Thursday: An Accidental Fast, 50,000 People & Cava Was Worth the Drive

Today was the big day: the Fulton Sheen beatification.

We got up early because we needed to be at the Dome in St. Louis for an 8 a.m. press conference.

Chris started the morning with the hard-boiled eggs we’d packed in our cooler, which was exactly why I brought them.

I have to take medication in the morning that means I can’t eat for an hour afterward, so I didn’t eat anything before we left.

This will become relevant.

First: The Dome Is HUGE

You know I love logistics.

And let’s just say there were some logistical challenges today.

The Dome is enormous, there were around 50,000 people there, and signage and directions were…not particularly clear.

Chris and I had press badges on, so people kept stopping us to ask where they were supposed to go.

And I’m standing there thinking:

I also do not know where I’m supposed to go.

We did eventually find our way to the press conference, got to go down onto the floor and see the setup, and then spent the day taking everything in. Of course I’m blinking in this picture…It’s a running joke in my family that I can’t take photos with my eyes open!

It really was beautiful.

But Let’s Talk About the Food Situation

This was probably my biggest practical disappointment of the day.

Most of the concessions inside the Dome were completely closed.

Not “we’re out of a few things.”

Lights-out closed.

And at the few places that were open, people were waiting incredibly long just to get something like a bottle of water and a bag of chips.

Meanwhile, there were families with little kids, breastfeeding moms, older people—all sorts of people who understandably might need access to food during an event that lasted most of the day.

And you couldn’t bring outside food into the Dome.

That combination was really difficult.

Thankfully, because we were on the suite level, there were complimentary sandwiches, chips and drinks available there.

So Chris was able to eat.

But there really wasn’t anything there that worked for me with my dietary restrictions.

Which meant I unexpectedly had…

a fasting day.

Not exactly how I planned that.

There was a Chic Fil A set up in the Expo area, but I heard the line was CRAZY and they eventually ran out!

A Three-Hour Mass

The Mass itself was about three hours.

And I have to give so much credit to all the parents who brought little kids.

I kept imagining having Daphne there.

Three hours in a seat. Very limited food options. A huge building. Tens of thousands of people.

Communion alone took about an hour.

There were around a thousand priests there, and naturally my logistics-loving brain was still noticing all the ways 50,000 people could theoretically be moved around more efficiently.

I can’t help myself.

But regardless of the logistics, it really was an incredible thing to witness.

Peoria in St. Louis

One of the sweetest parts of the day was unexpectedly seeing so many familiar faces.

We lived in Peoria for 12 years, and of course Peoria has such an important connection to Fulton Sheen.

So lots of people from Peoria made the trip to St. Louis.

Somehow, in a crowd of tens of thousands of people, we managed to run into several priests we knew and other old friends.

It made this enormous event feel surprisingly personal.

We finally walked out of the Dome sometime around 5 p.m.

And by then…

I needed food.

Immediately.

This Is Why We Made the Summer Sausage

We got back to the hotel, and I basically inhaled a bag of my homemade teriyaki beef summer sausage.

Remember that summer sausage I made Monday, cooked Tuesday and specifically packed because I thought it would make good travel food?

This was the moment.

I had summer sausage and some of the vegetables from our cooler while we changed clothes.

Cava Was 25 Minutes Away. We Went Anyway.

Then we needed an actual meal.

Cava was about a 25-minute drive from the hotel.

Worth it.

Then we got there and waited another 20-ish minutes because apparently everyone else also wanted Cava.

Still worth it.

Chris suggested that instead of getting rice, I try the arugula and lentils.

He was absolutely right.

I added chicken, the hummus options that worked for me, basically every topping I wanted that didn’t have dairy, and Greek vinaigrette.

It was SO good.

Especially after accidentally fasting all day.

Dinner, Part One and Part Two

We ate about half our bowls at Cava and packed up the rest.

Because we’re in our 40s now.

Apparently dinner needs an intermission.

We drove back to the hotel, I showered, got comfortable and then ate the second half of my Cava bowl.

Perfect.

It was a long day. It wasn’t necessarily the easiest day logistically, and I certainly hadn’t intended to go most of it without eating.

But it was also a really special day.

We got to witness the beatification.

We saw old friends.

We spent the day together.

Now I need to go check the ice in my cooler!