Daily Archives: May 25, 2017

St Louis, MO Part 4 May 25, 2017

We originally planned to stay in the St Louis area for four nights, but it became evident we couldn’t see everything in four days so we extended our stay an additional night.

20170525_103805Thursday we had two places to visit.  First up was Grant’s Farm.  This 281 acre farm is operated by Anheuser- Busch and is the ancestral estate of the Busch family.  Open since 1954, it has 900 animals, a Clydesdale stable and breeding farm, animal shows, a collection of the Busch family’s carriages and trophies and the replica of a 19th century Bavarian village.  The farm is named in honor of Ulysses S. Grant who built a cabin here in 1856 on land he once owned and farmed.20170525_104254

The tram guide pointed out that this fence was made from welded civil war gun barrels.IMG_20170525_143127IMG_20170525_143142

Entrance to the farm is free but you do have to pay $12 to park.  The only way in and out of the farm and village area is by riding a free tram with a narrated tour of the property.  Lines to the tram can get quite long and by the time we left in the early afternoon the line stretched back to the parking area.

It would be pretty impossible for the farm to match our zoo experience the day before, and it didn’t.  We didn’t expect it to.  Our main reason for visiting Grants Farm was for the camel ride.  For $6 each we were able to mark an item off our bucket list.  We rode a camel and didn’t have to go to the Middle East to do it!  It was lots of fun riding Ruby but I found it very uncomfortable sitting on the hump, especially without a saddle.  I certainly would not want to ride one across the desert!IMG_20170525_104850IMG_20170525_105005

We attended an elephant show where the trainers told us about elephants and had the elephant do some tricks.20170525_11195120170525_111745IMG_20170525_11234120170525_112826

We had lunch at the little Bavarian village with Bill getting a Bratwurst and each visitor over 21 receiving free beer.IMG_20170525_121838IMG_20170525_122231IMG_20170525_105905IMG_20170525_105601IMG_20170525_105752

We enjoyed our time at Grant’s Farm but it is definitely geared more for small children.

IMG_20170525_142600Next we drove down the road to the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site.  First we watched a sixteen minute introductory film and then walked up to look at the house.  This 9.65 acre site was the family home of Grant’s wife Julia Dent.  Ulysses and Julia purchased the farm from her family during the Civil War.  Tours of the house are available but we did not take it.  IMG_20170525_132353We did spend time inside the stable which is now an interpretive museum, similar to a presidential library.  The museum was very well done and informative covering his early years, military career including leading the Union Army during the Civil War, and two terms as president from 1869-1877.  20170525_141331IMG_20170525_14240120170525_141645During his presidency he stabilized the country in the years after the war ended and enforced civil rights and voting laws.  20170525_134950He signed the Civil Rights Act of 1875 and strengthened the Republican party in the South.  His administration implemented the gold standard and tried to strengthen the dollar. He was unable to effectively halt a five year depression after the “Panic of 1873”.  This produced high unemployment and bankruptcies.  Corruption charges escalated during his second term and Grant’s administration faced more charges of corruption than any other 19th Century president.  20170525_13453220170525_134628Grant died from throat cancer in 1885 at the age of 63.  He had been a heavy cigar smoker.  He is buried at Grant’s Tomb in New York City along with his wife Julia.20170525_141612

On our last day in St Louis we made another stop by Ted Drewes Frozen Custard for one last treat.

We must say we really really enjoyed our time in St Louis.  We were impressed with all the free attractions and friendly people.  The traffic in and out of the city was not at all bad, even with all the construction around the Arch.  There is still so much we didn’t get to see so we hope to return someday.

Next stop: Hannibal, Missouri to visit Mark Twain

REVISED: St Louis, MO Part 3 May 24, 2017

This replaces previous post of the same name; three videos are available below.
On Tuesday we took the RV to get two new front tires which took a good part of the day.  On Wednesday morning we were ready to head out for some more St Louis sightseeing.  Our plan for the day was to visit Forest Park where there were several places we wanted to see.

