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If you ask me, the Saint Louis Abbey (pictured in the cover photo, with an interior snap above) looks like a big Bundt cake. It was built in 1962 and currently is home to a congregation of 26 Benedictine monks.
The Flying Saucer Building was built as a Phillips 66 gas station in 1967. After that it became a taco stand, home to the Del Taco Saucer. Today it houses a Chipotle and Starbucks.
This 60-foot-tall windmill was built in 1916 as prohibition was threatening the country. The Anheuser Busch family decided to build some whimsical taverns to showcase the wholesome and family friendly nature of beer consumption. It still houses a biergarten today, but alas was not open at the time we strolled by.
It is amazing to me how many churches have so little information about how you can visit them! The St. Francis Xavier College Church is one — I could find no info on when it might be open. Unfortunately when we were there it was locked up tight, so I could only admire it from the outside.
Did I manage to spend more than a week in St. Louis and not find time to visit the Arch? You betcha! Doug has already been there, Arch-area parking is not exactly van friendly, and tickets sell out in advance, which all added up to prevent me from getting there this time. So it’ll have to wait for another day. Here the Arch is framing the Old Courthouse (where the Dred Scott case was tried, and which was closed for renovations during our visit).
After our inaugural visit to Buc-ee’s, we have been on the lookout for another one ever since. Then we spied Wally’s, which looked suspiciously like a Buc-ee’s, so we made a u-turn and prepared to be delighted. Unfortunately, it was a complete dud as far as I was concerned. It was as big as a Buc-ee’s but its offerings were not quite up to the same level, and we hardly bought a thing (unlike our Buc-ee’s foray). In addition, there were almost no customers, and part of the Buc-ee’s Experience is the absolute madhouse that it is. They did have fun Wally’s branded cars in their lot, though, which Buc-ee’s did not have.
The 1891 Wainwright Building is a 10-story terra-cotta office building designed by famed architects Adler and Sullivan (Frank Lloyd Wright worked as a draftsman for the firm under patriarch Louis Sullivan). Such lovely detail on the outside! Do they still design buildings like this?
The Central Library of the St. Louis Public Library system is a work of art, especially the ceilings inside. It was built in 1912, and was partially funded by Andrew Carnegie’s giving program that helped establish libraries around the United States. The city of St. Louis particularly wanted a showpiece with their funds, so they raised quite a bit on their own and they hired renowned architect Cass Gilbert to help them achieve it. It was magnificent inside.
Doug and I are both fascinated by the William and Clark expedition. We listened to the Stephen Ambrose book Undaunted Courage (affiliate link) about their journey, and it was quite engaging. We also went to a small museum about it outside of St. Louis, which was emphatically not fascinating. We saw this monument of the leaders and their dog nearby while birding along the river. We also paid our respect at William’s Clark grave.
The Adolphus Busch Mausoleum in
Bellefontaine Cemetery houses members of the famous beer family. In spite of how Doug feels about their beer today, he still wanted to pay his respects.
Tower Grove Park is a large lovely park in the city that has several whimsical pavilions like this one, all built between 1871 and 1914. There are twelve pavilions in the park, each its own color and design theme.
