Meramec Caverns
Tuesday, June 08
Time for another day trip! Nate, Angela, and I decided yesterday to go on another adventure and we drove to the Meramec Caverns. These caves have a lot of history and so I don't mess it up because I don't remember it all - http://www.americascave.com/history.php - What I do remember is that...
- A short clip of the Lassie Movie is shot there
- Parts of the movie the Cave was suppose to be shot there but they decided not to because they were afraid people would be afraid of the caverns after seeing the movie
- The caves were discovered in two levels - upper level and then the lower level where the river ran through
- There is a rock formation called the Wine Table that was made all naturally, one of two in the entire world- and two highschool kids cracked it because they were doing pull-ups
Not my photo (will post from my trip soon!) but here is a shot of
inside the cavern!
We get to the place after about an hour drive and stopped at the restaurant. Got some good simple burgers and were ready to check out the caverns. Our tour guide is best described by Nate who said he was "delightfully awkward". Very true. We were in a small tour of only five people and our guide looked very young. I know he had a script to follow but the way he delivered everything was great. The jokes were funny and we actually laughed because he was the one saying them. He was really good though as he brought us through the caves. There was a lot of cool stuff down there and I really enjoyed learning all the facts (I know I am a bit of a dork).
Best part of the tour was the last stop. We get to the largest cave formation in the world - the Stage Curtain. It really is a very beautiful piece. There were seats set up like a theater and the tour guide told us that he was going to play two songs for us. The last song was God Bless America and it included a 18 switch light show that required our guide to manually flip the switches in time to music. I admit, it was pretty good - and really funny.
Anheuser Busch Brewery
Tuesday, June 08
After our tour, I got excited and saw some Rock Candy which I had to get, and then we were off to another trip! We decided to stop at the Anheuser Busch Brewery in downtown St. Louis. It is one of five AB brewery's that give tours to visitors, all free. The place was very nice - everything had the AB logo, it had a hint of the classic, with a lot of brass and gold. Everything smells like hops which I found that I enjoy - maybe not a smell I want around all day but it was warm and very aromatic. We saw the Clydesdale horses who were so gorgeous and huge! They also had the dalmatians running around.
We got to see the packaging line (which Angela was super excited for!), the places were the beer is stored, where and how the ingredients are put together, and just how the process works. It was fun, something you don't really get a chance to see, and hey - I'm coming back next year when I can get my two free beer tastings. =)
Food!
Tuesday, June 08
It isn't a full day without food! I spent the night at my friend's apartment and we decided to cook dinner. I have come to really enjoy cooking and it is a lot of fun to see what you can make. There is such a great satisfaction in creating something and then eating it. We decided to make some pasta and veggies and then we came back to my place, baked sugar cookies and watched Glee. It may not sound like a lot but it was perfect.
