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If you had to stop and see one thing along I-70


Farrar
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As an alternative to Ted Drewes in St. Louis for ice cream (which is fine, but not mind blowing), The Fountain on Locust is really neat and not terribly far from the City Museum.  A dozen blocks, maybe?  They have actual food and ice cream (and ice cream martinis, which is why *our* group went, but probably not for 14yo boys).  They are also well known for their... ornately decorated bathrooms, haha. 

1 hour ago, MrsMommy said:

Cahokia Mounds is AMAZING!!! The sense of history there is overwhelming, especially for someone who has lived in various parts of the midwest her entire life, and doesn't get to see the "old" things in the US that most people talk about.

I've lived in St. Louis for almost two decades, and I've still never been to the City Museum. I know it's supposed to be awesome, but I think it would be overwhelming for me. 

That's funny, after 25ish years here, I've been to the City Museum a dozen times, but never to Cahokia Mounds!  I need a staycation or something.

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21 minutes ago, BarbecueMom said:

As an alternative to Ted Drewes in St. Louis for ice cream (which is fine, but not mind blowing), The Fountain on Locust is really neat and not terribly far from the City Museum.  A dozen blocks, maybe?  They have actual food and ice cream (and ice cream martinis, which is why *our* group went, but probably not for 14yo boys).  They are also well known for their... ornately decorated bathrooms, haha. 

That's funny, after 25ish years here, I've been to the City Museum a dozen times, but never to Cahokia Mounds!  I need a staycation or something.

 

If you go, I recommend the fall. In addition to all the history, there's a whole bunch of wildlife to be found. We followed some deer around one year, and a flock of turkeys another. It was so cool!

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9 hours ago, MEmama said:

You're in Ohio?

When we lived in Columbus and would visit the in laws in OK, we would drive to St Louis to stay the night, then on to Tulsa the following day. Because DS was little, we would stop at the zoo in Indianapolis on the way to STL, have lunch there, and he would nap the entire boring way to STL.  :) It was a great way to break up the drive, and kept the driving days reasonable. 

Wow, I need to do the google maps on that! Ok, I'm back. You're right, that actually could work! We have family in Indy, so we could actually do that to get to STL. Then what did you do from STL to OK? That's looking like another 8 hours because we'd be going to Norman. I'd rather fly than be trapped in a car that long. But really, I'm with you that we could do to STL driving yes. That I could almost see. Well thanks for the tip!

Adding: I'm realizing the wisdom of Prairie's tip to go through KS. That would only add an hour but it would break it up. Still not sure I can stomach doing that much riding. But just to get to STL, I'm thinking that could work and be really cool! Going farther would have to be a longer trip. 

Edited by PeterPan
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4 minutes ago, PeterPan said:

So can I just ask if your BBQMom name means STL bbq is a thing? Where would we go? Or which 3 places would we hit if we came? :biggrin:

LOL, no it actually has nothing to do with food.  It’s a play on my old Xbox Live gamer tag.

Off the top of my head for BBQ, I can think of Pappy’s Smokehouse, Sugarfire, and Salt + Smoke.  To be fair, I’ve never actually eaten at any of them, although I’ve never heard anything but raves from anyone who has.  Between my health issues, DH’s Celiac, and an unfortunate barfing incident at a Bandana’s when DS10 was a toddler, restaurant BBQ just isn’t as thrilling as it used to be.

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Growing up south of Columbus, and having a brother who now lives in DC, he always takes 68 through northern MD before 70 crosses into PA when he visits, cutting out the PA turnpike--seems like there's always construction, bad weather, heavy traffic--and getting a beautiful, scenic route over the mountains with less traffic and minimal tolls.  Maybe stopping at the Sideling Hill Scenic rest area--top of the world.  IIRC, he takes 40 off of 68 just southeast of Pittsburgh (Keysers Ridge?) angling up to 70 inside the western PA border.  Enjoy your trip!

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6 hours ago, PeterPan said:

So can I just ask if your BBQMom name means STL bbq is a thing? Where would we go? Or which 3 places would we hit if we came? :biggrin:

 

You could also go to Beast Craft BBQ in Belleville, which is on the Illinois side of the Mississippi. Best BBQ I've ever had. Seriously amazing.

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7 hours ago, PeterPan said:

Wow, I need to do the google maps on that! Ok, I'm back. You're right, that actually could work! We have family in Indy, so we could actually do that to get to STL. Then what did you do from STL to OK? That's looking like another 8 hours because we'd be going to Norman. I'd rather fly than be trapped in a car that long. But really, I'm with you that we could do to STL driving yes. That I could almost see. Well thanks for the tip!

Adding: I'm realizing the wisdom of Prairie's tip to go through KS. That would only add an hour but it would break it up. Still not sure I can stomach doing that much riding. But just to get to STL, I'm thinking that could work and be really cool! Going farther would have to be a longer trip. 

STL to Tulsa is only 6 hrs, a short days drive for us. DS was used to travelling and even when he was little 6 hrs was no biggie. 

I don't think we ever found anything to do to break up the drive the 2nd day; I honestly have no recollection of even the landscape. Lol

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12 hours ago, ChrisB said:

Growing up south of Columbus, and having a brother who now lives in DC, he always takes 68 through northern MD before 70 crosses into PA when he visits, cutting out the PA turnpike--seems like there's always construction, bad weather, heavy traffic--and getting a beautiful, scenic route over the mountains with less traffic and minimal tolls.  Maybe stopping at the Sideling Hill Scenic rest area--top of the world.  IIRC, he takes 40 off of 68 just southeast of Pittsburgh (Keysers Ridge?) angling up to 70 inside the western PA border.  Enjoy your trip!

I wanted to mention avoiding the turnpike, but I thought maybe I was just weird. We always avoid the turnpike when we visit relatives in South Jersey. It's kind of fun to be able to say you've been in and out of so many states in one day with WV being hit twice. 🙂 

I don't remember what specific route we go, but it must be similar. Going through the Alleghenies in western Maryland is so nice. It looks like where I'm from (north central PA). Just watch for opportune potty stops!

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Different routes definitely appreciated. When I look it up at low traffic times, it says that 79 to 64 and then hooking onto 70 in STL is about half an hour longer. That sort of dips south through WVA and Kentucky. But If it avoids the worst traffic and construction, then yeah, I'd consider doing that.

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On 5/1/2019 at 2:43 PM, Farrar said:

Funny things... we were just at the Oregon coast! We have family in Portland but they're all leaving so one of my boys and I took a trip.

Also, we have a Jeni's ice cream here! It's walking distance from my house. It's SO GOOD. This reminds me of how I knew several people who were in UK and everyone was like, let us take you to Nando's! And they were like, we live where the only Nando's in the US are, so that's okay. Lol.

I'm going to have to make a map of all these possibilities. Clearly we have plenty of Ohio and Missouri boardies.

 

Jeni did a really great episode of HIBT:

https://jenis.com/blog/listen-now-jeni-on-how-i-built-this/

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