St. Louis - the rest

Saturday was another gorgeous day in St. Louis. We started off the day with a truly local tradition . . . a tour of the Anheuser-Busch brewery. It was really interesting to see a commercial brewery after our great experience at the microbrewery the day before. A lot more walking and so much more gloss put on everything. I think the coolest part was learning that the containers where Budweiser is lagered hold enough beer for a person to drink a beer an hour everyday for 127 years.

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Next on the list was the Lumiere Casino. Apparently this casino is relatively new to St. Louis and besides being carded to enter the casino floor it was exactly like being back in Vegas. Slot machines ringing in your ear, people connected to their machines by their playing cards and little old women wheeling around their oxygen tanks. I'm not much of a gambler but somehow I was able to lose $7 on the penny slots while the birthday girl won $12 off of penny slots. I guess luck was on her side!

Once we were done gambling our money away we headed off to Chocolate Bar. Known for it's chocolate martini's, adult hot chocolates and lavish desserts it was the perfect wind down for the afternoon. Not wanting to head home we decided to stop by downtown Belleville, IL. Here we enjoyed a few drinks at the Irish pub complete with live music and sing alongs. It was fabulous.

Yesterday was a lazy day watching the thunderstorms and waiting for the tornado warnings to pass. Unfortunately they passed us in St. Louis and then headed up to Chicago, where my layover was. After my flight was cancelled and I was bumped onto a few other flights home through Chicago I finally ended up on a direct flight from St. Louis to Washington DC (Dulles). Although I had to change airports at least it meant that I got home last night. During our flight we flew over a thunderstorm and I got to watch as it lit up the clouds from underneath. Pretty cool.

All in all I have to say the weekend was a perfect mix of tourism, relaxation, and enjoyment. I only wish I had more vacation days each year!