Sunday, August 30, 2009

Urban Safari

I had to cancel this weekend's adventuring due to illness, so instead I give you a little excitement from this weekend. Yesterday I was out brushing the dog when my neighbor Ed came out to tell me to stay away from the dumpster. He said he saw a raccoon go in and never saw him come out. So of course, I ran for my camera and spent the next 30 minutes with my forehead against the fence.

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I know raccoons are generally regarded as varmints, but I'd never seen one up close before. After watching him plot his escape for half an hour (from what turned out to be a completely empty dumpster,) I have decided that raccoons are like the ninjas of wildlife. I have no doubt that ever raccoon story I've ever heard is 100% true.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Suson Park

LISTEN UP, ST LOUIS PARENTS! If you don't know about Suson Park, you are missing out on one of the best free activities for kids (and adults) in the St Louis area. Sure, the St Louis Zoo is "free," but you know your kids are whining all day that they want to Build A Bear and they want Dippin' Dots and they their face painted. Am I right?

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Go to Suson Park instead! You can have a picnic and go fishing at the lake, and get THIS CLOSE to the animals! I could not BELIEVE how excited the kids around us were about chickens and pigs and goats.

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Suson Park is located at 6059 Wells Road, which is accessed from I-55 and Meramec Bottom Road. Bring a picnic lunch and relax!

Friday, August 21, 2009

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Bring your club, get some grub!

I feel like I need to start out with a fanfare, since last year's entry consistently gets more hits that anything else I've posted. Unfortunately I thought of that at the last minute and don't actually know how to do it. So without further ado: THE CAVE RESTAURANT AND RESORT!

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That's right, Caveman BBQ was finally purchased, by Gary Dyer of Gary's Place in Lebanon, MO. The restaurant was doing booming business this weekend and we had to wait for the shuttles, so we had an opportunity to get more pictures of the property than the last time.

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The old horseshoe pits and tennis court:

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The property was originally known as Ozark Springs Resort:

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Since you have seen the full restaurant tour in my post from last year and little of the "architecture" has changed, I thought it would be fun to go down our list of suggestions from the last trip. First, the country road to get to the restaurant is, in fact, much better now. It seems like more of the road had been paved, and the gravel section had been graded and was much smoother. to avoid confusion, that is NOT the Rochester Road sign, that is the sign at the parking lot.

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Second: advertising. I have heard reports from all over the area that people have seen Cave Restaurant billboards. I didn't see any myself when we were driving down there, but I can report that the sign at Rochester Rd is much more visible than I remembered.

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Third: LIQUOR LICENSE. As you can see, Gary agrees that a good restaurant needs a bar. I think one person in our party of 12 actually got an adult beverage, but we like the option. When the cabins are done and we are spending the weekend instead of spending an entire day on the highway, we will partake.

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Fourth: better hours. While they still close at 8:30, they are now open on Wednesdays, and only close for January and February, rather than November through March.

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Fifth: Souvenirs! Yay! I bought a t-shirt and Keith bought a mug. Right now those are your only two choices, but it's better than a blurry postcard.

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As for the food, wow! The people who went on the trip last year expected a choice between steak and BBQ, and instead we had this whole brand new, extensive menu. It was a tough choice, but I settled on the chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and fried okra, and it was quite possibly the best chicken fried steak I've ever had.

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A couple people at my end of the table got the 1/2 oven roasted chicken and said it was delicious, and I heard several exclamations over the spicy lemon Aiello sauce on the chicken sandwich. Only one person ended up getting a steak, and said it was good despite being on the really rare side of medium rare.

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The service was pretty slow this year. We had a party of 12 and were there for nearly 2.5 hours. However, it was really busy, and it sounded to me like they had a newish computer order entry system that took some getting used to. I seriously doubt 2 hours for a large party is normal, but you should still budget some extra time for this stop. Bonus: they now take credit cards as well.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

World's Largest Route 66 Rocking Chair

Next up on our trip down Route 66 (loosely) is the World's Largest Rocking Chair at the Route 66 Outpost in Fanning, MO.

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I actually do a fair amount of research for all of these blogs to bring you the bits of trivia. A cursory Google search when I started this entry led me to believe that there was another rocking chair that was actually the World's Largest, and that this one was just the World's Largest on Route 66.

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I had this blog all typed up and ready to go with an entirely different slant, and then a shrewd question from Robbie (of Pandora's Lunchbox) led to further research. It turns out those others are just pretenders to the throne (ha!) and this right here is the WORLD'S LARGEST ROCKING CHAIR, as certified by the Guinness Book of World Records. Just one more reason why Missouri is awesome.

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We didn't have Jesse for scale this time. Too bad Keith isn't under there somewhere since he's the same height. You can read more about how the rocking chair came to be here.

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The Route 66 Outpost itself is a combination of taxidermist, wine shop, convenience store, and indoor archery range.

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The bobcat grabbing for the flying squirrel was far and away the group favorite.

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The Route 66 Outpost and General Store and World's Largest Route 66 Rocking Chair is located in Fanning, MO. Get off I-44 at exit 203 and follow the "Giant Rocker" signs.