Around St. Louis

[momof3east]

• Lunch at Pappy's Smokehouse, arriving BEFORE opening for shorter line (shhh...)
• The Grant Home NATIONAL PARK-- NOT the farm owned by Anheiser Busch
• If we had time, would've done Crown Candy Kitchen OR Iron Barley
• We ate at Cards game-- game & stadium were good, expense of food was not
• Next day, did Arch at 8 am on a summer Sunday. At that time, crowd was small at bottom & top. Family really enjoyed, even the "rickety" tram--it does rattle but safety so far is okay (google st louis post dispatch for August 2010 relevant story).
• Did the Museum of Westward Expansion, which had a Baseball exhibit
• Did the "riverboat" trip right near Arch; probably okay to skip
• Shoulda done instead the Park Ranger tour at 10 am summer weekends
• Did the Old Courthouse, which was a sobering and wonderful stop
• Had lunch/dinner at Sweetie Pies, so WELL worth the wait
• Had frozen custard and Concrete at Ted Drewes

We then drove up to Springfield Illinois to stay a few days for Lincoln sightseeing, an awesome experience about an hour away.
All restaurants were chosen based on info from Travel Channel and other sites.