22. February 2025
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Following The Pittsburgh Penguins in March 2022 (Day 7, 16th March 2022)

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

The longest road trip part of my Penguins March 2022 travel lay ahead of me on the seventh day. Off to St. Louis, a place I have never been before. And a very interesting flight with two new airports and a new airline in my log. For the transfer to St. Louis, I stopped in Illinois for the following direct return flight:

Date Flight from to
16.03.2022 9K 1109 Marion (MWA) St. Louis (STL)
16.03.2022 9K 1109 St. Louis (STL) Marion (MWA)

 

Starting The Day With Issues

Day 6 ended with the Penguins loss, Day 7 started with issues: I had some computer issues and there were multiple invoice issues at the Hilton Nashville Downtown, so that I was finally happy to leave. This time, I went for the buffet breakfast (which was part of the issues), which was okay, but not worth the surcharge (which I believed I don’t have to pay).

 

A Long Drive to Marion – nice Aviation Break

Wednesday morning was a bit of raining in Tennessee. Right when I crossed the state line, the sun came out and there was lower traffic – but therefore, there was a series of traffic jams. The three hour drive to Marion in Southern Illinois was rather boring and bothering – and it just does not get better if you know you do the same drive in reverse directions two days later. I might have to do a stop at Metropolis, Illinois on the way back – the official home town of Superman.

The Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois in Marion was actually much nicer than I expected. It definitely beat Altoona (AOO) I visited the Sunday before in any regard. And the weather was good, I got the boarding passes. It felt that I could really have this flight experience.

 

Cape Air – This Time, The Fun Flight Works Out

I alter the chronology of events a bit – this section is about both flights, the outbound and the inbound one. The flights were operated by an Italian brand, the Tecnam 1200 Traveler. Cape Air is aiming to have this model as their key aircraft in the future. A really comfy model.

The flights were a bit of bumpy, but really cool. I was a bit shocked as there were multiple forest fires which you could spot from above. The views were beautiful – we just did quite a curve around the city center of St. Louis.

The return was shorter due to a more direct route. I especially enjoyed the view of the city center. Regarding attractions, the St. Louis Arch is likely the place I look forward to most – the more I was really thankful to enjoy it from above, a day before my actually scheduled visit.

 

Poor St. Louis Airport

In between the flights was St. Louis Airport (STL), Terminal C. Unfortunately, I could not have a glimpse to the other terminals (without going landside). The are, which is also used by some minor airlines, Sprint and American Airlines, was really poor and felt old and run down. I had planned to have lunch during my two hour layover in STL – however, the options I would have loved were all closed. Thus: another day, another burger. Glad that the inbound leg was in time – I just could not stand the place too well…

 

The Final Stage of Driving

“Just” some two hours and some 100 miles ahead of me in the afternoon. I had to add some food at the local Walmart and Dollar Tree (I planned to do that before the flight – but the morning hassle made that impossible. Lovely sunset drive, even though I felt really tired. Some 30 miles before my final destination, there were two truck crashes and a car crash within five miles… Weird Interstate driving…

 

Good Night

The Hampton St. Louis Fairview Heights has been my stay for the night. Not a super-comfy place, but the staff seems to have a really good heart – and the stay comes with a massive bunch of Hilton Honors points. By the way, while St. Louis is part of the state Missouri, I still have this night in Illinois. Thus, the whole drive just took me through three US states, Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois.

 

 

Pittsburgh Penguins March 2022 – Day By Day

Here is the overview of my Trip Report:

 

Trip Report Inceptions

Here are the starting postings of each Trip Report I posted in here so far

 

US Hotel Reviews

Here all reviews on hotels & other accommodation in the USA:

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