2018 07 01 - 07 05, Boone Homestead, Anheuser Busch, Madison County Courthouse and Ted Drewes

370 Lakeside Park, St. Peters, Missouri - 26 June 2018

A recently developed campground west of the Missouri River along a man-made lake and nice paved walking and biking trails that extend out from here into the surrounding areas. 

Boone Homestead, Defiance, Missouri - 1 July 2018

This property was owned by one of Daniel Boone's sons and it is here that he spent the last years of life.

During Daniel Boone's time here this was the main entrance though we would consider it to be the back of the house. At the left on the lowest level is the kitchen but would not have had the double glassed in doors. They were added later. It would have been dark, hot and smoky and all cooking was done by two female slaves. The two right hand sets of doors are to the dining room and also would not have had panes of glass but would have been solid wood. This was a vast wilderness when Daniel Boone brought his family from Kentucky and attacks from native American tribes would have been a major concern. The table and chairs would only accommodate 6-8 people so the men ate first, followed by the women and children.  

This is the family room on the floor above the dining room. It does extend from front to back so has both East and West exposures for additional lighting. All the woodwork, including cabinet doors, fireplace mantel and door and window casements were carved by Daniel Boone himself. In fact, he hand carved all the wood details in the house.  

Across the hall from the family room is a small sitting/office room connecting to this bedroom where Daniel Boone passed away. It's eastern exposure make it one of the brightest rooms in the house. I noticed the coverlet on the bed does not appear to be a reproduction as it has a center seam indicating it was woven on a smaller non-commercial loom. Sadly, the tour guide could not tell us anything about it. 

This is one of several out buildings standing on the property. Currently it houses a local gallery but was closed today. This style is referred to as "dog-trot" construction presumably since a dog would trot between the two separate living spaces.

This contraption apparently was developed (not surprisingly) in Europe and brought over by the British. While it resembles a muzzle loading flintlock it actually is a long range, high powered firearm. The mounting on the wheeled, wooden cart is for stability and due to its weight. It takes about four times the usual amount of gunpowder as a standard long gun. 

On this day, we had British re-enacters providing the details of military actions on the frontier during the early 1800s. The father, son and grandson have all served our country in the military and now perform additional service of keeping our history alive. 

A display of small cannon fire. 

The packet of gunpowder is about the size of a Ding-Dong for a three-inch projectile. Leaning on the right wheel is the rasp which scrapes the gunpowder residue off the insides of the barrel. The other pole on the left is wool used to clean out the residue before reloading. The man in the straw hat is holding the ramrod, used to drive the gunpowder packet and finally the projectile into the base of the barrel. 

Ready...Aim...FIRE!!! Nice photography, Bob. 

Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis, Missouri - 2 July 2018

Disregard that we had both lived in St. Louis for many years, we had never taken a tour of the original A-B Brewery. 

The iconic A-B "Flying Eagle" logo. 

We were amazed to see this foursome of Clydesdales walking in perfect synchronization. It wasn't until we got closer and the group turned around that we saw a young woman standing in the midst of them completely unseen  among the four horses. The original horses were a cross between Flemish stallions and Scotland's mare near the River Clyde in Lanarkshire, Scotland. All animals in one of the three hitch teams is a gelding, stand 17 hands (or 6 feet tall), be at least 4 years old, weigh between 1800 and 2300 pounds. They also must have a bay coat, four white stockings, a blaze of white on the face, a black mane and black tail. 

The official home of the Budweiser Clydesdales is this ornate brick and stained-glass stable built in 1885 on the 100-acre Anheuser-Busch Brewery complex in St. Louis. 

Each horse chosen for one of the three hitch teams is hand crafted with solid brass, patent leather, and stitched with pure linen thread. The harness is made to fit any Clydesdale, however, collars come in a variety of sizes and must be individually fitted to each horse. The harness and collar weigh approximately 130 pounds.

All the ladies housed here were outside but all the boys were inside. 

A couple of the Beer Wagons 

Anyone know what this wagon is for? Bob thinks it may be a barley wagon.

The resident Dalmation which rides on top of the Beer Wagon. Originally, the breed has long been associated with horses and valued for their speed, endurance and dependable nature. They were once called coach dogs because they ran between the wheels of coaches or carriages and provided companionship to the horses. 

After the five ingredients (water, barley, hops, rice and malt) are mixed and mashed it is transferred to these tanks for beechwood aging. The beechwood chips are used to keep the yeast (added in these tanks) from settling in the bottom. It does not add any flavor to the beer and after the aging process the beechwood is ground up for use in neighborhood playgrounds. Each of these tanks is large enough to hold our almost 40 foot RV with room to spare and they have 16 tanks stacked in building. Each tank hold enough beer to fill approximately 200,000 six-packs. 

The original clock tower built in 1891 is attached to the brewing house. Inside is ornate wrought-iron railing and hop vine chandeliers from the 1904 World's Fair.

We saw these elephant statues and couldn't figure out how they are placed in the A-B story. During prohibition, the factory stopped producing beer and began making other products, one of which was packaged yeast. The elephant was the logo used on the front of the yeast packaging. The back of the package had a disclaimer that it was not to be used to make beer and then listed the ingredients and process for making beer. 

The sign says this is a photo opportunity so we took a picture. We have no idea what this giant sink was used for or why we would want a picture of it. 

Interior of the Brew House with its ornate wrought iron. 

The mascot of the Bevo Packaging Plant, constructed in 1917, stands 8 stories tall, houses 27 acres of floor space and over 25 miles of conveyor belts. There is a whimsical fox perched on each corner, all munching a chicken leg and holding a mug of Bevo, a non-alcoholic cereal-based beverage produced during prohibition.  

The character is from a medieval French folk tale and is called Renard the Fox. The plant is still bottling the two most popular brands, Budweiser and Bud Light.  

The lobby of the Bevo Packaging Plant with the original tiles.

Catching the trolley back to the Biergarten. 

Fredericktown, Missouri - 3 July 2018

 Heading off for a few hours of genealogical research. 

Madison County Courthouse housing the marriage records from 1820, Deeds of Trust from the same time-frame and also wills. 

Wait, don't take a picture now. I haven't gotten started and looks like I'm not doing anything. Trust me. Once we got involved in it, the research included one, sometimes two books from the top shelves which are indexes to the actual Deeds in the red books surrounding us on three walls. We would also have two or three of them out too. That one little 8 foot table was crammed with books, my laptop and a notebook for additional notes. 

After a long day of research and four hours of travel to and from the Courthouse, we needed some sustenance. Ted Drewes Frozen Custard would hit the spot nicely. It was still hot and humid but look at this crowd. And this is at 3:45 pm on a Tuesday. After dinner hours are even more crazy. There are 3 or 4 windows for ordering and each line goes out to the sidewalk and along the road for a block or more. We were so glad there was much more parking since the last time we were there but the frozen custard was as delicious as we remember. 

Ted Drewes has been selling frozen custard for over 80 years (about 1931) at the Grand location in St. Louis and currently has two locations, including this one on Chippewa. 

If you have liked any other frozen custard, it can not compare to this. Kristen was not happy when we sent a picture to her. Maybe she will visit her relatives in St. Louis one day so she can have some..