Jun 24

Jun 24 Route 66 highlights in St. Louis, MO - plus Anheuser-Busch brewery tour

We decided to visit St. Louis without Curby, and we think that was a wise decision. The city is pretty populated, and there’s quite a bit of traffic. It was much easier to maneuver with just the truck. So we left Meramec State Park in Sullivan and drove up to St Louis.

Funny side note: Siri pronounced “St. Louis” as “street Lewie.” It made us giggle every time.

Provel Cheese

A couple foods that St. Louis is known for are toasted (read:deep-fried) ravioli and Provel cheese on pizza. We stopped into an Imo’s Pizza and ordered up both. Now, there are quite a few of our friends out there who apparently really, really do NOT like Provel cheese. Our Wandering Family warned us to run away quickly. Unfortunately, we had already ordered.

I’m happy to report that not only did we find it edible, we didn’t even feel sick afterward! It’s not something I would seek out all the time but we didn’t hate it and we are glad we had the experience.

The Gateway Arch

The days are still hot and humid. So much so, that we didn’t try very hard to find parking to walk over to the Gateway Arch. We snapped photos as we drove around in circles. Tony had absolutely no desire to go to the top, and Peggy wasn’t that keen on doing it alone.

The Brewery

We decided that we could fit in another tour, so naturally we choose beer. The original Anheuser-Busch Brewery in St. Louis produces Budweiser and Bud Light, among others, so we checked it out. Note: this is a walking tour! Remember all those times recently we’ve said how hot and humid it is? Well, we walked around the grounds in that today, after all. It is really an interesting tour, and they gave us each a bottle of Bud Lite and a 16-ounce beer at the end of the tour (plus a ride back to the biergarten after the last tour stop) so it ended up pretty okay.

Ted Drewes Frozen Custard

The Route 66 Ultimate guide app says that in 2017, Ted Drewes Frozen Custard won the “Ice Cream of the Year” award, even though frozen custard isn’t actually ice cream. The Route 66 location has been selling frozen custard for over 80 years. They also sell Christmas trees grown on their own tree farms.