Brewing Up a Good Time

Saturday morning was just as leisurely as Friday morning had been, and I felt much better after a good night's sleep.  

We had another breakfast of bacon, eggs, and coffee before Molly arranged an Uber to take us to Union Station.  Our tickets were for the aquarium at 10:30, and we got there in time to join the line before it got too long.  

The first tanks had fish species indigenous to the Mississippi and Missouri rivers.  I saw one that I was excited to recognize, but when I told Molly it was a gar, she pointed out to me that it was a Mississippi paddle fish.  Oki doki, I learned something new!  But really, don't you think they look the same?!

Paddlefish

Gar fish

The otter tank in St. Louis was much bigger than the one at Oxbow, and we enjoyed watching their antics for quite a while.  Of course, we had to send a text to Captain that we were watching the otters because they are his favorite at the zoo.  We're mean. 

Then it was on to more exotic things like sharks, stingrays, clownfish, whatever kind of fish Dory was in Nemo and also that weird fish from Nemo that had the light hanging down from his forehead.  

The octopus and jellyfish were extremely cool to watch, but the best was the sea turtle.  

After leaving the aquarium, we meandered around the court yard of Union Station.  We didn't feel like doing the Mirror Maze, the ropes course, or mini golf.  If Captain had been along, someone would have had to ride the ferris wheel with him.  

I don't do ferris wheels.  The last time I was on one was on my first date with Captain at the Winona County Fair on July 12, 1985.  Y'all, we got stuck at the top, and I'm terrified of heights.  No, of course I didn't tell him that.  You don't blurt out all your quirks and flaws on the first date!!!  So there we are sitting at the top of the ferris wheel.  I'm trying to quietly and politely hyperventilate while I compose my last will and testament in my head.  

And then Captain started rocking the car.  Yep, I lost my mind right then and there.  I don't think it got so bad as my crying like a baby, but I'm fairly certain there was screaming happening.  I don't remember.  I was traumatized and have blocked it out of my mind.  

Anyway, I digress.  

No one wanted to ride the ferris wheel in St. Louis, and the restaurant we wanted to try for lunch wasn't open yet, so we got some water and just sat in the very pretty courtyard to people watch, which is one of my all time favorite ways to pass the time in new places.  

By the time the Italian place opened up, we weren't the only ones in line but we managed to get a table right away.  We'll call that our splurge meal; the prices were kind of hefty, but the food was excellent!

Our tour of the Budweiser Brewery wasn't until mid afternoon so we took the opportunity to explore the downtown area on foot while the traffic wasn't so crazy.  We went to some shops near the stadium and found some souvenirs for Captain and Cubby.  

We also observed a highly intoxicated person have a loud and vehement argument.  With a statue.  And I think he was losing.  It was scary and amusing all at the same time.  

One of the store clerks recommended walking up to a green area near the government buildings.  It was quite lovely and covered a couple of city blocks.  A lot of mature trees with pathways, water features (not running due to low water levels) and metal or wood artistic sculptures that kids could climb on and explore.  Since it was a Saturday, it was fairly quite, but I would assume that during the week it would be much busier with foot traffic.  

We meandered back toward the stadium area to get a libation and cool off before getting an Uber to the Budweiser Brewery.  Let me just say, they mix their cocktails pretty stoutly down there by the stadium!  

It was finally time to head to the brewery, so we Ubered over there.  We were early enough that we wandered around the gift shop for quite awhile before lining up for the tour.  We all spotted things we wanted to pick up after the tour was over.

I really wanted to see Clydesdales, but there was only one in the stable.  The rest are stabled and trained at the Grant Farm.  Wish we'd known that, but I didn't do enough research I guess.  But the tour was very interesting anyway.   

For instance, did you know that Budweiser is still brewed with the same "family" of yeast that they started with?  Seriously, the yeast is DNA tested every morning to make certain it is the right stuff and hasn't been tampered with.  Only ten people in the entire world know where this yeast is kept.  Why haven't they made a Marvel movie about some crazy bad dude trying to steal the Budweiser yeast?!  The hero could be those goofy frogs that were in the Superbowl commercials years ago.  I need to pitch this to Hollywood!  

We got to see the bottling room and the first thing I thought of was Laverne and Shirley in Milwaukee working in a bottling plant.  Molly didn't have a clue what I was talking about when I said that; made me feel old.  

At the end of the tour, everybody got a free bottle of JUST bottled (i.e. warm) Bud Light.  Gammy and I promptly gave ours to Molly.  Beer is gross.  

Everybody also got free beer at the Biergarten but only Molly partook in that while Gammy and I had water.  We headed back into the gift shop to pick up our gifts and then headed back to the apartment.  

Since it was much cooler and not nearly as humid, we opted to sit in the back yard under the patio umbrella for some good conversation.  When it started getting dark, we moved indoors and had leftover pizza for supper and the last of the wine and seltzers in the fridge.  

I will close it out here because Sunday was just a quiet travel day with nothing exciting happening.  

Thank you for coming along on our trip to St. Louis!  I would recommend it to anyone.  It's a lovely town full of rich history and loads of entertainment.  

Until the next trip, blessings my friends!