For us 2022 will be the "Road Trip Summer". We are headed across the country to visit relatives in Illinois and friends in Ohio and Denver. We kicked the trip off with a stop in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
We only had one night in Santa Fe, but luckily we arrived in the early afternoon and had a chance to walk around the plaza in the old town. It was pretty lively -- mariachis, tourists, and a troupe of Native American hoop dancers from the Lightning Boy Foundation, which were really cool to watch.
We found a nice table on the patio at the colorfully decorated Plaza Cafe. It was a great place for people watching and the food was terrific, although the green sauce was a touch spicy for me!
After dinner we took a walk and found a wonderful local distillery. Kevin tasted a flight of whiskies, and I had a really tasty apple brandy cocktail. Salud, Santa Fe!
Continuing on our route East, we stopped the next night in Oklahoma City. We chose a hotel near the Bricktown area, which used to be the warehouse district but has been converted into an entertainment district with restaurants, nightclubs, a theater and a ballpark. A canal runs through the area and water taxis offer narrated tours of the sights.
We timed our arrival in St. Louis so that we would get there in time for a tour at the Anheuser-Busch brewery.
One highlight of the tour was getting to see the iconic Budweiser Clydesdales up close. There are over 250 Clydesdale horses owned by the company, and they have several ranches throughout the country. The teams that they keep at the St. Louis brewery get to live in the historic stable that was built in 1885.
We also visited the Gateway Arch Museum, but didn't go up into the monument itself.
Then we took a steamboat river tour on the mighty Mississippi River. We had spectacular views from the river and learned a lot about freight shipping on the Mississippi.
We spent two nights in St. Louis, so that we could sample barbecue from all the best places. Our favorite by far was Sugarfire. We got our order to go and had lunch al fresco in the Kiener Plaza park, with great views of the arch and the historic courthouse.
We took a quick drive through Forest Park, site of the 1904 World's Fair. The Missouri History Museum had a great exhibit about the fair. Our time in St. Louis was brief but memorable; it was definitely worth a visit!
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