Day 19, Tuesday, October 9, Moving on to Cape Girardeau, Missouri

Sunny and 23.1C (73.5F) to start the day as we packed up.

At 9:48am, we pulled out as the temperature hit 82F. Two minutes later, we crossed the Missouri River and got on the I-270 towards Memphis.

Travelling with Terry & Sharon and Gus & Joan, we stopped at Walmart in Festus at 11:00.

Arrived at Cape Camping RV Park in Cape Girardeau at 2:20pm and got settled.

The Wagonmasters told us about an interesting restaurant, Lambert's Cafe, home of the 'Throwed Rolls'. Off we went at 4:30 with Gus & Joan.
The chain was founded in 1942 and is known for throwing hot rolls to customers. It all started in 1981 when it was too crowded one day for the server to serve the rolls to a customer. Somebody yelled "Throw em" , so he threw them. Th rolls are fresh, right out of the oven. It was entertaining watching the rolls being tossed across the room!
They provide “pass arounds” at no charge to those ordering from the menu. These “extras” are brought to you by servers carrying pots or other containers of fried okra, fried potatoes, macaroni and tomatoes, black eyed peas, and sorghum and honey.
Definitely a fun place to eat! 

Day 18, Monday, Oct 8, Free Day, Sundermeier RV Park, St. Charles, Missouri

Happy Thanksgiving, Canada! Beautiful sunny morning, 21C.
What to do, what to do?
Oh, there is St. Louis Premium Outlet Mall nearby. Gus chauffeured Joan, Sharon & myself to the mall where we systematically covered the whole place. The only bargains to be had were at the Clark's Shoe store.

After that exhausting shopping spree, we were hungry, so went to Culver's for lunch.

There happened to be an Aldi's store across the road, so that was our next stop before heading back to the park. It was a hot, humid day with the temperature reaching 30C.

Once again, our Wagonmasters & Tailgunners prepared a "campground cookout" for us for dinner. Today's was Chicken Quesadillas with all the trimmings: tortillas, shredded chicken, lettuce, cheese, sour cream, tomatoes, salsa. Very delicious and filling!

By 10:00pm, it had cooled down to 23.5C

Day 17, Sunday, Oct 7, St Louis, Missouri

We boarded the bus on a foggy, 24.4C (69F) morning. Today we are going to the Missouri Botanical Gardens, which were founded in 1859 and encompass 79 acres.  It includes a 14-acre (5.7 ha) Japanese garden, the Climatron geodesic dome conservatory; a children's garden, including a pioneer village; a playground; a fountain area and a water locking system, somewhat similar to the locking system at the Panama Canal. 
 










The first thing we saw when we entered the Linnean House, a greenhouse which was built in 1882, was the "Corpse Flower". It had just bloomed a couple of days ago, but there was no longer any putrid smell! It can go for years without flowering and when it does, only stays open for a day or two.  It is best known for making a big stink.

The Climatron is a greenhouse enclosed in a geodesic dome initiated by then Garden director Frits W. Went, the dome is the world's first completely air-conditioned greenhouse and the first geodesic dome to be enclosed in rigid Plexiglass (Perspex) panels.






The Japanese Gardens were beautiful with very interesting plants & flowers, and a small lake with a fountain. 

We also visited the Stephen and Peter Sachs Museum, which was constructed between 1859 and 1850. It is one of only five original structures at the Garden built by Henry Shaw.Made of Missouri Limestone, and locally made bricks,  many of the original features remain, including tile floors, built in bookcases and woodwork. The original ceiling mural painted by Leon Pomerade, restored in 1930, has been recreated to incorporate identifiable plants, many of which are found in the garden.

This place mat indicates what is painted on the ceiling and the other side explains what the plants are - fascinating!

After touring as much of the gardens as we had time for, we stopped at the "Best of Missouri" Market for lunch and enjoyed brisket on a bun.

