Catherine wanted to take a look at the St Louis Union Station, so we hiked about 12 blocks up the road, with the temperature already in the 80s. It's a very impressive building from the outside and a number of hotels and a shopping/food mall inside. I think they also have trains too! I'm not a Harry Potter aficionado but I don't believe the Hogwarts express left from St Louis, as the mural depicted!
We walked back to the hotel via the Old Courthouse, were Catherine got to sit in a judges chair in a mock court. Checked out our first stop was at Ted Drewes frozen custard shop, which has been trading on R66 for over 60 years. Frozen custard, is ice cream. Catherine had a sundae, which is vanilla covered in a flavoured sauce, hot fudge in Catherine's case. I had a cherry concrete, which means they mix the flavour in. Both were very nice and didn't last too long as a result and also because the temperature was now at it's usual point, 93 degrees.
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| Ted Drewes, very popular! |
Next stop, the Meramec River bridge, in the Route 66 park. I'd been here before in 2010 and remember we had to put our waterproofs on but I don't recall the bridge, which is now closed, with the road bed removed. A quick visit to the visitor centre to purchase some postcards and we were back on the road again.
I really love this part of R66, Twisty and undulating, I suppose it reminds me more of UK roads. It was great on a Harley and still goo in a car. We made a stop for fuel, with 3/4 of a tank gone and spent about $18 dollars to fill it back up. $2.14 per gallon, is about £1.41. Makes you want to cry!
A quick photo stop at the Big Chief Roadhouse, from 1929 (I think) and we were soon pulling up at the Jesse James Wax Museum. This had been one Catherine had picked out, as she loves these quirky little places, and is just off the interstate, before you come to the Meramec Caverns. A little overpriced, it has to be said, the 10 minute film and the museum itself, do leave you wondering if JJ was killed in 1862, as reported or if he lived to be 103, dying in 1951, as some now claim. In the shop, was a one armed bandit. We stuck 2 dimes in and promptly won a prize, a JJ wanted poster, priced at $1.99. Result! ;-)
A short drive up to the caverns followed, for a toilet break before the final leg of the drive, to our hotel in Cuba, The Wagon Wheel. This is period, 1946/7 vintage and comes with no frills. I could tell Catherine wasn't happy. It's always a most trepidacious moment for me, anywhere we go, as we enter a room I have booked. Not sure that the luxury of the last hotel was a good idea, as she doesn't seem to have got her head around the idea of stopping at the historic hotels, just yet. Heaven knows what she'll make of the Wigwam in Holbrook!
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| The Wagon Wheel Hotel, Cuba, Missouri |
Settled in we went into town, partly to find somewhere to each but also to view the murals that Cuba is apparently famous for. They are dotted around the main street and all very good.
Making our way back and waiting at the crossroads, there appeared a group of bikers. I realised that this was the Orange & Black tour, being led by my mate Gary, The Bear but only as the California Sunriders van appeared, by which time Gary had gone past. No time for us to wave at him.
Dinner was taken in a local bar/pool hall/restaurant. Music playing, punters cheering, whooping and hollering along, it reminded me a bit of the Town Pump in Tulsa. Food was OK though and Catherine was catered for. They had Blue Moon on tap too, so I downed a couple of those. By the time we got back to the hotel, its neon sign was lit. Funny though it's only on one side, so Eastbound you be OK, Westbound you'd probably sail on by.
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| Can't beat a bit of neon |
Tomorrow we are off to Carthage and another night in a period motel, Boots Court. If we are lucky, we may even get chance to visit the Drive-In.
Until tomorrow then.
Looks good. I am looking forward to a wigwam in Holbrook next year. Did you book direct or through booking.com?
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