I read of a huge sale going on at Macy's this past Saturday. I considered going, but then I cringed at the thought of going to the SoCo mall. Malls stress me out and actually make me angry, so I go to them as frequently as possible. But then my wife reminded me that Downtown has a Macy's. I've never been in that store, so I decided that I would head down there and try to cash in on the savings.
I thought my 3 year old daughter may like to ride the Metrolink with me, so we parked at the Shrewsbury stop and rode the train downtown. We got on the train at ~10:30 a.m. We were the first ones in the train car, and it soon started to fill up with Mardi Gras revelers. I actually forgot that the parade was going on, so it kind of took us by surprise.
Soon, the train was PACKED! Riders piled on at every stop. It was a nice, bustling atmosphere (minus the pre-noon beer odors eminating off many of the riders). It was like NYC's subway. Most got off at the Civic Center stop to catch Metro shuttles from Scottrade to Soulard. I read that it was a $5 fare for the shuttle (not bad for roundtrip).
I was happy to see so many people using the train. Usually, I have the place to myself. And, overhearing some of the conversations, this was the first time many of the riders have used the metrolink, another good thing in my mind. I overheard another rider comment on the comfort and quality of the padded seats. He mentioned how clean it was compared to the CTA el trains. It was nice to hear people complimenting the system and enjoying the ride.
Best of all, my daughter was in awe of all the people and excitement. She was just taking it all in and smiling. This was nothing she would have experienced had she been in the back seat of my car driving to the SoCo mall. I was happy that she was actually having fun during routine transit.
So, back to Macy's. We got off at the 8th & Pine stop. Again, I was reminded of NYC's subway system. We got to street level and just for fun, I asked the first person I came across to direct me to Macy's. They immediately gave me (correct) directions. That was the only other pedestrian we would see on our walk from the metro stop to the dept. store. Downtown was dead from a pedestrian standpoint. We entered Macy's on 6th street I think. We passed only 10 or so other shoppers in the whole store. Peaceful, I must say. We went to the men's dept on the second floor and had the place to ourselves. There was no shitty suburban top 40 music on the speaker system, there were no cell phone yapping spoiled kids in Hollister/Abercrombie gear in my way. It was just me, my little girl and an attentive staff of courteous workers on hand to help us.
It was the best department store experience I've had to date. I will be back. I left with my $6.00 flannels and $12.00 courderoys. The train was ontime and nearly empty on the ride back to South City.