Then it was back on the bus and off to Anheuser-Busch brewery for a tour. The brewery is huge and opened in 1852. Nestled in the historic Soulard neighborhood of St. Louis, our largest and oldest brewery site was selected based on its access to the Mississippi River, the large presence of German immigrants in the 1800’s, and the natural cave formations that were used to store beer prior to artificial refrigeration.
On the tour, we stopped at the stables where the Clydesdale horses are housed.
The Budweiser Clydesdales are a group of Clydesdale horses used for promotions and commercials by the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Company. There are several "hitches" or teams of horses,^[1] that travel around the United States and others that remain in their official homes at the company headquarters at the Anheuser-Busch brewery complex in St. Louis, Missouri. At St. Louis, they are housed in a historic brick and stained-glass stable built in 1885. There are eight horses driven at any one time, but ten horses are on each team to provide alternates for the hitch when needed. Assorted Clydesdales are also used as animal actors in television commercials for Budweiser beer, particularly in Super Bowl ads.

Of course, there was the sampling of Bud Light included. Marcel was happy since he had two samples!




There was another sample then a bottle as a gift after the tour. 

Then it was back on the bus and off to church! We visited the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis.

The Cathedral was completed in 1914 and was designated a Basilica by Pope Jean Paul !! in 1997. The church is known for its large mosaic collection, which is one of the largest in the western hemisphere. Completed in 1988, the mosaics collectively contain 41.5 million glass tesseraepieces in more than 7,000 colors. Covering 83,000 square feet (7,700 m²), it is the largest mosaic collection in the world outside Russia. Incredible! 
More detail at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_Basilica_of_Saint_Louis_(St._Louis)

On the way back to the campground, the skies became ominously dark, with lightening. When we got off the bus at 4:00, there were a few raindrops as we returned to our trailer. Moments after getting inside the skies opened and a thunderstorm arrived!
By 6:00 the rain subsided and we settled in for the evening.

Day 16, Saturday, October 6, Touring St. Louis

Beautiful 24.3C (75F) morning as we boarded the coach bus at 7:30 and headed off to St. Louis.

Our first stop was at the "Old Courthouse Museum". Construction began in 1839 and continued through several transitions until 1862 and was Missouri's tallest habitable building from 1864 - 1894. It has four wings and a beautiful three storey cupola dome at the centre. It has a storied history related to slavery.  It was a public forum as well as a courthouse. Slaves also were auctioned on the steps. Abolitionists and slavery advocates held rallies in the courthouse to debate the slavery issue.













An interesting fact that the Park Ranger told us was that there is no echo in the immense centre hall due to the fact that the floor is limestone, which absorbs sound.

This pic shows a model of the building. It was hard to take a pic outside!








After touring the Courthouse, we walked across the street to the Visitor Centre and the Museum at the Gateway Arch. It is the world's tallest arch, a 630 foot monument clad in stainless steel and was built between 1963 - 1965. It is built in the form of a weighted catenary arch.  Beneath it is the fabulous museum which traces the story of the Native Americans, Explorers, Pioneers and Rebels who made America possible.

The Museum has a "mock-up" of the capsule to give you an idea of the size.








We rode the five seat capsule up the north side to the top where we got out to admire the views and take some photos on this beautiful day, then rode back down the south side. What an experience!

At the top!

View if the Old Courthouse on the right and Busch Stadium upper left.














Then it was lunch time and Bill directed the bus driver to take us to "Fast Eddie's Bon Air" in Alton which was founded in 1921. It was an interesting place with 400 seats, a 'dive bar' which serves an assortment of grilled burgers, shish kebabs, Bratwurst and shrimp, all sold at the same low prices as when they were added fifteen years ago. We had a 1/2 pound burger for $1.99 and fries for $.99. Noisy but quite the atmosphere. 
As we exited the "bar" after lunch, a sudden thunderstorm developed and we had to run to the bus!

The 27 lock system on the Mississippi River


That concluded our day of touring

Our next stop was the Melvin Price Locks and Dam, which is Lock 27 of 28 on the Mississippi River. We watched a movie "The Power of the River" which explained the construction and operation of locks, which allow the passage of shipping vessels. We toured the National Great River Museum but were not able to descend into the dam due to the weather (which has turned sunny). 

