Historic St. Charles Missouri

Just before Thanksgiving we’d been set to have lunch in St. Charles with my best man from our wedding and his wife…and I totally messed up the dates.  So, Laurie and I went ahead and had lunch by ourselves and then I prepared to pay for my sins while exploring scenic and the historic downtown area. 

Did I mention the plethora of quality gift shops and specialty stores that populate this major tourist area?  I had ‘earned’ the chance to explore a number of them…

When we left the Trailhead Brewing Company where we had lunch, this was the view down the brick covered main street toward the center of the town’s old downtown.

St. Charles is a suburb of Metropolitan St. Louis Missouri.  It lies just northwest of St. Louis along the opposite bank of the Missouri River.  It’s the county seat of St. Charles County and its population is roughly 67,000.  The town was founded in about 1769 as Les Petites Côtes, or "The Little Hills" by Louis Blanchette, a French-Canadian fur trader.  This was when the area was nominally ruled by Spain following the Seven Years' War in Europe.  St. Charles is the third-oldest city in Missouri.

St. Charles was settled primarily by French-speaking colonists from Canada in its early days.  It was considered the last "civilized" stop for the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1804, as they headed west exploring the western territory after the United States made the Louisiana Purchase.  St. Charles actually served as the first Missouri capital from 1821 to 1826.

 

If you love the look of old buildings, brick paved streets, a mixture of shops that vary from the ‘ordinary’ and a selection of quaint restaurant venues in a laid back atmosphere, St. Charles is the place for you!  It didn’t hurt any that it was a beautiful day in late November…

This handsome old brick home on Main Street caught my eye.  It turned out that it’s an attorney’s office.

Factoid:

• Jean Baptiste Pont du Sable, the founder of the City of Chicago Illinois was from St. Charles (aka. Les Petites Côtes)

Laurie posed with this statue of explorer and Missouri Governor, Meriwether Lewis.  From a point near this spot, following Lewis’s orders, in 1808 General William Clark led 80 dragoons west for 247 miles to a location along the Missouri River where the group established Fort Osage.  Their guide and scout was Nathan Boone, the son of Daniel Boone.  The ‘Great Osage Trail’ turned out to be the first phase of what was to become the Santa Fe Trail.

 

This is the Newbill-McElhiney House at 625 South Main Street.  This Federal style home was built in 1838 and then enlarged in 1858.  It now serves as the Haviland China Museum.  

For those Haviland China collectors out there, they have about 1,000 pieces of china on display.  Tours are offered by appointment only…cost $4.50 per person.  Check out the website at http://www.havilandmuseum.com/.  The home itself is listed in the National Register of Historic Places…

Frontier Park is on the riverfront and its located parallel to and just a couple of blocks down from Main Street in historic St. Charles.  A centerpiece in the park is this imposing 15 feet tall bronze statue of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark with Clark’s Newfoundland dog, Seaman.  In 1804, St. Charles was the point where Lewis and Clark met to assemble their supplies and ready themselves for their exploration of the western portion of the Louisiana Purchase.    

While down by the Missouri River, I photographed this dredge working to keep the main channel navigable for barge traffic.  Did you know that the Missouri River is the longest river in the United States?  It flows east and south for 2,341 miles before entering the Mississippi River north of St. Louis, Missouri.  The river is open for commercial traffic from where it flows into the Mississippi River all the way to around Sioux City Iowa.

This cute little house is actually Bradden’s Restaurant at 515 S. Main Street…one of several that we passed along the way.  They offer indoor and patio dining and they’re open 7 days a week.  As per Trip Advisor ratings, this is the 4^th best restaurant in St. Charles… To find out more, you can go to http://braddens.vpweb.com/.

This is a view of part of the First Missouri Capital State Historic Site.  The log structure isn’t the former capital building and we don’t know its original purpose…but we sure liked the look of it!  We didn’t have time to tour the site but we will get around to it in the near future.  To learn more, go to https://mostateparks.com/park/first-missouri-state-capitol-state-historic-site. 

This is the “Old” Post Office in downtown St. Charles.  Of course, in St. Charles ‘old’ is a relative term.  The post office is relatively ‘new’, having been built in 1903.  This handsome structure has recently been repurposed and it now serves as a co-working center for digital Startups.  Newly renovated, the 10,000 square foot facility provides regional startups with affordable workspace and access to mentors, potential investors, programming, educational resources and a community of local entrepreneurs.

