Pictures of the Week 2008-40
Hello All,
Departing Omaha we hopped on I-29 following it south to Kansas City where we turned east on I-70 to St. Louis, MO. We parked the rig in East St. Louis, IL for a few days of catching up with ourselves and of course exploring the area.
A friend of ours asked if we were going up in the St. Louis Gateway Arch. The answer was emphatically NO!! The last time we visited St. Louis we waited in line to go up in the arch. Finally, when we got to the front of the line they loaded us into a circular container about the size of and shaped like a commercial washing machine with two people on each side of it. It was so small you couldn’t sit up straight--you had to lean forward!! Did we mention that Dave is claustrophobic!!
Then they closed and locked the door!! In the door was a small window like a porthole. Then the washing machine slowly started moving and almost immediately went into solid concrete! All you could see out the porthole was concrete passing by a few inches from the door. Another way of putting it is we were entombed!! It took about five very long minutes to reach the top. Dave said it felt like an eternity!! Did we mention St Louis sits on top of the New Madrid Earthquake fault!! That fact didn’t offer him any comfort. Once at the top the view was incredible. But, the ole boy couldn’t enjoy it, as all he could think about was we had to climb back in the dang washing machine to get back down!!
Therefore, our first adventure on this trip was to the Anheuser-Busch Brewery. Wow, were we ever impressed! It sits on 118 acres in downtown St. Louis. Three of the brewery buildings are on the National Historic Register. The place is spotless inside and out. The grounds were immaculately manicured. Now remember, this is a brewery that operates 24 hours a day 365 days a year! That’s right, it never shuts down and it was beautiful!
Departing Omaha we hopped on I-29 following it south to Kansas City where we turned east on I-70 to St. Louis, MO. We parked the rig in East St. Louis, IL for a few days of catching up with ourselves and of course exploring the area.
A friend of ours asked if we were going up in the St. Louis Gateway Arch. The answer was emphatically NO!! The last time we visited St. Louis we waited in line to go up in the arch. Finally, when we got to the front of the line they loaded us into a circular container about the size of and shaped like a commercial washing machine with two people on each side of it. It was so small you couldn’t sit up straight--you had to lean forward!! Did we mention that Dave is claustrophobic!!
Then they closed and locked the door!! In the door was a small window like a porthole. Then the washing machine slowly started moving and almost immediately went into solid concrete! All you could see out the porthole was concrete passing by a few inches from the door. Another way of putting it is we were entombed!! It took about five very long minutes to reach the top. Dave said it felt like an eternity!! Did we mention St Louis sits on top of the New Madrid Earthquake fault!! That fact didn’t offer him any comfort. Once at the top the view was incredible. But, the ole boy couldn’t enjoy it, as all he could think about was we had to climb back in the dang washing machine to get back down!!
Therefore, our first adventure on this trip was to the Anheuser-Busch Brewery. Wow, were we ever impressed! It sits on 118 acres in downtown St. Louis. Three of the brewery buildings are on the National Historic Register. The place is spotless inside and out. The grounds were immaculately manicured. Now remember, this is a brewery that operates 24 hours a day 365 days a year! That’s right, it never shuts down and it was beautiful!
We took a complimentary one-hour
guided tour of the facility. It is a
state-of-the-art technological operation.
It blew us away!! The tour
started at the stables where we saw their famous Clydesdales and the wagons
they pull. What beautiful animals they
are. To qualify for one of their
traveling hitches a Clydesdale must be at least 4 years of age, eighteen hands tall,
weigh between 2000 and 2300 pounds, have a bay color, four white stocking feet,
a blaze of white on the face, and a black mane and tail. They have been the company icon since 1933.
Next stops on the tour were
the Lager Cellars, Brew House, and BEVO Packaging Facility. The packaging facility was enormous. The 7-story building consumes 27 acres by
itself. There were 34 bottling lines,
each dispensing 1300 bottles of beer a minute!!
How’s that for a “gee whiz” figure.
Cans of beer are even faster.
They go out at a whopping 2,000 per minute!! To paint a little better picture of the
immensity of this operation, in a 24-hour period, the facility puts out enough
cans of beer that if you lined them up end to end they would reach from New York
City to Miami!! That’s a lot of
headaches!! Final stop on the tour was the Hospitality Room where you could
sample their products. Of course we felt
obligated to participate after such a fine tour!!
Our next adventure was to the
St. Louis Zoo. Growing up watching
Marlin Perkins on the TV show Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom the zoo was high
on Dave’s list of places to visit. Wow,
were we ever impressed. They have done
an exceptional job at making most of their exhibits open air--no cages.
On April 28, 2008, one of the zoo’s female Amur Tigers gave birth to five cubs--3 females and 2 males. You might have known this highly endangered species as Siberian Tigers. But it’s gone from Siberia, so now goes by a new name. Sadly, there are only 350 to 400 Amur Tigers left in the wild. These massive cats roam small pockets of snow-covered forests near Russia’s Amur River where they hunt deer, elk and wild boar. The biggest threat to the tigers is habitat loss due to logging, but poaching is also taking a toll. The five cubs were full of energy, rarely giving mom a minute of peace and quiet. They were too rambunctious to fit them all in one photo, but we felt thoroughly blessed to be able to watch these magnificent animals.
On April 28, 2008, one of the zoo’s female Amur Tigers gave birth to five cubs--3 females and 2 males. You might have known this highly endangered species as Siberian Tigers. But it’s gone from Siberia, so now goes by a new name. Sadly, there are only 350 to 400 Amur Tigers left in the wild. These massive cats roam small pockets of snow-covered forests near Russia’s Amur River where they hunt deer, elk and wild boar. The biggest threat to the tigers is habitat loss due to logging, but poaching is also taking a toll. The five cubs were full of energy, rarely giving mom a minute of peace and quiet. They were too rambunctious to fit them all in one photo, but we felt thoroughly blessed to be able to watch these magnificent animals.
Tiger cubs were not the only
newborns at the zoo. This young zebra
was still learning how to stand on wobbly legs.
Here is another beautiful
bird--NOT!! This Marabou Stork would be
a finalist in the ugly bird contest!!
While the Roseate Spoonbill is not a raving beauty it does have
beautiful coloring.
We will cover more at the zoo
and other adventures in St. Louis later.
Until next time,
Dave & Barb
The Traveling Browns
Until next time,
Dave & Barb
The Traveling Browns