Meet Me in St. Louie

One of the joys of retirement is the flexibility and time to travel more often to visit family and friends. I'm in St. Louis (my hometown) this week to celebrate my mom's 83rd BD and attend my niece's baby shower. It's been a fun week, dining out at some of our favorite restaurants -- the Pasta House Company and Rizzo's. Fall in St. Louis is the best, with cool temperatures and highlights of gold, red and orange coloring the trees. I had a wonderful time reminiscing with my friend Ruth who I had not seen in almost 20 years! We traveled together a lot during college and spent a month in Europe in 1970 using Arthur Frommer's Europe on $5 a Day as our bible. It wasn't easy, but doable and we visited 14 cities in 28 days never spending more than $5 for food and lodging. That's when I fell in love with traveling. If you're retired, don't forget that the cheapest days to fly and those with the least air traffic are usually Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I've found the best travel bargains on those days using www.cheaptickets.com