Well, to make it short and sweet - we had another fun day going to see Grant's Farm. Seems the Busch family (of Anheuser-Busch) had a big estate a few miles out of St. Louis, which they loved and used.
It is called "Grant's Farm" because the land originally belonged to Ulysses S. Grant's wife's family, and they were given some land and a house their when they married. This is adjacent to Grant's Farm and is a National Historic Site. Apparently U.S. Grant would ride his horse from his military post in St. Louis out to court his future bride on this farm.
The Busch family lived near the brewery in the city and it would take a whole day to take a buggy out to their "country estate". Finally, Mr. Adolphus Busch moved the family to the farm when transportation became easier between city and country.
Mr. Adolphus Busch loved wild animals, and it became a bit of an animal sanctuary over the years. Mr. Augustus Busch, who passed away in 1989, is the one who is responsible for those wonderful parks many have enjoyed - Busch Gardens. Anyway, it is now mostly open to the public, and the grounds are beautiful and full of wonderful animals to see up close and personal.
A little "aside" about Mr. Gus - when my daddy was still alive, he had the opportunity to go fishing with Mr. Gus on the Miss Budweiser, out of Tampa. It was all set up by none other than Roger Maris - Yankee great and record setting home-run hitter - who owned the Budweiser distributorship in Gainesville after his retirement from baseball. Anyway - so I have a special place in my heart for Mr. Gus.
On the grounds of Grant's Farm is the famous Budweiser Clydesdale Stud farm - and we got to see several of these magnificent animals up close. This one is named Carter.
One of the most fun parts is getting "baby bottles" and feeding the goats. They don't seem to get enough of this and will climb on you for the next bit! Tilda really got a kick out feeding them - as well as numerous muddy hoof prints on her clothes!
The old barn and carriage houses are now museum areas and a place to get some good food and a free sample of some of Anheuser-Busch's finest.
There's much more to show and say about Grant's Farm - but to sum it up - it is a wonderful place to spend a few hours - and it is FREE!! You do have to pay to park, but that is all. We highly recommend it for anyone visiting the St. Louis area.
One the way back to our hotel, we detoured to the area of St. Louis known as "The Hill" which is very much still an Italian neighborhood, with more great restaurants than you can pick from. We stopped at a deli and picked up some wonderful meatball subs to eat back at the hotel. It is a very cute old neighborhood and I'd love to try one of the restaurants next trip to St. Louis.
I realy loved that St. Louis is more "old fashioned" than the newer big cities in Texas - I like cities that have their unique neighborhoods with their own distinct personalities. It is really a beautiful city, with many wonderful museums and parks. Can't wait to visit it again one day.
i will not tell my carter that you had your picture with a horse named carter! ha!
ReplyDeleteThank you for for all you've done this summer with Mathilda. I know she has really been enjoying her stay with you. St. Louis really is a cool town.
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