As many of you may know, I just returned from a week-long vacation through south-central and south-eastern Missouri. Rather than give a play-by-play of the trip, I’m choosing to tell the story in the form of web links to the many places that were a part of our trip. You can also see some pictures through my wife Becky’s facebook page and on her flickr album for the trip.
Mojeji Ranch – We spent the first two nights of our vacation with our friends Jon and Janelle Flory-Shrock at their farm, where they live with Jon’s parents. We had a blast living the farm life, helping with chores like feeding the goats, moving cow fences, checking on laying hens, and tending the garden.
Alley Spring and Mill – A quick but picturesque stop on the way from the Ranch to our campground (pictures at this link are broken, but you can see them in our photo album.)
Riversedge Campground – Where we primitive-camped for the majority of our time in Missouri. We also enjoyed one of their canoe float trips down the river on Wednesday.
Johnson Shut-Ins State Park – Part of our whirlwind tour of State Parks on Thursday, we went back for several hours on Friday to swim, play, and picnic. We also visited their river center museum.
Elephant Rocks State Park – A fun place where we enjoyed hiking the “braille trail”, visiting the engine house ruins, and scrambling on the rocks.
Fort Davidson State Historic Site – Another stop along the way Thursday, we learned about the role this area played in the Civil War.
Taum Sauk Mountain State Park – Thursday afternoon we visited Missouri’s highest point on Taum Sauk Mountain, then went on a 3 mile hike to see Mina Sauk falls which weren’t flowing much that day but made for another great place to take pictures.
Sappington Farmers’ Market – On Saturday we drove to St. Louis, where the first stop was this rancher- and farmer-owned market where the local beef co-op Mojeji is a part of was having a cook-out. We enjoyed the food and the large indoor market, replete with both traditional groceries and lots of amazing local products.
Ted Drewes Frozen Custard – Upon the recommendation of a friend we stopped at Ted Drewes, on historic Route 66 and had some “concretes” (which are roughly akin to DQ Blizzards, though much tastier!)
City Museum – We happened to learn about this from a local we met camping. The museum consists of many “found items” from within the city limits of St. Louis that have been creatively and artistically transformed into what amounts to an enormous playground for children and adults alike.
Eastlake Inn Bed and Breakfast – We spent Saturday night at a lovely bed and breakfast just outside St. Louis, in Kirkwood. The Magnolia room was splendid, and we loved playing with the 4 Golden Retrievers who lived there too!
Harvest Restaurant – The local-foods scene in St. Louis is thriving, including one of the top-rated restaurants in town, Harvest, where we dined Saturday night.
Gateway Arch and Museum of Westward Expansion – All part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis, on Sunday morning we made the trip to the top of the iconic arch and explored the interesting (but at times heartbreaking) museum.
Local Harvest Cafe and Grocery – The last stop on our trip was at another local-foods eatery and purveyor. The cafe and grocery are in two different buildings but both were super groovy and made me wish we had a stronger local-foods culture in Richmond!
Well, those are the high points of our trip! We also visited REI, Whole Foods Market, and several other less noteworthy places along the way. Overall it was a great trip, spending a week of vacation in the beautiful Ozark Mountains of Missouri.