We drove through the uninspiring landscape of southern Illinois. I love the Midwest, but this is not its greatest feature. Scientific studies have proven that this part of the country is actually flatter than the average pancake.
We knew we were in St. Louis when we saw the giant arch. I always thought that the arch was going over something, like the Mississippi or a highway. Actually, it's just in the middle of a park alongside the river. I'm a little confused as to how it is “The Gateway to the West” if you just go alongside and not through it, but in any case it is extremely shiny and impressively tall.
On Tuesday we visited another major St. Louis landmark, the Anheisur-Busch plant. We learned the horrifying statistic that 50% of all beer sold in the United States is an Anheiser-Busch product (includes Budweiser, Michelob, and Natural products). The second best part was the Clydesdales. Adolphus Buisch's sons presented him with the first set of Clydesdales and a wagon to celebrate the end of Prohibition. They made some of the first post-Prohibition deliveries of beer in Memphis. The company got through Prohibition with wink-wink-nudge-nudge sales of “baking products” like yeast, barley, and hops. Needless to say, those first deliveries were made to political allies of the company.
Meet Jake. He is a GIANT Clydesdale, 1 foot taller and 600 pounds heavier than all of the other horses. Since he can't fit with any of the other horses on the hitch, he only goes out for single-horse events and spends the rest of the time hanging out in the deluxe stable. This isn't so bad—there is a chandelier from the World's Fair and Tiffany glass windows. I hope my home is one day so nice.
The best part of the tour was that afterwards we got free samples of premium Aneiser-Busch products, like Shock-top, a Belgian white with citrus, and Bud Light.
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