St. Louis, Missouri - March 16-22, 2017
We stayed at Dr. Edmund Babler State Park in Wildwood, Missouri. There were other campers at the park on the weekend, but during the week, we were the only people on our street.
Had a fun time reconnecting with our friends Jeff and Janice!
Delicious corned beef dinner at Tony's in downtown St. Charles to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.
March 18 - Parked at Forest Park to see the Missouri History Museum and St. Louis Zoo.
Missouri History Museum
Thomas Jefferson Memorial
1904 World's Fair Exhibit
One of the Route 66 memorabilia rooms
Spirit of St. Louis
Penguin House at St. Louis Zoo
Hippo swimming at St. Louis Zoo
March 19, 2017 - Chain of Rocks Bridge on Route 66 - we started on the Illinois side and walked across the one mile bridge to Missouri and back
The Mighty Mississippi River
The dangerous curve in the bridge
Some iconic signs from Route 66
Popular place in Alton, Illinois - Fast Eddie's is a beer-focused bar, founded in 1921 by Anheuser Busch, with a vintage vibe, casual food, 400 seats & live music!
Inside Fast Eddie's - you have to watch the "now serving" sign (in center of photo)
to know when to pick up your order at the counter.
Cheeseburgers and fries. All four of us ate for under $20!
Headed to Cardinals Nation Village - enjoyed seeing the new stadium. And loved this
viewing area across the street (notice the bleacher seating in blue) where you
can see the game from the restaurant bleacher seats. Awesome!
Gateway Arch - such an impressive site. Although the ride to the top was closed while we were there, we were able to watch a movie showing the construction of the arch which was really interesting. We'll do the arch ride next time we head to St. Louis!
Dave coming down the same hill from the Daniel Boone Bridge.
The length of the trail we rode on was mainly crushed stone
The Missouri River bluffs were very impressive
There were signs along the trail marking where the Lewis & Clark Expedition camped as they moved up the Missouri River.
Headed to the University Loop section of St. Louis to see the
Chuck Berry statue (he passed away on March 18th).
Blueberry Hill is a restaurant and music club located in the Delmar Loop neighborhood in University City, a suburb of St. Louis. Until October 2014, Chuck Berry performed there the third Wednesday of each month for 209 consecutive months.
Chuck Berry's star outside Blueberry Hill
We ordered toasted ravioli, an appetizer created and popularized in St. Louis. Yum!!!
viewing area across the street (notice the bleacher seating in blue) where you
can see the game from the restaurant bleacher seats. Awesome!
March 20 - We rode the Katy Trail from Wildwood to Defiance (21 miles round trip). The Katy Trail is a rail trail that runs 240 miles in the right-of-way of the former Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad.
This part of the trail was fun on the way down...not so much fun when we had to climb back up. That is Wendy 3/4 of the way down the hill.
A trail marker in the town of Defiance (our turn around point)
Chuck Berry statue (he passed away on March 18th).
Owner, Joe Edwards, personally collects memorabilia and fills the nearly one hundred glowing display cases throughout the restaurant. Displays include the Flintstones, Howdy Doody, Kiss, the Beatles, South Park, Pez dispensers, Star Wars...
Joe Edwards must've had his photo taken with every entertainer known to man!
The walls were papered with the photos!
