Our first stop was the St. Louis Arch. At Billy's stepdad's recommendation, we stopped at Laclede's Landing first to get a bite to eat. It's a really fun area right by the river that still has cobblestone streets. It was packed with lots of bars and restaurants and we could easily see how it could get rowdy at night there! We were one of the few people out for lunch already (it was only 11 am at this point but naturally I was starving) and we stopped at Hannegan's. For my mom's benefit, I will tell you that they have excellent pulled pork and will post a picture of our food. My mom loves barbeque so of course I thought of her as soon as we ordered!
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| Jack Daniel's sauce and Old Bay on the fries...HEAVEN |
We thought we were really smart and thinking ahead by buying our tickets online for the Arch in advance....until we saw the line just to get into the Visitor's Center. It involves going through airport level security (minus the body scan) and we ended up being stuck in line for almost an hour. Needless to say, the Arch involved a LOT of waiting. Fortunately some of it was in the shade, and then the air-conditioning (yes, more lines were involved once we got in). We also met a super nice couple from Nashville, so we chatted with them about places to go. And the husband was in the Army Reserve, so of course we recommended Military Traveler!
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| They gave us our number, we must be about to board the tram! |
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| Nope, still waiting. Just in a new place. At least we got to learn some St. Louis history? |
We quickly figured out why the man in front of us in the first line said we would "get a kick out of" the tram.
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| The world's smallest door. Just the white part opened! |
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| Smushed in the tram! |
The tram arrived and we piled in with a really nice family from Georgia. Each tram is this itty bitty orb shaped car with five little seats squished together and a very low ceiling (see Billy's head). I wanted to take a picture of the whole thing from the outside, but everyone was so desperate to get in at this point I was worried I'd be trampled if I paused for a photo op! I can't say I blame them.
Four minutes later, we were at the top! Much smaller than I was expecting, but lots of VERY cool views of the Mississippi and the city.
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| Back on the ground! |
Our next stop was the Budweiser brewery tour, which was just a short drive away. We drove right by the river most of the way, which was beautiful. Even if the water was brown.
We got to see the Clydesdales (!!!!) and several parts of the factory, including the aging barrels, the various steps of the fermenting process and the bottling/canning lines.
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| Yes this is the barn! |
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A great bonus at the end was our free beers! And for those wondering, don't worry, Hansel didn't miss any of the St. Louis action!
We enjoyed the tour just as much as Hansel. I enjoy drinking beer, but I'm not a beer enthusiast by any means and I still really enjoyed learning more about how the brewery works. It's just the right amount of beer education without going so in-depth that you lose interest. It's free...and you get to see the Clydesdales! What's not to like? Answer: nothing.
I highly recommend the tour for anyone in St. Louis! A lot of people brought kids, which I thought was a little odd!
On top of an already great day, we returned to Lake Mattoon to wonderful SUNNY weather! Yay!!
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