Paducah KY - St. Louis MO
Miles = 1,034
We had been wanting to take another two or three day trip before our big summer trip, but we were not finding any good time. We blew off golf on Tuesday June 6th to go to the Reds game and see Elly De La Cruz' major league debut and it was electric. The next night was even better for him and it was then we decided to take off for their Friday night game in St. Louis. We reluctantly passed on Thursday's afternoon game and rode to Paducah which put us in place for a for a short ride into Saint Louie.
Day One - 452 miles
Our plan was to ride down near Frankfort for our first stop. We planned to stop at Lock and Dam #3 on the KY river from the east side but the road there was blocked, so we found a nice little dirt road down to Cedar Creek and stopped there and walked out onto the rock creek bed which sits just south of the town of Monterey. We continued down US127 through Frankfort, ran on I-64 for a short time and then some backroads south of Louisville before reaching the Ohio at Fort Duffield. The Fort was a Civil War relic built in 1861 to provide Union Troops a strategic location at the mouth of the Salt River where it connects to the Ohio. There was no railroad in the area so this fort protected the land route. The fort was mostly abandoned as the war moved south in 1862. The area is now a park and has many trails in the area and owe walked up to the very top to have a look. We were following the river as best we could and not that far from the fort we made our third stop at the Judge Joseph Holt House. The Judge was a very famous Kentucky lawyer in the 19th century. He held many posts in government and perhaps was most famous for presiding over the trial of Lincoln's assassination conspirators. The nice thing was while we sat outside of the house we struck up a conversation with a guy who was in charge of the house renovation and he gave us a personal tour. We continued on the backroads and made our last stop at the KY Dam on the Tennessee River which wasn't much at all but we were close to our destination. We stopped on the way in at Dry Ground Brewing where we also had dinner at a food truck on the grounds.
Day Two - 216 miles
Our breakfast spot was not open early so we took our time and didn't hit breakfast until 8:00. The Gold Rush Cafe in downtown Paducah was very good and we were on our way before 9:00. Our plan was to ride along the Mississippi as best we could and had aa couple of places picked out for stops. Our first stop was St Nicholas Landmark Brewing right on the waterfront in Chester IL. We arrived not much after 11:00 and we thought about by-passing but they were open so we thought what the heck. It was a nice place with good looking food but we really weren't hungry so we just a short one and went on our way. Less than 6 miles up river we stopped at the Pierre Menard House also on the river. The French-Creole style house sits on the banks of the river and looks like something one might see near New Orleans.. Pierre was businessman and fur trader and was also the first Lieutenant Governor of IL. We walked the grounds quite a bit and even stopped in the gift shop. It was already noon so we knew we had to get moving. Our final stop was at the Salt Mines in Valmeyer. I suppose salt was once mined here although there is not much information about that but now it serves as a record keeping area for the US Government. We couldn't go very far into the cave but the little amount we did you could really feel the coolness. This was a very interesting spot. There are many trails in the area but we didn't have time to explore. We finally made it to St. Louis, checked in and quickly got on our way to dinner at Schlafly Brewery. The food was pretty good but nothing special. The place is iconic but I don't think were overly impressed. We ubered to the ball park and arrived well before the 7:00 game start. We hung out at the hotel after the game.
Day Three - 365 miles
Even though it was Saturday we wanted to get out of town and get some miles behind before we stopped for breakfast, and East St. Louis was not really an option. We had to raise I-64 to O'Fallon before we could break away and ride on US50. We stopped in Breese IL for breakfast at Old 50 Cafe. This place was exactly what one would expect in a small downtown on US50. The food and service were top notch. Our first stop was the Halfway Tavern which sits on US50 just outside the town of Luka. The Tavern was halfway between St. Louis and Vincennes IN. This was the place George Rogers Clark stopped on his way from Kaskaskia to Vincennes where he defeated the British at Fort Sackville. Of course, the Tavern is just a replica and was built in the 1950s. Not much to it but we stopped anyway. Our next stop was George Rogers Clark National Historical Park. This park is a real treasure. It sits along the Wabash River with its centerpiece being the GRC Memorial Rotunda built in 1933. The Rotunda was made of Minnesota granite and took three years to build. Flanking the park is the St Francis Xavier Basilica. The current Basilica was completed in 1826 but was the fourth church in this location with the first being built in 1732. The Lincoln Memorial bridge is nearby and provides a nice background as it looks to be the same material ass the Rotunda. We spent a fair amount of time here wandering the grounds and just enjoying the nice spring day. We rode a few more miles and stopped at Feed Store Beer Co. We talked to the owner and when he bought the building to open his brewery the only name he could think of is the building was used for decades and that was the local Feed Store, and there you have it. It was a nice place and hadn't been open all that long. We made our final stop at Seymour Brewing for a quick pint as we watched the local corn hole tournament. I think we would've done quite well had we participated.