IMG_20170524_103109Forest Park is one of the largest municipal parks in the United States (larger than Central Park) and covers 1,300 acres.  This park was the site of the 1904 World’s Fair.  First we stopped at the Visitors Center to purchase a $2.00 all day trolley pass that would allow us to hop on and off at various places in Forest Park.IMG_20170524_165938

IMG_20170524_101553We hopped on the trolley and our first stop was at the St Louis History Museum.  A free museum, it was built on the site of the main entrance to the 1904 World’s Fair.  It was originally built as the first national monument to Thomas Jefferson and honors Jefferson’s role in the Louisiana Purchase, preceding the Jefferson Memorial in Washington DC.  IMG_20170524_101857Exhibits feature the history of St Louis from 1764 to the present day.  While we were there they were having a special exhibit on Route 66 called “Route 66: Main Street Through St Louis”.  Route 66 was known as the “Mother Road” and the “Main Street of America”.  We really enjoyed seeing the exhibits on the important role this famous road had in American history.    IMG_20170524_103411IMG_20170524_104326IMG_20170524_104602IMG_20170524_104735IMG_20170524_104829IMG_20170524_105124

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Do you know what these are? (Answer at end of Blog)

They also had a replica of the Spirit of St Louis airplane. This Spirit of St Louis Sister Plane was used in the 1957 Jimmy Stewart movie.IMG_20170524_110201

We rode the trolley to our next stop, the St Louis Science Museum, another free museum and one of only two free science centers in the United States.  Advertised as one of the largest in the country, one of the top five Science Museums in the country and one of the most visited in the world with 700+ permanent galleries as well as a planetarium and OMNIMAX Theater, our expectations were really high and we were somewhat disappointed.

IMG_20170524_115013IMG_20170524_121921 It was a great science center for children but did not have much for adults.  Unfortunately we just missed a King Tut exhibit set to open May 27th.  Our favorite thing was the pedestrian bridge over the interstate connecting the north and south sections of the Center.  The bridge had glass windows in the floor where you could look down and see the vehicles pass underneath you. They also had windows with radar guns so you could clock the speed of the vehicles as they passed by.

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We took the trolley back to our car and drove a short distance to Pickles Deli, a highly rated deli where Bill got his favorite Reuben sandwich.  On the way out of Forest Park we stopped to take a picture of a Confederate​ statue.  We noticed a news van and some people milling round.  Ironically minutes later on the way to the deli we were listened to the local radio station and heard that this very statue was vandalized the evening before.  Like many other Confederate statues across the country today, discussions are being held about removing this Confederate statue from Forest Park.IMG_20170524_123407IMG_20170524_123335

On the way back to Forest Park we drove by the beautiful Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis, built between 1907 and 1914.  We didn’t have time to go inside but that is definitely on our list for next time.IMG_20170524_132228

Our final stop of the day was the St Louis Zoo. This zoo is free and is advertised as one of the top zoos in the United States and was voted America’s top free attraction.  This zoo really wowed us and we really enjoyed our time here and was quite impressed.  During our time in St Louis we were really impressed with all the free museums and other places that usually charge an admission in other cities.  Well done, St Louis!IMG_20170524_144333IMG_20170524_144452

The zoo has over 24,000 animals, many of them rare and endangered.

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Golden Lion Tamarin

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We did pay to ride the Emerson Zooline train which is the nation’s largest miniature rail line, providing a 1.5 mile long narrated tour through the 90+ acre park.  The train engines are one third size replicas of the Iron Horse, the historic steam locomotive that helped build the transcontinental railway.  We passed through two tunnels as we traveled around the park.IMG_20170524_140416

We loved seeing all the animals but our favorites were the giraffes, hippos and penguins.  We were amazed at how close we got to the animals and were especially thrilled with the large number of penguins.IMG_20170524_150803IMG_20170524_150756IMG_20170524_163202

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By the time we got back to the car our Garmin pedometers said we had walked over seven miles. What a great day!

Next:. Our last day in St Louis and a camel ride!
Answer: Speakers used at a drive-in theatre.