Jumbos Across the Mississippi

This weekend eleven of John's and Troy's friends from Tufts flew to Saint Louis for a reunion. Yesterday afternoon we joined them for a few hours on the patio at International Tap House in Soulard, fondly known as iTAP. (It's John and Troy's favorite bar in their neighborhood not only because it lives up to its listing as one of the top 100 craft beer bars in the country, but just as importantly because during football season they show all the Packers games.)  It was great to hear how all the kids are doing almost a year after graduation, and especially it was great to see them enjoying each other's company. As you can see from the tap list above, we didn't have a difficult time finding a good draft (or two) to enjoy. 

This was the first time we'd been on the patio at iTAP. It was the first warm day of the year and it felt great to be outdoors.

Believe it or not, all eleven of the kids, plus John and Troy, slept (and showered) in their small apartment. Now that's friendship!

Here's the whole happy group! Top row: Thomas (working in Miami), Troy (working in Saint Louis), Nick (grad school in Atlanta), Dan (working in Seattle), Judah (med school in Richmond), Miriam (law school in Atlanta), John (working in Saint Louis), and Alex (working in Miami). On the bottom row: Gabbey (grad school in Boston), Haley (working in Boston), Ashton (working in Atlanta), Jack (working in Boston), and Andrew (working in New Jersey). They definitely came from far and wide and we loved hearing about the interesting places they're living and the interesting things they're doing. The group started arriving on Thursday, and although a couple of the kids had to leave this morning, most will stay through either tomorrow or Tuesday.

And finally, here are John and Troy with most of their parents (me, Troy's mom Esther, and Brad), all of whom I think felt a bit younger after spending the afternoon with this group.