St. Louis Trip Part 1

I apologize for the delayed post. It has been crazy getting back on schedule after a three day weekend. It didn’t help that Evan and I both have sore throats and stacks of work to get through by this weekend on top of getting our place ready for guests and Evan’s last minute trip back to Michigan. It is safe to say that we are a bit scattered this week. It is all worth it, because we had a wonderful trip to St. Louis last weekend. I posted our shots on Flickr if you are interested in pictures of my friends (not a whole lot of scenery shots).

Vin de Set
We had a delicious dinner on Friday night at a rooftop French restaurant called, Vin de Set. We got a bottle of Garnacha (red wine from Spain) and a delicious cheese platter. I can’t resist a gourmet cheese selection at a restaurant because I’m still learning about cheese and this is the best way to sample different types. Unfortunately, none of the cheeses impressed me enough to remember what types we had. Evan ordered a pasta dish and I had the steak special that was prepared in what tasted like a blue cheese on top of golden potatoes. I would definitely recommend this restaurant if you are looking for fine dining in a more casual atmosphere in St. Louis.

Schlafly Bottleworks
Day 2 in St. Louis we went to lunch at Schlafly Bottleworks, the largest locally owned brewery in St. Louis that just happened to be walking distance from our friends’ house. The Brewery was hosting a BBQ Pork Steak competition in the parking lot with live music, but we opted to eat inside because it was pretty hot on the pavement in the blazing sun. The brews were really good. I had their Hefeweizen. Evan and I both ordered the pulled pork sandwich, but I traded up my side for their Smoked Gouda Gratin, thinly sliced layered potatoes baked with a Gouda cream sauce. Heaven.

Anheuser Busch Brewery
We went from one brewery to the next so that we could tour the huge Anheuser Busch Brewery (not locally owned anymore, therefore the largest foreign owned brewery in St. Louis). I was hoping that this tour would be a little more “history of Budweiser and other Anheuser Brands” and less “this is why you should drink Budweiser”. I’m not a huge fan of Bud, but I am a fan of learning about brewing. It didn’t help that there was a group of 3 people who were clearly already drunk before the tour began that were talking through most of the lecture and being pretty annoying to everyone else on the tour. At the end of the tour, you get 2 free beers, so I guess that draws a drunk crowd. We only had time for one sample because we had to be at the Arch. I had a Shock Top, which tasted like a wheat beer, but I really don’t know anything else about it because it was never mentioned on the tour.

(I had to do this in two parts because I couldn't get it to format.)