Day 15, October 5, Hannibal to Sundermeier RV Park, St Charles, Missouri

There were thunderstorms in the night, but hopefully have cleared out now. Woke up to 14.7C at 6:00.
Breakfast was provided by the staff this morning - omelette in a bag, which we prepared ourselves, sausage patties and pancakes. Excellent!

All the fixins are ready! Eggs, chopped ham, chopped onions, and more. We cracked 2 eggs into a zip-loc bag, and added  the desired fixins. Sealed it up and dropped it into a pot of hot water.

 Meanwhile, there were pancakes & sausage patties being cooked.













The finished product has salsa and shredded cheese added. Delicious! It was cloudy with showers and 66F, but at least we were under cover.











After breakfast, we pulled out of the park at 11:00 with Terry leading. We made a quick stop at the Missouri Welcome Centre to pick up some maps. By noon the sky was clearing and it was sunny and 74F.
Half an hour later it was 84F. Just what we have been waiting for!
We arrived at the park at 1:05 and ended up backed up on main street since several of us arrived at the same time.
Finally got into our site, which was cozy - they are putting 2 rigs on a site.
Once set up, I went shopping with Gus, Joan, Terry & Sharon. We stopped at Steak and Shake for lunch, then on to Aldi's for groceries. It is now 82.6F, a hot day!
We enjoyed sitting outside with Glen and Carolyn on a beautiful evening, capping off a great day.

Day 14, October 4, Mark twain Cave Campground, Hannibal, Missouri

It was 15.2C this morning, quite comfortable.
Today was a cave tour of the caves that Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) explored as a child. These are dry caves, there are no stalagmites or stalactites.

Mark Twain Cave and Cameron Cave instead have a multitude of narrow, winding passages.The caves are made mostly of a soft limestone called Louisiana Lithographic Limestone and found only in a 35-mile (56 km) area around Hannibal and Louisiana, Missouri. The limestone has been estimated by geologists as around 350 million years old, while the cave passages were formed some 100 million years ago. Mark Twain Cave covers some 6 ¹⁄₂ miles (10.5 km) consisting of four entrances and 260 passages, maintaining a year around temperature of 52 °F (11 °C).

One of the four entrances

"The Parlour"

The extent of the cave system is amazing!


Once out of the cave, we went to Hannibal, the boyhood hometown of Mark Twain. We visited his boyhood home and museum, Becky Thatcher's house, Huckleberry Finn's house and the J.M. Clemens Justice of the Peace Office. 

After Lunch, we all met at the Planter's Barn Theater for a presentation of "Mark Twain Himself" performed by actor Richard Carey. This acclaimed show has been staged in over 40 states, Canada and Bermuda' It is a show complete with comedy, satire and drama, all in the author's own words.
Personally, we found it to be too political, but perhaps that was how Mark Twain was.........

Day 13, October 3, Moving on to Mark Twain Cave Campground, Hannibal, Missouri

It was a very pleasant 20.0C at 6:30 this morning as we packed up.
Shortly after starting out we crossed the Mississippi and entered Iowa. Half an hour later, it was back across the Mississippi into Illinois, which was very flat with corn fields as far as the eye could see.

We stopped at a rest area which had information maps explaining highlights along the "Great River Road".













Once back on the road, we encountered a detour. The road was closed at Dallas City and we went left instead of right. Eventually found our way back onto the planned route. Getting very warm as we go south, 84F.
Continuing on we crossed the Mississippi yet again and entered Missouri. By this time it has warmed up to 90F.

At 1:30 we arrived at the campground in Hannibal and got settled on our site.

The Wagonmasters and Tailgunners hosted a Happy Hour at the shelter and one of our group had a margarita machine.












 He was whipping up margaritas for everyone!

Needless to say, it was a great ending to a frustrating day after the detour!