Week of June 28th – Missouri

Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver said, "I'm from Missouri and you've got to show me." (Hence, the “Show Me” State.)

So the entire state took him seriously. Lewis & Clark showed him the way to the Northwest and back again. A humorist named Samuel Clemens showed him some of most beloved characters in American literature. A brewer on the south side of town showed him how to make great beer and lots of it. The vendors at the 1904 World’s Fair showed him some delicacies that would last the test of time and become national icons. And an eighteen year old, with an entrepreneur spirit and a box of postcards, showed him, and the world, what you need “When you Care Enough to Send the Very Best”.

Since we make our home in St. Louis this needed to be a state salute to top all others. And I can’t think of a better way to start then with a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game. And one that included one of the best pitchers in the league (Carpenter) and an ex-Cardinal (Haren) meeting face-to-face. As if that wasn’t enough, the weather was perfect, crystal clear and 84 degrees, Wainwright (All-Star pitcher) was used as a pitch hitter and delivers and the game ended with a 2-out walk off hit. To quote another St. Louis great, Jack Buck, “That’s a Winner”.

Of course we dined on one of the foods introduced to the world at the 1904 World’s Fair, Hot Dogs with Buns.

During Days 2 through 5 we clicked through a list of foods (and drink) which either originated in Missouri or were made popular here. We indulged in Toasted Raviolis (Rav’s) invented on “The Hill” (home to Yogi Berra) and Gooey Butter Cake, an apparent mistake of a St. Louis German baker, that’s been a hometown favorite since the 1930’s. We had ice cream in waffle cones, provel cheese and finished up Day 5 with Ted Drewes’ concretes (thank goodness no one’s lactose intolerant). We wet our whistles with “mass quantities” of Anheuser-Busch products, 7-Up and Iced Tea and completed our indulgences with TUMS, invented in 1928 by a St. Louis pharmacist. (Any wonder why?)

The legend behind the ice cream cone, is that during the St. Louis World’s Fair an ice cream vendor ran out of cups. Not to be left with what was soon to be somewhat melted ice cream, he asked a waffle vendor next door to roll up his waffles so that his customers could use the rolled up waffles to hold their ice cream.

Ask anyone who has ever visited our fair city and they’ll tell you about their trip to the historic Route 66 classic, Ted Drewes Frozen Custard stand, where they serve the concretes upside down and entertain long lines of Missourians on any given summer evening. In the winter you can get your Christmas trees there and purchase gift certificates which are actually bright yellow cups full of, you guessed it, real concrete.

At this point we were heading into the July 4th weekend and what better way to celebrate it but by going to the National Tom Sawyer Days in Hannibal, MO. A place where you could enter into a Fence Painting, Tomboy Sawyer or Frog Jumping Contest, a place where instead of parade Kings and Queens, you vote for your favorite Tom Sawyer, Becky Thatcher team and a place where a raft race really does go down the “Mighty Miss”. A place that inspired witty expressions such as “Get you facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please” and “Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been” (Mark Twain).

Not to be left out, we just had to end the week with Missouri barbecue favorite, pork steaks. And I should mention that our table was decorated all week with a Missouri salute. We’re out of time and we haven’t even visited the Arch, the Missouri Botanical Gardens, the Zoo or the MUNY (St. Louis’ outdoor theater.) We didn’t get to the caves or the Lake of the Ozarks or the beautiful campuses of Washington University and Mizzou. And we didn’t talk about Truman, Crow, Rams, Klein, Berry, Price, Blues or Nelly.

With all that and much, much more, I have only one question to ask, did we Show you?

Color in Missouri with our favorite sports icons and again travel to the northeast to the “Ocean” state – Rhode Island (if you can find it). 34 down – 18 to go.