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Published: June 17th 2009
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St. Louis Cathedral Basilica
The Cathedral is also a basilica, which basically signifies it as a much grander cathedral in the Catholic Church. There are 40 basilicas in the United States. Today was my last touring day on this leg and it went out with a bang. This morning I went to the
St. Louis Cathedral Basilica, which replaced the original Cathedral over 100 years ago. The Basilica is located in an older part of town with tree lined streets, large brick and stone homes and countless churches. The structure didn’t appear particularly large from the exterior - I drove past one side and didn’t realize I was there - but the architecture is grand. The real treat was going inside where I was overwhelmed by its size and grandeur. The interior walls and ceilings were covered in Byzantine mosaics with their gold backgrounds and intensely colored foregrounds, which made the Basilica feel majestic.
I had an early lunch at Pappy’s Smokehouse, an up-and-coming BBQ joint in town. Pappy’s opened in February 2008 and has quickly developed a following from both tourists and locals alike. Apparently they only prepare enough food for the day and once something is gone, you can’t order it again that day. I made sure I was safe and went for lunch.
The place was packed - at 11:30 am the wait was about 30 minutes. But once I
Sign on Pappy's door
I found this funny. Awwwe. Somebody's gotta ride back and get a shitload of dimes. ordered, the food came out in minutes. And it was well worth the wait. Of all the BBQ I’ve had this trip, this was the best (although Salt Lick had the best stand alone sauce). Pappy’s is best known for its ribs, which had an indescribable dry rub on them. Of course I went with these and combined them with some pulled pork, baked beans and sweet potato fries (Pappy’s is also the largest seller of sweet potato fries in the US for a single location).
Everything was terrific but the ribs were the best. The dry rub didn’t require any sauce to be added as the moisture in both the meat and from my salivation were more than enough to complement the rub. However, after the owner came around and recommended a particular sauce for the ribs, the euphoria grew even more.
Stuffed from lunch, I headed south to tour the Anheuser Busch brewery. The brewery is one of a few that houses the Clydesdales, which we were able to see, and also produces numerous Anheuser Busch products. We learned about the brewing process and saw many of the aspects in action. One memorable part was the
Food at Pappy's
Full stack of ribs, pulled pork, sweet potato fries and baked beans. Delicious! aging tanks, which hold enough beer that a single person would have to drink one beer per hour for the next 137 years to kill off the beer in one tank. I took that as a challenge. Now I know what I’m going to do with my life. Look for a documentary somewhat similar to
Supersize Me starring yours truly.
The next stop was the Gateway Arch. The arch stands 630 feet tall and has more than 1,100 steps to the top. And cramped elevators for pretty much everyone since no one wants to climb that many steps. The views of Illinois and downtown St. Louis were impressive from the small lookout windows at the top.
My last stop was the new Busch Stadium for the Cardinals game, in which they hosted the Tigers in interleague action. I sat along the third base line in what should have been foul ball central. The game was a blowout from the start.
The stadium was more what I was accustomed to, as it wasn’t a cross between a ballpark and a theme park; it was a ballpark. The games they had were more basic - fastpitch and a modern
Anheuser Busch tour
A display case with various Anheuser Busch products inside the main entrance. batting cage. That’s because people were focused on the game (and the beer which was everywhere).
I was fairly impressed by the number and intensity of the local fans. They were lined outside the gates at 5:00 pm and were all decked out in Cardinals gear. There were a lot of female fans, too. But they weren’t at the game because someone made them go; they were there in all female groups and were focused on the game.
Tomorrow I leave the red states and head back to blue country as I meet up with Renee in Pittsburgh tomorrow night. That’s 10 hours on the road - I need to get some sleep.
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