The 3 Hour St. Louis Food Tour

Today I wanted to be back by 1 so I could take photos of the reception room being decorated. That left us with almost no time to see some of our favorite St. Louis sights. Randy agreed to drive Kris and I around to make the most of what time we had. 

We started with World's Fair Doughnuts. Historically this place made Randy's favorite doughnut - old-fashioned chocolate with chocolate frosting, dipped in chopped peanuts. We learned it is under new management; the previous owners retired. The new owners are using the same recipes but it tastes just a little different. 

On to the Hill! We headed directly to Viviano's Grocers on Shaw Avenue. Before we went in we saw that Giovanni's, across the street is closed. I was afraid it was another victim of Covid 19 but no, there was a fire 3 years ago and the owner died shortly afterwards. There was enough smoke and water damage that the family decided not to reopen - so sad to see this great one gone. But inside Viviano's it was still the same wonderful place! They sell such delicious products - salami, capers, seasonings, sauces, pasta, oils, wines, olives, cookies, candies, lentils, vinegars, anchovies, peppers, clams, pesto, and bread, such wonderful bread. And oh, the meats and cheeses! 

What to choose? We couldn't take the whole store so we ended up with some bread, sauces, and provel cheese. A lot of provel cheese.

Next up was Dad's Cookie Company. The store always smells like cookies baking. Today it was their double chocolate cookies. I always thought the Original Scotch Oatmeal cookie is their best, but I have to say that their Banana cookie is just about as good! We came away with a bag of Banana cookies and a 5 pound jar of Original Scotch Oatmeal. This place is listed on our "Best Food On The Road".

On to G&W Bavarian Style Sausage Company, home of all sorts of tasty stuff like Landjaeger, weiswort, Polish sausage, and other goodies. And if there is a wait, they offer you a nice cold beer!

Time for lunch, and there is no place better than Carl's Deli. Their pastrami with swiss cheese and brown mustard on rye is the absolute best! This is another one on our list of "Best food on the Road". 

We went by the St. Louis RV Park, where we had parked for a few months before we started RVing. It's for sale now; I sure hope whoever buys it will keep is as an RV park. We went back home a different route, which took us over the old McKinley Bridge and down Route 3. This was my daily drive for the first few months we lived in the area, as I drove to work at the Bohemian Bank.

Ah, memories. Back to today, and there was still plenty to do. Randy drove us over to the Cracker Factory where everyone pitched in to help set up for the reception. It took just a few hours and was so pretty when it was done. 

Still not done for the day - on to the rehearsal at the church. That went well and afterwards everyone went to Glenda's place for some Pappa John's Pizza.