Day Eight, St. Louis, MO: The Gateway to the West

Today was my first full day in St. Louis. One of my hosts, Dave, felt compelled to show me around the city and I enjoyed this thoroughly. Despite being a recent transplant to the area – a native of Huntsville, Alabama – Dave is thoroughly educated on the city and its history.

Our first stop was Schlafly’s Brewery, which is gaining popularity in light of of the recent acquisition of Anheuser-Busch by Belgium-based InBev. Anheuser-Busch had historically been a large contributor to the city, both as a business and cultural icon. The move to sell to InBev left many in the community feeling betrayed, and seemed to result in a slight shift of allegiances.

Schlafly is really the brand name of beers produced by what is officially the Saint Lewis Brewery, Inc., and is a small craft brewery and not yet a major operation, (producing about 30,000 barrels per year, compared to about 90,000 from Bell’s in Kalamazoo.) I’d never been on a tour of a brewery before, other than through Modern Marvels on History, and the experience was interesting. The tanks pictured above are merely storage tanks, and not actually used in the brewing process, (other than some minor post-brew flavoring), which takes place in a separate and much smaller series of tanks. There was a small office for what looked like a Beer Chemist. I wonder what it would take to get that sort of job?

Lunch at the brewery’s restaurant was a southern-style Pulled Pork sandwich and some pan fried corn, both of which were delicious. We then continued on to Ted Drewes Frozen Custard shop off Route 66. Despite being quite a distance from Busch Stadium, the shop is packed after Cardinal’s games, with lines stretching into the street and down the block. It’s a local legend and choice establishment, and the Big Apple Concrete was deserving of its reputation.

After this, the 98 degree weather forced us back indoors. My tender Michigan soul is still growing accustomed to this unnatural heat, which was amplified by a lack of both clouds or breeze. For dinner, we went to Fitz’s, located on the Delmar Loop. In terms of entertainment and culture, the Loop is more of a downtown than Downtown St. Louis is, although it is located on the far West end of the city. The Loop includes many older establishments and was quite an interesting site to see at night.

Fitz’s is a root beer brewery, although it is primarily a restaurant. One interesting appetizer native to St. Louis are T-Ravs, or toasted ravioli. They’re the accidental invention of a cook who, when told to cook the ravioli, assumed that a deep fryer was the best place to do so. They’re similar to mozzarella sticks and taste great. 

The night concluded with a dramatic lightening storm that lasted beyond the half hour I spent watching. The rain would follow eventually, but not for some time. This, I believe, is a weather pattern quite rare in southern Michigan.