St. Louis Day Two: Soulard Market & Forest Park

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Our second day in St. Louis was just as eventful as our first evening here. The overall atmosphere of the Soulard neighborhood is relaxing and tranquil. No one here seems in a hurry, everyone just seems content traveling and enjoying life at their own pace. We started our morning at the famous Soulard Farmers Market.

Soulard Farmers Market

Now Chris and I attempted to visit the farmers market when we were here in January but let me tell you, it was nothing in comparison to the summer market. Let me give you a little history about the market before I describe our memorable day:

-one of the oldest markets in the US, founded in 1779

– open year round

– over 125+ venders with all kinds of products

-fresh veggies and fruit, organic products, fresh meats and cheeses, food booths, homemade soaps and crafts, live music, and so much more

-my grandma use to sell here with her aunt and uncle when she was a kid ❤️

I absolutely love farmers markets and this is by far my favorite. I enjoy seeing people sell products they’ve worked so hard to produce and are so proud to display. Today we had a mission in the market; we needed to find food for a homemade dinner and breakfast the following morning. We had no real plan of what we wanted, we simply explored the booths and came up with a menu on the fly. I have to say, we did a pretty fantastic job.

Forest Park

Fun fact, right before we left the market it decided to POUR rain for the next few hours. We decided to find something inside to do so we headed back to Forest Park.

Forest Park is full of activities such as:

  • The St. Louis Zoo
  • Muny Theater
  • The Jewel Box (a huge greenhouse)
  • The Museum of Art
  • The Science Center
  • The Missouri Museum of History

There are quite a few other places in Forest Park, some of which the bearded one and I explored during Christmas break. Today we visited the history museum and I was overwhelmed with fun facts about my home state. I was especially impressed with the history of Forest Park and the background information I learned about the 1904 World Fair that took place in St. Louis.

I’d say we had another successful day in the great city of St. Louis. Tomorrow’s plans include, The Arch, Ted Drewes, the Graffiti Wall and my old neighborhood.

St. Louis Eats

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One of our favorite things about traveling is EATING. We love food, and drinks, and we are both pretty adventurous eaters. Although we didn’t eat any whacky off the wall cuisine while in St. Louis we did have some pretty yummy food. Here are some of our favorites from this last trip and our Christmas break trip:

Soulard Food

  • Llywelyn’s Pub- Not only did this place have an amazing beer selection they also had a vast array of delicious pub food. Llywelyn’s is known as a Celtic pub and has several locations. While there, we had the soft pretzels with beer cheese, fish and chips, and their infamous steak and cheese sandwich. All tasty meals and not the regular boring bar food.

  • Chava’s Mexican Restaurants- If I’m not in Texas or Mexico I stay away from this type of food, but Chava’s is the exception. They had incredible margaritas, all different flavors, and they had really good queso blanco.

  • Duke’s- This establishment seems to be your typical run of the mill sports bar but, during Christmas break we had the most amazing coconut squash soup I’ve ever tasted. It on my list to try to recreate this fall!
  • The Wood Shack- This little restaurant has unique, house smoked meats put together on creative sandwich combos. They also have a large outdoor street patio and a great selection of local beers. It was also literally 3 doors down from our rental.
  • Soulard Coffee Garden- Quaint little coffee shop with a great selection

  • The Sweet Divine- A boutique bakery and coffee bar with delicious baked good and just as amazing specialty drinks ( we had a fabulous drunken hot chocolate in the freezing winter weather, warmed us right up)

Other St. Louis Staples

Every time we go to STL there are a few must have, nostalgic food we just can’t resist.

  • Ted Drewes Frozen Custard- it’s famous, my granny use to go here as a child and so did everyone else I know from St. Louis, it’s a MUST (The Bearded One loves vanilla and this time I have to agree, classic)

  • Imo’s Pizza- I guess this is considered St. Louis style pizza, I’m not quite sure…but what I am sure about is that I could eat an entire XL pizza solo. They have their own unique cheese blend and I pretty much grew up on this pizza, I wish I had one right now (fun fact, the Bearded One is NOT a fan)

  • Amighetti’s Bakery and Cafe- This place was new to me but my mom grew up eating their signature sandwiches as we grabbed a few. Pretty tasty

  • Gooey Butter Cake- I suppose you can get this from any where in STL but the best comes from Dierbergs grocery store. I have my grandma recipe too that I’ve been dying to make. So if you can’t make it to STL come on over for this one!
  • G & W’s Meat & Bavarian Style Sausage Company – We strictly visited this place for the landjager sausage….yummmmm
  • White Castle- Don’t knock it until ya try it!

