June 16, 2012

It got to 93 degrees today.  We drove into St. Louis and went to Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site.  This was the house (named White Haven – even though he painted it green) of his wife’s family and the home he lived in after marrying her.  He also came here to get away during his presidency.  We continued on to Jefferson National Expansion Memorial and the Gateway Arch.  This is where President Jefferson had Lewis and Clark start the exploration of the Louisiana Purchase and the west.  The arch was started in 1963 and completed in 1965.  They started tram tours in 1967.

We watched a movie about the construction of the arch and then rode a tram to the top.  The little tram car holds 5 people very snugly, knee to knee and shoulder to shoulder.  We rode with three men, one of whom loved Houston and wants to move there.  He will be in Houston in near future to sing with the Houston Grand Opera.  From the top we could see Busch Stadium and the Cardinals were playing the Kansas City Royals. (Kim, this picture is for you!)  Afterward we visited the nearby old courthouse rotunda.

Then Jim wanted to try some beer so we went to three brewpubs/breweries.   The first was Schlafly Bottleworks where we had a nice pizza and a pint of beer.  Then to Urban Chestnut and to Six Row Brewing.  Six Row Brewing is in the old Falstaff Brewery offices building.  They had a pre-prohibition style lager made with six row barley, flaked maize, and German noble hops.  It was almost as good as the one Jim used to make.