This large Second Empire-styled structure on Main Street was the Odd Fellows Hall.  It was built in 1878 and it has served as a clubhouse, auditorium and financial institution.   Odd Fellows is a social and benevolent fraternal order…

Factoids:

·       By the end of the 1870s there were over 350 Odd Fellows Lodges in the State of Missouri.

·       Today the Odd Fellows has about 12,000 lodges and 600,000 members world-wide.

This 3-story brick building at 122 South Main Street was built in 1849 as a Masonic Lodge.  Then ca. 1920, the building was converted into an Elks Lodge and the ‘fancy’ three-bay primary facade was added, including the elaborate cornice/parapet that features glazed poly-chrome terracotta ornamental detailing and Elk head logo with lettering "B.P.O.E. NO 690".

 

While Elk Lodge No. 690 is still in operation, they have a new building and I’m not sure who is occupying this building now…but according to the Internet, it is now an office building.

The building in the center was built in 1908 for the former St. Charles Savings Bank.  The name has changed but the First State Bank, which occupies the building today, was first incorporated in 1867. 

Isn’t this building a beauty?!  It’s known as the Cosmos Building and it’s been completely refurbished while maintaining its original beauty.  This building was built in 1882 and at one time it housed the offices of the Cosmos and St. Charles Banner newspapers.  Currently it’s occupied by an attorney, Jake’s On Main (with Life is Good Products…one of Laurie’s favorites), and an Aveda outlet.

This photo is an appropriate one to use to conclude this posting about historic downtown St. Charles Missouri.  The appealing multicolored series of row houses and businesses shown above are part of the United States’ St. Charles Historic District.  This Historic District includes almost 120 buildings on a little more than 60 acres!

Our visit was during the week before Thanksgiving and while there were people exploring the area and dining in the restaurants, this was a very laid back place where we could wander and explore.  At other times of the year, I’m sure that it can be a hectic scene.  FYI, There is a casino on the river just a few blocks away.  Major gatherings of folks do occur with Riverfest, Festival of the Little Hills, the Missouri Festival for the Arts, Octoberfest, and the Christmas Traditions Festival.

 

That’s it for now!  Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for the short tour of historic St. Charles Missouri!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Trailhead Restaurant – St. Charles Missouri

Back in November when Laurie and I were in the St. Louis area visiting her family, I also made plans to meet for lunch with my best man from our wedding and his wife.  Although I’ve been in touch via email, they’d lived out of the country for a long time and we hadn’t seen them for about 34 years!

We’d agreed to meet for lunch at the Trailhead Brewing Company in St. Charles Missouri.  The only problem is that I got my dates mixed up with the days of the week…so our reunion never happened.  As the popular phrase goes these days…”My Bad!”  Yep, I blew that one…

Laurie and I still had to have lunch and since we’d been waiting at the Trailhead Brewing Company for a while, why shop around for a different place! 

As you can see from the preceding photos, this is a big brewery and restaurant with lots of wood, metal and brick…sort of a ‘woodsy’ warm industrial look.  We thought that it was an attractive casual place.  This restaurant is open daily for lunch and dinner.  It is a brewery as well and they have 6 of their own beers on tap.

Feeling a little stupid about blowing the reunion date, I ordered a lunch intended to make me feel better!  This was my Grilled Ribeye Sandwich. ($11.99) The ribeye steak was grilled with melted Asiago and Parmesan cheese and served on an Onion Hoagie Roll.  I opted for a plain roll and ordered coleslaw for my side.  The cheese and steak combination worked well together and the coleslaw was OK too.

Laurie decided that she wasn’t all that hungry so she ordered the Half Sandwich and Soup. ($8.99) She went with the Club Sandwich and the Beer Cheese Soup.  With the rich beer cheese soup, it was a satisfying and filling lunch.

I’m sure that we’ll eventually return to the Trailhead Brewery Company for another lunch, hopefully to connect again with my best man!  The food was better than average and the ambiance was a couple of steps above the average brew house restaurant. 

