Not to mention the Tivoli movie theater which goes back before my time, bars, and my favorite place there, Blueberry Hill. There are apartment buildings close by where a lot of oriental Washington University students lived. I suspect there's just a lot of college students in the area but over twenty years ago I kept getting mixed up with the Japanese and Chinese since my mother was head of a volunteer department at Washington University dedicated to teaching English to foreign students.

I had always wanted a pristine set of Encyclopedia Britannica and heard I could buy one at a fraction of the cost of a new set if I bought used. Which led me to a place called a Collectors Book Shop in the Loop. I got a four year old deluxe set for around three hundred and fifty dollars which was far better than paying over a thousand dollars for the most up to date edition. Which got me started in the Encyclopedia procurement sideline. Let's see---I got a set for my Dad, one of my best friends, and two of my sisters--all at the Collectors Book Shop. Back then I was married. My wife liked Lebanese food but although I loved it I liked Indian and Pakistani food even better. Sometimes we would go to the Kohlinoor for Pakistani and the other times we'd head to Salems, both within a couple blocks of each other on the Loop. The Collectors Book Shop is no longer here and neither is the Kohlinoor. For that matter, neither is my wife. But Saleems is and it's still right across from Blueberry Hill. And although it's not in the Delmar Loop there is an excellent Indian Pakistani restaurant just a couple miles West on Delmar called the House of India right off highway 270. (its phone number is 314-567-6850).

During the summer sidewalk cafes abound. The street reminds me of certain areas of Chicago but its better since its in St Louis and not in the cruel northland way up there where it's too damn cold and the people are not as friendly as a rule. Anyway you can find practically anything you can find in the Chicago area in the St Louis area. Besides, the night life is so much better here over on the East side or Illinois side of the river just minutes from St Louis.