There are thousands of other fabulous places to eat in St. Louis, Italian food on The Hill, bar hopping in Laclede’s Landing, a plethora of downtown restaurants …one day we will try more but for now, these are our favorites!

St. Louis Adventure, Day One

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After a quick overnight stop in Raymore, MO to see my granny,  gorge on frozen custard, and jam out to Waylon Jennings, we finally headed to St. Louis, Missouri.

There’s so much to explore and experience in St. Louis, The Gateway to the West, home of the Arch, Anheuser Busch  headquarters, and my old home sweet home.

As a child growing up in the suburbs of St.Louis I never really appreciated or knew the deep historical roots of my city, as an adult, I appreciate them that much more.

St. Louis Day One:

We quickly checked  in to to our Soulard Air B&B (it’s fantastic, we stayed here for New Year’s Eve) then headed on over to the St. Louis Zoo in Forest Park.

Now, I have to say, I’m not a huge fan of zoos overall but the STL zoo is so nostalgic. I recall numerous family adventures as a child and the St. Louis zoo and all it entailed are part of those fond memories.

During the summer the zoo has extended hours so we showed up around 4 and stayed until 7. On our way out we noticed they had a free concert going on and people were flocking in by the car loads. Pretty cool summer activities for families, couples, and anyone else looking for a live concert.

The zoo itself is one of my favorites. There’s plenty of entertaining exhibits, it’s shaded, it was far from crowded and it’s a FREE attraction. Of course you have to pay for some of the activities like the train and different shows, but entry to the zoo is free, which is a pretty appealing feature. Make sure you park on the street to avoid the $15 parking fee!

In the 3 short hours we were there we were able to cover lots of ground. First stop, the herpetarium full of exotic reptiles from across the world, and air conditioned of course! Next we visited the primate house, the 1904 Bird Enclosure, and pretty much everything else the zoo had to offer. There weren’t any unique or rare animals we’d never heard of before, but it was still a pretty relaxed evening at the zoo. I’d definitely recommend the St. Louis Zoo to any newcomers. My favorite of course was the elephant exhibit ❤️.

When we’d finished with the zoo we decided to just take a quick drive around Forest Park to see what it had to offer.

Forest Park:

During our Christmas Break adventure we were able to visit the St. Louis Museum of art, which was spectacular and had an eclectic array of art. But, due to the freezing weather, we didn’t really have the opportunity to explore the park at its fullest.

Anyway, during our quick drive we came across the annual Shakespeare in the Park: Romeo and Juliet free performance and let me tell you, it was PACKED! I put it on my list for our upcoming days (we were too late to stop today).

We were also able to see all the other events and museums the park has to offer such as, The Jewel Box, The Muny Theater, The History Museum, The Science Center and quite a few others.

Overall, I’d chalk up our first day in St.Louis as not only successful, but relaxing and informative. Stay tuned  for  the rest of our STL adventures: Soulard Farmers Market, Anheuser Busch Brewery, The Graffiti Wall (recommended by our bartender), The Arch, museums, food and whatever else we can accomplish in our 3 day expedition!

The Adventure Begins

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“The world is a book and those who do not travel only read one page. “ St. Augustine

Often times we get wrapped up in the monotonous, often stressful routines of our everyday life. For us, that just happens to be the world of teaching and coaching. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love my job, I’m constantly impressed by my students, and I admire the majority of my hardworking peers. But with that being said, sometimes we need a break!

We work hard all year so we can immensely enjoy our summer break and our many travel adventures. I use social media, particularly Facebook, as an outlet to share those adventures with my family and friends, but this summer, I wanted to try something a little out of my comfort zone and write all about it.

I need to take a step back from Facebook to really enjoy life’s adventures and for me, these adventures include traveling with my numero uno. I believe that we often lose sight of the moments in front of us when we are so driven to share every single minuscule moment with everyone. Although I understand the irony of me posting this first blog on my social media, I will be taking a summer break from Facebook.

Please follow our new blog to keep up with all of our travels and our new travel Instagram (loaded with travels, not selfies I promise!).

Instagram: beamadventures

Blog: https://theadventuresofmessybun.wordpress.com/

Travel with us as we explore the country.  From St. Louis,  to Colorado, to our first long road trip across the west Coast; join us for weekly updates on our favorite places, new memories, and the inside scoop about traveling with your best friend ❤️

First stop: St. Louis, MO