Trailhead Brewing Company is located at 921 Riverside Drive in St. Charles Missouri.  Phone: 636-946-2739.  Their website can be found at http://www.trailheadbrewing.com/1000/Page.aspx.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave 

Another Family Gathering

It seems to be a fact that every time that Laurie and I visit her family in St. Louis, some kind of family get together seems to happen!  During our November trip, we had a big birthday party for her oldest sister’s husband and that was followed up by yet another family gathering…

We were back at The Local House Restaurant and Bar in Arnold Missouri.  One family member knows one of the owners of this establishment and the restaurant seems to always be ready to set aside a portion of the dining area for our group…

There are two large areas available for dining at The Local House.  There is a standard dining area and then there is this area which is conjoined with the restaurant’s bar.  In addition to 2 others, we took over all of the tables along the back wall in this photo stretching to the front windows.

Two of Laurie’s cousins, Johnny and Jimmy…They were going to bring their Mom, Laurie, Karole, Bonnie and Glenda's Aunt Lois...the Matriarch of our family at 102 years of age but Aunt Lois is not big on huge gatherings...and decided to let us come to her which, we all happily did !

Johnny’s daughter Linda, her husband Craig and two of their daughters,
Sarah & Katie.

Laurie’s brother's daughter,Tanya with her boyfriend Von.

Cousin Dianne, Jim and Shirley's daughter with her husband Jerry.
Nancy, Dianne's sister, couldn't make it due to a previous engagement. 

Our easy going annual traveling companions, Bill and his wife, Laurie’s sister Bonnie...

Rose is Johnny’s wife (first photo), here with granddaughters Katie & Sarah. 

This is Laurie’s sister Karole’s and her husband Bob’s son Marc with his wife Tammy and their daughters Cate, Abby and Regan.

Laurie’s cousin Jim with his wife Shirley and they are Dianne and Nancy's parents.

This is Laurie’s oldest sister Glenda and her husband Ken. 
Their daughter Judy and husband John and their children Sarah, Leah and Stewart and his wife Sarah and children, Isaac, Liam and Gwendolyn, all had the stomach flu, so stayed home as they well should have.

 Here is Laurie’s middle sister Karole and her husband Bob.
Their son Bryan and his wife Erika live in Kansas City and were coming up later in the month for Thanksgiving, so totally understand not making the trip twice in one month. Their son Chris didn't make it either.

Bonnie and Bill’s son Kyle and his wife Melissa made it to our little gathering with their sons Keaton and Collin.

Kyle's sister Kasey and her three daughters, Delaney, Avery and Charley Kate had to leave early before all the cameras and photos were taken, so they are missing from this blog, as is her husband Kevin who couldn't make it to the party.

As was the case during our previous gathering at The Local House, the staff was very friendly and accommodating and the food was plentiful, reasonably priced and good too!  One of our servers took this group photo.  I’m sure that everyone had a great time…

For more on The Local House and to see some photos of the food that we had on our previous visit and that we reordered this time as well, you can go to http://bigdaddydavesbitsandpieces.blogspot.com/2015/06/casual-dining-at-local-house.html.  The address for The Local House is 3946 Jeffco Road in Arnold Missouri.  Phone: 636-467-9900.  Their website is at http://localhousearnold.com/.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by and looking at a ‘family photo album’!  Remember, you would show us your family photos if you had the chance…

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Anheuser Busch Christmas Lights!

Back in November, Laurie and I stopped in St. Louis to visit her family while in route to visit our son David II and his family for the Thanksgiving Holiday.  One night in St. Louis Laurie and I accompanied her sister Bonnie and Bonnie’s husband Bill on a Christmas Holiday visit to a St. Louis Missouri Landmark…

Here Bonnie is listening to the Anheuser Busch Eagle telling her about the fabulous Holiday Lights display and tour at the historic Anheuser Busch Brewery in St. Louis.

The towering Germanic style red-brick buildings that comprise the brewery complex, as well as the trees, fences, etc., were all festooned with thousands and thousands of lights!  This is an annual event in St. Louis and a similar display has now been initiated at the company’s Fort Collins Colorado facility.  

Laurie loves horses…and who doesn’t love the magnificent Anheuser Busch Clydesdales!?  One of the highlights of our little tour, (and a break from the unseasonable cold weather), was our stop in the stables.  FYI…these stables are cleaner and more luxurious than most homes!

 The Clydesdale is a breed of draft-horse derived from the farm horses of Clydesdale, Scotland, and they were named after that region.  The breed was developed from Flemish stallions imported to Scotland and crossed with local mares.  While they were a much more compact horse in the early days, Clydesdales now stand as much as 16 to 18 hands (64 to 72 inches) high at the withers and they can weigh up to 2,200 pounds. 

