Missouri Travel During COVID-19

I grew up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, among lush green farmlands, high summer humidity and deep in the heart of towns heavily influenced by the Pennsylvania Dutch and the Moravians, both which have deep German roots. What I didn’t expect was to find these familiarities in Missouri – a state that brings them all together in the middle of the country with the added bonus of wine, distilleries, baseball, beer and a giant metal arch to mark the way. So why don’t you meet me in St. Louis and then take a road trip with me into the heartland.

When people think of Missouri, if they think of it at all, it might be of Kansas City which straddles both Kansas and Missouri.  I have been there, and recommend it highly, but on this trip I was headed instead to St. Louis and then, farther afield, to photograph a wedding in a tiny town called Hermann. 

Travel in the time of COVID-19 continues to be…interesting. You maybe read my blog about the summer road trip I took to Colorado. But this time I was flying for the first time since March, I was highly impressed with Delta, with the empty middle seats, the new sanitation and air purification standards, and the board from the back process. The layover was a bit long, and Atlanta’s airport was still too crowded for the times, but everyone was masked and almost half the terminals were shuttered.

Destination St. Louis, MO

St. Louis, Missouri – the Gateway to the West (hence the so-named Gateway Arch https://explorestlouis.com/partner/gateway-arch/ ) was suffering from the pandemic – with hotels and restaurants all mostly empty when I traveled (September). I spent the first and last night of a 4 day trip in the downtown and would highly recommend the two hotels where I stayed  – both were meticulous in cleanliness and walking distance from notable sites. The first night I stayed in “The Last Hotel in the Unbound Collection by Hyatt”, a well-appointed hotel in a very old building reminiscent of a bank, and close to the Arch which I visited early in the morning. The downtown was quiet, clean, and empty.

The Cardinals

The last night I stayed at “Live! By Loews St. Louis” – practically on top of Busch Stadium, home to the St. Louis Cardinals. The stadium was closed to fans, but the Cardinals were playing that week so I could hear the faux fan noise and peek in through the gate to see the players on the field. Luckily, the hotel had a rooftop bar overlooking the stadium, and though you couldn’t see the field there were tons of jumbo TVs broadcasting the game live. Not the pre-COVID baseball experience we’re used to, but making do!

Union Station

The Aquarium at Union Station https://explorestlouis.com/discover/st-louis-aquarium-at-union-station/ was open to socially distanced guests and the Giant St. Louis Wheel was running. Though I didn’t see many taking advantage of either, I absolutely enjoyed walking through Union Station and seeing the old trains preserved inside what was once a large and bustling depot. The Zoo https://www.stlzoo.org/ was open – and get this – it’s free! Always! I didn’t stop in this trip, but I have been before and loved it. Insider tip – it’s hilly so wear comfortable shoes! Missouri just keeps on delivering!

Budweiser!

In terms of German influence, it comes to St. Louis in the form of, you guessed it, beer! If you’re a beer lover, the Midwest is the place for you, and you could geek out just by driving by the Anheuser-Busch Brewery, birthplace of Budweiser (currently closed to tours but still brewing). https://www.anheuser-busch.com/about/breweries-and-tours/st-louis-mo.html This is probably the best known Missouri gem outside the Cardinals!

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Another worthy use of time is in exploring the abundance of St. Louis’ neighborhoods https://explorestlouis.com/things-to-do/neighborhoods/  – each has its own name, distinct personality, parks, architecture, and attractions. I spent half a day going from one to the other, checking out the Italian area called the Hill, trying local coffee from Park Avenue Coffee at two of their locations (great dark roast), and generally looking for things to photograph. In terms of food, I had to dive into some BBQ from Pappy’s (a local well known purveyor) which fortunately is right next to a local brewery that allows you to eat your take out at the bar with a beer! I also had to try the Gooey Butter Cake the area is famed for (think tooth-achingly sweet, dense, lemon bar without the lemon). And because I like a good rooftop bar by night, I stopped by the 360 Rooftop for the view. The food was good and I was able to snag a corner booth that was enclosed in plastic from the rest of the space – true social distancing there!

Hermann, Missouri

Hermann Missouri was the purpose and point of the journey (the weekday wedding I was photographing was being held there) but it was also unexpectedly interesting, though again, most everything was shuttered with the exception of two coffee shops and a few bars. I was in town during the week, and it did seem to be poised to come more alive on the weekend, though I didn’t stick around to see.  In terms of history, here’s where it felt a little like home – the Germans came from Philadelphia (in my home state) around 1837 to settle in Hermann and find cultural freedom and, as it turns out, to cultivate the only crop they could on the hilly landscape – grapes. And where do grapes lead? Wine, of course. Now I wasn’t a huge fan of the wines from this area, but if you like sweet wines, this could be your heaven. 

I was a fan of the small town vibes. From the beautiful architecture to the quaint storefronts, from the plethora of distilleries to the hip restaurants, it all had SO much potential.  But what it did have that I could enjoy was the verdant landscape of the Midwest – the trees, some already starting to turn their colors, the smell of fresh cut grass, the gentle mist that covers the ground in the morning, and the rushing water of the Missouri river, haunted with the ghosts of Paddlewheel steamboats and the distant echoes of the steam trains that replaced them before they, too, disappeared. In its glory, Hermann would have been a sight to behold – a Little Germany in the middle of Missouri. In its current state, it is poised and ready for visitors to return. And I just may do so another time.

While this wasn’t the most exciting or exotic of my journeys, this was a chance to experience once again what travel is like in the here and now: some high points, some disappointments, but overall the joy is always in being able to journey at all.

Photos from St. Louis, Missouri

Photos of Hermann, Missouri