We had already had a lot of fun in St. Louis but we were only getting started! For our first full weekend in town, we had a lot of things planned and were eager to get started.
On Saturday, we spent the day driving around and checking out various shops. Our first stop was Soulard Farmer’s Market. We walked (and snacked) around the entire market- eating some Mexican Street Corn and drinking a Smoking Lemonade. Then we drove over to Bolyard’s Meat & Provisions for lunch. After that, we strolled around the corner for some shopping at Penzey’s Spices, The Book House (where we played with kitties and bought a few books), and Fantasy Shop Comics & Games (where we bought a few comics to fill in our collections). It was a marvelous day and a great way to get familiar with the city.
We woke up early on Sunday and started driving towards town. We had an experience booked at 10am and hoped to find some breakfast on our way. We were not disappointed when we found Federhofer’s Bakery. The pastries were gigantic and incredible- and CHEAP! They gave us a wonderful little burst of energy to get our day started.
From there, we pulled into Grant’s Farm for our visit. This property was originally the home of Ulysses S. Grant and you can still see his cabin sitting among the fields. The property then passed to the Busch family (of Anheuser-Busch) and they built their estate there. Now, it is open to the public as a park!
We had prepaid parking online for $20 and got there first thing so we were able to park right near the entrance. From there, admission was free! We hopped on the first tram of the day from the parking area and rode through fields of animals (called the Deer Park) on the way to the main Tier Garten area.
When the tram stopped, we walked around the main area. We got to see a variety of animals and enjoyed a free animal show. They had baby emu, tortoises, chickens, rabbits, parrots and more! There were also tons of peacocks and peahens running around the place. Usually, peacocks make me extremely nervous but these pretty much kept their distance – even if you could occasionally hear them shrieking their little hearts out.
My favorite part was the baby goats! For $2, you could purchase a bottle of milk and feed them! They were greedy little monsters but their cuteness more than made up for it. We also spent $2 on an ice cream cone filled with goat pellet food to feed the adults. It was such a fun time for such a small amount of money.
After leaving the animal area, we wandered into the Bier Garten where we were offered two free samples each of our choice of Anheuser-Busch products. There were stables for a few of the famous Budweiser Clydesdales and a beautiful covered pavilion to sit and enjoy our beverages. Angel tried the Nutrl Blackberry cocktail in a can and the Kona Big Wave and John had the Mango Cart and Hoop Tea. We also bought a soft pretzel (because what snack goes better with beer than a soft pretzel?).
After that, we caught the tram back to the parking area and walked to the Clydesdale stables at the other end of the parking lot. There was absolutely no charge for walking around the stables and looking at the horses. If you are interested, they do have packages that you can purchase to get up close to the Clydesdales and they also offer photo packages but we were content with just the free experience.
On the way home, we made a stop at Adam’s Smokehouse for our first St. Louis BBQ experience. We have been fortunate to end up with a very BBQ heavy travel plan for this year. A few weeks ago, we got to enjoy some of the best that Memphis had to offer and we were excited to be continuing the trip with St. Louis style BBQ at this stop. St. Louis style ribs are meatier thanks to the way they are cut, the sauce tends to be tomato based with a lower sugar content and is thinner than Kansas City style sauce, and the ribs are often grilled rather than slow cooked. At Adam’s Smokehouse, we enjoyed some ribs and a burnt ends sandwich, along with baked beans and potato salad. Everything was REALLY good and the service was absolutely excellent. We LOVED the Cranberry Cayenne BBQ sauce and even bought a bottle to take home (which worked out well because we had a good amount of leftovers).
Unfortunately, this week is also when we had one of our scariest experiences. We had run out of propane and were getting ready to load up the tank and take it to have it refilled. Harley burst out of the house and jumped in the car so we decided to let her tag along, too. We always have her harness on her in the car and usually have her seat-belted in to the back seat but since she ran out to the car on her own, she wasn’t wearing her harness this time. I almost made her go back in the house since there wasn’t really room in the car with her AND our large propane tank. I almost went back for her harness but then I thought “she will be okay- it isn’t far”. We put Harley in the back seat with the propane tank and left. We are on a divided highway so we had to turn right then make a u-turn to go in the right direction so we waited at the traffic light and made our move when we got the green arrow. When we turned, the propane tank fell over and hit Harley. She got scared and tried to jump out of the way but we were turning at the same time and she fell out the window of the car and onto the highway as we were moving. She ran to the grassy median and thankfully the car behind us saw it and pulled sideways across the lanes to block any other traffic until we got her. She was a little dazed but came to us when we called her and got right in the car. She ended up with a little road rash on her back left leg but, miraculously had no other injuries.
On Wednesday night, we went out for dinner at a place called Das Bevo. We had first noticed this place the previous weekend when we had been exploring town and were excited to eat there. If you are in the St. Louis area, you can’t miss it – it’s a 60 foot tall windmill! The mill was originally established in 1917 as a rest stop between the Anheuser-Busch brewery and the Busch estate (which is now Grant’s Farm) and is still serving up food and drinks for the weary traveler. We chose to visit on a Wednesday night which is when they offer Schnitzel and Spaetzle for $10 each. We liked the schnitzel (breaded and fried pork) but thought the spaetzle (egg noodles with cheese and mushrooms) was a little too bland. We also got an order of soft pretzels with beer cheese, which was pretty good as well. The inside of the restaurant was really pretty and, of course, the 60 foot tall windmill was also neat. They do have outdoor seating options as well and the relaxed atmosphere really makes it a fantastic place to meet up with friends for a fun night out.
On Thursday night, we had scheduled a tour of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery. On the way, we stopped at Gus’s Pretzel Shop which is located just across the express way from the plant. Holy Toledo. These pretzels were soooo good and CHEAP. This place has been hand twisting pretzels since 1920! They have a viewing window inside so you can watch the pretzel making process and their pretzels are absolutely amazing. We had the Bratwurst, the Jalapeño Pepper Jack Brat, and a Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel.
Following our snack, we drove around the corner to the brewery for our final adventure for the week. Originally opened in 1852 as the Bavarian Brewery, this St. Louis landmark was the first brewery under what is now the Anheuser-Busch brand that we all know and love. The property is ENORMOUS and spans several city blocks. We did the Day Fresh Tour and got to learn all about the history of the brand, the Busch family, and the products they sell.
We also got to see the original stables owned by August Busch, Sr which now house some of the famous Budweiser Clydesdales. The Clydesdales were originally presented to August Busch by his sons as a gift to commemorate the end of Prohibition in 1933- he received two teams of 6 horses which were used to pull wagons through the city to advertise the return of the famous beer. Now, the herd has upwards of 170 horses spread across 3 different facilities (the brewery, Grant’s Farm, and a breeding facility).
As part of the Day Fresh Tour experience (which cost $15 each), we received one free draft beer each while on the tour (option of Budweiser or Bud Light), a bottle of Michelob bottled right there at the factory just a few days prior, and a draft beverage of our choice at the end of the tour in their Bier Garten at the Visitor’s Center entrance. We really enjoyed the super informative tour and the amazing architecture- these were some of the most beautiful buildings I have ever visited. This is truly a St. Louis gem and is well worth visiting (even if, like me, you HATE beer) .
With two weeks down, we were starting to feel the pressure to do all of the fun stuff we had learned about! We had been having so much fun and were really starting to fall in love with the area. While the first two weeks had been largely about eating (and drinking) – our next few weeks are filled with activities like an arena football game, a bird sanctuary, the zoo, and a professional baseball game!
