2008 Summer Vacation Day Two, Part One
Monday, June 1st.
After breakfast at the Condo we headed toward Collinsville, Il to check out Cahokia Mounds.
Crossing the Mississippi River
Welcome to Illinois!
We pulled into an all but abandoned parking lot at the visitor center only to find it closed on Monday’s and Tuesday’s (It was Monday). While switching to 'Plan B', circling the parking lot, Lee spotted a teenie-tiny turtle attempting to cross the driveway. The kids wanted to stop for a closer look.
The kids concerned about the little turtle.
What should we do?
Cahokia Mounds Turtle......"Whadddya lookin at?"
Showing the Turtle some love. (just like her tshirt says) :)
Where should we relocate him?
Operation turtle rescue was a success as they relocated the little guy near a pond where they felt he would travel more safely.
Location, Location, Location - this looks like a great spot!
(Factory Tour Junkie that I am) - Plan 'B' was to head toward Anheuser-Busch for the famous Brewery Tour.
The obligatory Gateway Arch photo - a trip to St. Louis would be incomplete without it. Taken while crossing the Mississippi (again) back to Missouri.
Anheuser-Bush Factory, taken from the off-ramp of the highway.
We drove by the Busch Stadium
and I snapped this quick photo.
We made it to Anheuser-Busch and arrived wih perfect timing. We had 15 minutes to spare until the next factory tour.
Lee's Mom called to let us know our small town had just been hit by 75 to 80mph winds and did we want them to check out our house? Luckily, we were able to reach our neighbor who said he’d already given our house the once-over and found no down limbs or roof damage *whew*.
Welcome to Anheuser-Busch Factory!
Nick with the Budweiser Plane
Waiting for the tour to start
The Chandelier in the Clydesdale's stables
Nick with one of the Budweiser Dalmatians...I think his name was Max
Capacity: 3600 BARRELLS!
Lee, Val & and one gigantic KEG!!!!
Brew Kettle and ....YES - a human could fit in that hole!
One of the original buildings on the Anheuser-Busch campus.
Busch Trolley : We got to ride this at the end of the tour
Mash Tanks - I'm not sure what happens in a Mash Tank - the tour guide explained it all but it was too noisy to hear :(
Bottles in Production - This was amazing over 1500 bottles a MINUTE!!!
Val & Anheuser
It was interesting to find the brewery existed before and through prohibition and survived it by processing bakers yeast through the dry-years.
Looking for something fast, but more 'local' We had lunch at Lee's Famous Chicken (chuckle). It was great and much better than KFC! We headed toward the Botanical Garden (yes, it was all about me today) :)