FYI, the ‘withers’ is the ridge between the shoulder blades of all four-legged mammals and it’s the standard point of measurement for both horses and dogs.

Bonnie took this photo of Laurie and me in front of one of the classic advertising signs for Budweiser…

I must tell you that our tour coincided with an unusual early cold snap in St. Louis.  The wind was howling and the chill was extreme.  Warming stations were scattered throughout the venue but it was so cold that you had to stand right up against these contained natural gas units to get any warmth!

This is a view down Pestalozzi Street in the middle of the brewery complex. 

I didn’t take any remarkable photos of the beverage sampling stations that were set up along the way.  All guests 21 or older receive a wristband redeemable for samples of the company’s products.  Available beers included Budweiser, Bud Light, Stella Artois, Stella Artois Cidre and Bud Light Lime-A-Rita offerings.

To call this facility a brewery would be a disservice.  This is a brewery complex!  It was opened in 1852 by German immigrant Adolphus Busch and it’s so big that it has been designated as a National Historic Landmark District.

The landmarked area includes 189 structures spread over 142 acres, including many red brick Romanesque buildings with square crenelated towers and decorative details.  The Brew House itself was built in 1891-1892, and according to Wikipedia it is particularly notable for its "multi-storied hop chandeliers, intricate iron-work, and utilization of natural light".

Then finally we came in from the cold!  The Biergarten (indoor beer garden) was very busy…with a few folks running back outdoors t0 make s’mores over an open fire. ($2.50 per s’mores kit) Bill and I gave it a try…but it was so cold that the s’mores were burnt or just never melted.  

There were 5 food stations scattered around the beer garden/visitor’s center and we visited them all!  These pretzels with mustard sauce were very tasty!

Of course there were brats as well!  Beer and brats is a combination that is hard to beat. 

The 5 food stations served St. Louis-style Holiday Favorites including Chili, Chicken Tenders and chips, Brats and chips, Toasted Ravioli, and Pretzels with dipping sauces.  Food tokens were $5.00 each.

Bill and Bonnie also opted for a couple of flights of different beers.  I’m not much of a beer drinker but Bill and his son are really into trying different brews… Ales and lagers were featured in flight named Dawn to Dusk, Wild Wheats and Around the World.  In addition to the usual Anheuser-Busch brands, such options as Shock-Top, Mixx Tail, Hoegaarden, Goose IPA, Chelada and Brewmaster’s Choice were available.

While it was much warmer in the Biergarten, the doors were constantly opening and closing so we just kept our coats on.  Only Bill noticed when I took this photo of Bonnie, he and Laurie…

This very eye-catching old Anheuser Busch delivery truck is on display  in the middle of the reception area leading to the Biergarten.  I think that it’s a Ford… Note the big gift shop for visitors right behind the truck.

Bonnie and Bill’s son Kyle and his wife Melissa joined us in the Biergarten later in the evening after making their rounds outdoors in the freezing cold. It was their anniversary!

Laurie captured this nice photo of Bonnie and Bill.  We had a great time but it would have been even more enjoyable if the weather hadn’t been so frigid!

If you would like to preview the Christmas scene at the St. Louis Anheuser Busch Brewery, you will find a plethora of photographs at: https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=anheuser+busch+christmas+lights&qpvt=anheuser+busch+christmas+lights&qpvt=anheuser+busch+christmas+lights&FORM=IGRE.

I will admit a bit of frustration when putting this posting together.  No matter what I did or how I did it, I could not gain access to the Anheuser Busch website.  It requires you to enter your date of birth but for some reason, it wouldn’t accept my entry! (Maybe I’m too old!) Frustrated, at 11AM (10AM CST) on a Tuesday I called their customer service line as listed on the website.  I was informed that the offices were closed.  Interesting, since I was calling in the middle of their posted hours.  

In any case, perhaps you’ll have better luck.  To learn about this Holiday Lights event, you can go to http://www.anheuser-busch.com/index.php/anheuser-busch-st-louis-brewery-holiday-lights-display-opens-friday-nov-16/.  Perhaps this event will fit into your calendar this coming Holiday Season.

 

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by and reliving the Christmas Season with us!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave