Mar 31, 2011

At the lake house....

Ben's aunt and uncle were so generous to let us stay at their lake house south of Saint Louis in De Soto. We had a great time relaxing and exploring the area. Here are few pics of our adventures during the week!
Scout loves me. Thanks baby!


Cutest babies EVER.









Elephant Rocks State Park - awesome!










Delicious crab cakes!











Mar 28, 2011

STL continued...


Monday morning we woke up to snow and rain... at the same time! It was GROSS outside. We got up and headed out to St. Louis Bread Company aka Panera (they call it this because it was founded in STL). We got some hot breakfast and coffee to start our day. First, we decided to go to Missouri Botanical Garden. I know, that sounds really stupid on a day like that, but it was actually a great decision! They had a special Orchid exhibit going on inside. I absolutely love orchids and they had a bazillion species displayed! We also toured the Climatron and Temperate House. The Climatron was like stepping into a tropical rain forest. It felt very nice on that dreary day. We saw really neat tropical plants and flowers in there! Check out a few of the beautiful orchids we saw!




After the Missouri Botanical Garden we headed to "The Loop". Ben's cousins said this was the place to go to eat and shop! We cruised the loop and checked out all the restaurants and shops. We decided on Fitz'. Ben's cousin has a friend whose family own Fitz's. We thought it would be a fun place to check out!We had their freshly made Root Beer and Cream Soda. They had a variety of soda flavors that looked yummy! We ordered a burger and a veggie wrap. Both were delicious and large portions. MMMmmm! The restaurant was neatly done in a retro theme, but open to the second story. Exposed brick on the walls and a counter for malt making. Here is a photo from our experience!
 The big event of the day was our Anheiser Busch tour! We chose to do the Beermaster tour which was a little more pricey, but worth it! As you can see in the pics, we got hats, headsets, sweet shades, and lots of free beer in free nice beer glasses. We toured the plant and saw the process of how our delicious beer is created. We had access to the stables and got to see the Clydesdales in their homes :) That was my favorite part.... well, getting a fresh beverage out of the big tank was pretty great too! We also met some fellow Iowans. Turns out one of them is in my sorority from ISU... she is a Gamma Phi. We ended up talking for a while and she knew my brother and my mom! Small world. 




























The Budweiser Suite where we received free beverages and snacks!