The Best of St. Louis

So I've told you all the mishaps, or most of them, and the not so great things about our vacation. Let me tell you about the awesome parts of our vacation! On Saturday we slept late, ate a powdered doughnut breakfast with juice and bananas and headed to Grant's Farm. If you've never heard of it before here is the intro snippet from their website:

There are many exciting animal encounters possible at Grant's Farm, the 281-acre ancestral home of the Busch family, located just south of the city of St. Louis. The Farm is home to more than 1,000 animals representing more than 100 different species from six continents. Grant's Farm, operated by Anheuser-Busch, Inc., has been a St. Louis tradition for over five decades. More than 24 million guests have visited this popular family attraction during its history.

We've been here before, 2 years ago, and once again I was just awestruck by the beauty of this place. The landscapes, the health and happiness of the animals, the price (free admission, cheap food), and the activities for kids are hands down the best I have ever seen. Our first visit was too the Clydesdale's Stables. You know those commercials you see during the Superbowl with the Clydesdales pulling the wagons full of beer barrels? Yup, here is one of the places that they breed them...up to 15 foals a year. We saw several on our visit. Here is a cute picture of a baby and his mama. I was doing this exact same thing to my baby last time we were here:

Later the Mama and I had a fashion shoot, minus the fashion. She posed for me for several shots that turned out beautifully, this is my favorite:

Later, once inside the actual wildlife preserve we saw many animals, and the kids were very excited by all of them. An elephant named Mickey did a great little show for us, not the circus kind of show, she did it from the comfort of her own home. She played a harmonica and danced and showed off her logging skills. It was very cool! Then we went to feed the baby goats! Oh My! For $1 you can buy a bottle of milk to feed these rambunctious little farts! The attack you the minute you try to enter their pen because they are certainly no fools. They want that milk!!

And who can resist that adorable face? So of course I forked over $3 and got both boys a bottle and myself. But their vigorous pursuit of our snack freaked my kids out and we ended up feeding them through the gate instead! I had to literally pull about 5 goats away from River to get him out of the pen...he was unthrilled....but he thought this was hilarious:
At the end of your tour of Grant's Farm you get to sample two of Anheuser-Busch's products (adults only of course) and if you thought Bud Light and Busch were the limit to their endeavours you thought wrong!!! They make about a gazillion types of beer and other assorted drinks! I sampled their new Beach Bum beer, but decided it was a knock off of Corona, which I don't like either. All in all Grant's Farm was wonderful, just as it was the last time we went. I will take it over the Zoo any day!! It's smaller, but much more exciting. And we all ate lunch for $13!!! (I packed our own drinks) You can't do that at McDonald's!

Sunday we packed our bags and checked out of the motel and headed out in search of somewhere to eat breakfast. After a little tiff about navigating the city, I took the wheel and steered us towards the famous Uncle Bill's Pancake House on Kings Highway Blvd. If you ever in St. Louis I highly recommend it! They are open 24 hours (a hot spot for the after hours clubbers) and they serve up heaps of hot tasty and cheap food! Once we had our belly full we headed to the St. Louis Science Center. This is another gem hiding out in this beautiful city! This place was neeter than a skeeter's peeter and even Daddy and I had a blast checking out all the cool things they have to offer!! A special room for youngsters offers guests 45 minutes of special playtime with what can only be described as the ultimate in pre-school educational activities. The kids experimented with magnets, and gravity, role played in a life size teepee, a doctor/dentist office, entomologist lab, aquarium and water table. It was just awesome!!! We will definitely be back there!

Finally we headed home and the kids slept for 130 miles of the 150 mile trip!! Yay!!! It was a good vacation. Neither of them wanted to go home, but 2 days was long enough for Mommy and Daddy!

Someday I plan to take a grown up vacation to St. Louis!! Although I will have to leave my husband behind-he would hate my itinerary! LOL! They have so much to offer as far as art, culture, and music. The Opera House, The Fox Theatre, several small theatrical companies and dozens of museums!! Hubby and I are going back in 3 weeks for a Motley Crue concert, but that's not exactly the kind of culture I have in mind for my 'grown up' vacation! LMAO!!!