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A Day Trip Down South

July 11, 2014 Featured, History/Preservation, Missouri, Travel 2 Comments

Last month the hubby and I decided to go town to Sainte Genevive, Missouri. I’d been once or twice twenty plus years ago, he’d never been. The fastest way there is I-55 south, but we took the long way heading south from downtown St. Louis on Jefferson Ave until it merges with South Broadway into St. Louis County. On highway 231 we passed Jefferson Barrack’s Cemetery, which we’ve seen before including a memorial service a few weeks earlier.    We were close to two parks we visited last year, Cliff Cave Park and Bee Tree Park.

We got to the end of 231, turning left (south) onto state highway 61/67. Very soon Siri is telling us to turn left for Kimswick, MO. Charming, we made a note to return for lunch or dinner sometime. We continue passing through Barnhart, Pevely, Herculaneum, Festus/Crystal City, happened on a charming old roadside park, before finally arriving in Sainte Genevive. The backroad journey took at least twice as long as the interstate, but it’s so much more interesting!

More after the pics…

Kimswick, Missouri
Vernacular buildings in historic Kimswick, Missouri, click image for more infomation
Highway 61 roadside park near Bloomsdale, MO
Highway 61 roadside park near Bloomsdale, MO
Fourche a du Clos Valley as seen from the highway 61 roadside park
Fourche a du Clos Valley as seen from the highway 61 roadside park, you can hear the traffic of I-55 below but you can’t see it. Click image for more info.
Sainte Genevive
Sainte Genevive
Sainte Genevive
Sainte Genevive lost a historic building in 1934 for a service station, which later became a firehouse, and is now a cafe.
View from the Chaumette tasting room
Stunning views at Chaumette Winery
I love this house on highway 61 in St. Mary, MO
I love this house on highway 61 in St. Mary, MO

Most of the Ste Genevive wineries are a long drive from the historic town, next time we’ll take I-55 so we have more time to explore, possibly staying overnight in one of the many choices for accommodations.

We’d decided to cross the Mississippi River and return to St. Louis via Illinois, but first we stopped in St. Mary where I fell in love with the house shown above. We crossed the river into Chester, IL and came north on Route 3 without stopping.  Very different terrain 0n the Illinois side. I love seeing these historic towns on a map, a nice grid of streets.

Have a great weekend, do something memorable!

— Steve Patterson

 

Currently there are "2 comments" on this Article:

  1. Ooh, Steve…you were tantalizingly close to my native home (Prairie du Rocher, IL).

    Unless your goal was to visit Chester for awhile, I would have recommended taking the river ferry across from Ste. Genevieve (because, really, how often do you get to ferry a river?!) and then continuing north along scenic Bluff Road all the way back north to Columbia and the JB Bridge.

    It’s an interesting round trip — going south on the Missouri side, you’re basically on top of the bluffs, looking out, whereas on your return trip via Bluff Road in Illinois, you’re right down in the river bottoms the whole time, with the bluffs always to your right.

    I remember hot summer evenings as a kid, where the family would go park at the quarries north of Rocher and just bask in the consistent 60 degree chill coming out from within. Ah, memories…

     
    • We thought about the ferry but by this point I was tired of driving and wanted to get home. I’m glad we stopped in St. Mary. We’ll be back again and will take the ferry then.

       

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