Celebrating the bicentennial of its incorporation as a village in 1809, the town is holding events through the fall to commemorate its rich past, which actually dates to 1769 when the community was first settled.

Throughout the summer, the city is inviting guests to explore its charming Main Street, lined with buildings dating to the city’s birth. An array of shops offer antiques, folk art, quilts, pottery and more, recalling the days when the town helped outfit explorers and pioneers. In fact, Lewis and Clark met in St. Charles in 1804 to finalize their famed expedition.

In addition to shops and restaurants, the city has several attractions, including the First Missouri State Capitol State Historic Site, which was where the first Missouri lawmakers met from 1821–1826. The Lewis and Clark Boat House and Nature Center features exhibits relating to the explorers as well as the Missouri River ecosystem. And art enthusiasts will enjoy several galleries, including the Foundry Art Centre.

The city’s actual anniversary date–Oct. 13–will be preceded by a Cultural Heritage Festival featuring a series of family-friendly parties, parades and concerts held in local area parks from Oct. 9–11.

Historic St. Charles is located off Interstate 70 just west of the Missouri River and north of Interstate 70. For more details, call the bicentennial hotline at (636) 255-6154, or click on www.historicstcharles.com.

 

Sink your teeth into Peach Festival at Pere Marquette

Timing is everything, and that adage is no more apt than during the annual Peach Festival at Pere Marquette Lodge in Grafton, Ill., when the event will celebrate the tempting fruit during the peak of its growing season.

Peaches start ripening in Illinois in early summer, but they grow to the fullness of their flavor and juiciness in July and August. When the lodge hosts its festival on Sunday, Aug. 9, this year’s peach harvest should be ripe for enjoyment.

If it’s made with peaches, you’ll find it at this festival, which will be from 10 a.m.–5 p.m. at the magnificent lodge that dates to the 1930s. If you relish competition, challenge yourself in the pie-eating contest. Or you can just sample the array of succulent peach dishes that will be available, including jellies, jams, pies, cobblers, peach-flavored drinks and more.

In addition, there will be an array of craft booths, as well as face painting, children’s activities and more. If you haven’t had your fill of peaches, you can purchase a bag of the fruit to take home.

The lodge, set in rolling bluffs overlooking the Illinois River, is located just north of Grafton along Illinois Route 100, also known as the Great River Road. Admission to the festival is free. For more details about the festival, call the lodge at (618) 786-2331, or visit http://63.135.118.189.

Col. William Jones’ home commands rapt attention

Re-enactors outside the home. Spencer County Visitors Bureau photo

Abraham Lincoln didn’t rise to power in a vacuum. Along his journey to the presidency, he had mentors and bosses, friends and coworkers who influenced him.

To see one of those influences during the bicentennial year of Lincoln’s birth, visit the Col. William Jones State Historic Site in Gentryville, Ind. A Whig representative in the Indiana Legislature from 1838 to 1841, Jones was credited with steering Lincoln to the Whig party.

Lincoln worked odd jobs for Jones and clerked in his store. Jones reportedly said, “Lincoln would make a great man one of these days.” Lincoln even slept in the house in 1844 on a campaign trip for Henry Clay.

Built 175 years ago in 1834, the restored house is a typical example of Federal architecture except for a second-floor observatory. Among the highlights are 11-foot-high built-in cupboards near the fireplace. The home is open for tours from mid-March through mid-December. Hours are noon–4 p.m. from Friday– Sunday or by appointment. For more information, call (812) 937-1979.