St. Louis Blue skies & Brewskies

St. Louis is a nice surprise. Easy to get around, no real traffic in town and lots to enjoy. And the weather is just wonderful — great first day of Fall.  We made our way to the Gateway Arch, which has the grounds under construction for their 50^th anniversary plan to connect the arch with the old courthouse and pedestrian plazas. But the old courthouse is an amazing building itself.

The arch is so simplistic, yet so impressive up close and inside. The journey to the top inside little elevator cars gets a bit claustrophobic, but the view from the top is awesome. You can look down practically under your feet (a bit dizzying, actually). Downtown, Busch Stadium, Illinois and the Mississippi River are all spread out below.

Jackie at the Arch

Top of the Arch – 603 feet up

Dizzy view below

Breweries are of course important in town, so we were obligated to visit and sample … not too much arm-twisting. Started at this little brewery, maybe you have heard of it – Anheuser-Busch? Toured the historic buildings, the Brew House and beechwood aging tanks, plus the stables where the Clydesdales are pampered. Oh, and sampled some beer.

We dropped by Four Hands brewery for a tasting, then Urban Chestnut and Square One Distillery (actually had food with our beer there). Some really cool settings and nice local flavor.

Four Hands selection

Thirsty?

Now I do have to say that our “camp” is hardly more than a parking lot. There is nary a tree to be found on the pavement. Benji has a little walk to the only patch of grass, but what the park lacks in camp space (don’t think we can even set up the chairs outside), it has in convenience. Blocks away from everything we want to see. Heck, there is an old school on one side (rumble of buses in the morning) and a police station on the other, so what more can you ask? Oh, and a great, hot, full-pressure shower!

Gateway Arch in the morning

Be sure to check out the Places page (I updated some other pictures) and Foodie to see what we have been sampling.

We roll out in the morning for Kansas City – not yet sure how far we will make it, so not sure the spot where we will spend the night. Walmart parking lot maybe?