Supercomputing 25 (SC25)
Start of a full week in St. Louis for the big Supercomputing conference, this year featuring something like 18,000 attendees (!) at America's Center, the fancy name St. Louis has for their convention center. Going from memory, this is even large than last year, which was 17,000ish.
Arriving an extra day early this year meant time to do some exploring on my long run, including the famous Gateway Arch and then the decidedly industrial riverfront trail, which for a good three miles was all industrial/flood way and not terribly attractive. For two more miles it was at least on the river side of the flood wall instead of on the inside (land-side), although still not very attractive a trail to run on for scenery. Did some additional exploring via the light rail as well, which surprisingly went to exactly the places I wanted to go, even if Google Maps refused to recognize it as a transportation option to where I went.
The HPCSYSPROS (HUST-25) workshop this year didn't seem quite as useful as last year's, but that's how things go.
Food-wise was a mixed bag. Sauce On the Side, right next to the hotel, was my first introduction to Provel cheese, which is a weirdly liquidy concoction when cooked, and not appealing. The amount of meat vs. the amount of cheese and crust present also seemed off to me, far too little meat to be tasty.
Apple crumble pancakes at Rooster were quite good, and a worthwhile stop for breakfast. Had considered just sticking to hotel breakfast, but with really only one free day, decided to venture out. For dinner, Sugarfire Smoke House, right next to the convention center, was excellent. They do a great job selling their turkey, which was good but not the best on the menu. Beef brisket was quite good, but the star was the burnt ends. Not every piece was properly cooked, but those that were, yum. And the sauces did the trick, although the hot is not all that hot.
Mai Lee's for lunch the next day was pretty decent for Vietnamese food, and they were packed, which is always a good sign. Final notable meal at the beginning of the trip was Imo's Pizza, which is basically fast food/fast casual St. Louis-style pizza. Crust is super thin, almost like a cracker, there's more of the not-appealing Provel cheese, and not nearly enough pepperoni. The salad was a pile of lettuce with an almost-as-large pile of mozzarella cheese. Send photos to friends, some who live in Ohio said it looked almost like Ohio-style pizza and just as gross.