BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S

I spent the night at the Comfort Inn in Cahokia, Illinois just about 5-miles southeast of downtown St. Louis. This was the second time I have stayed at this motel, the fist time was back in 2010 when I was on the way to the Tournament in Oklahoma City.  When traveling, I only have three requirements for a Motel, it has to be clean, I get a good rate and the WiFi has to work. Everything else is bonus.  This hotel served my purpose very well back them and it is serving my purpose on this trip too.

The weather for this weekend is not looking good to say the least.  Right now it looks like Kansas City will be getting 3-5 inches of snow on Sunday.  I will be staying in Independence, which is about 15-miles east of downtown I have made arrangements with the motel to stay an extra day if necessary.  Be a Choice Preferred Guest has it perks.

I got into St. Louis early this morning and had Breakfast at Tiffany's, a little greasy spoon that was recommended by a friend of mine from Wake Forest. Tiffany's wouldn't have been my choice had I just been driving by but Kevin recommended it so I gave it a try and I am glad I did.  I ordered the "Slinger", Three eggs, Sausage smothered in Chili. Yep,  it set me back $5.78. It was good and I left full.

After Breakfast I headed down to the Gateway Arch and evidently this is the week for school field trips. When I was pulling into the parking garage there were probably 20-school buses and 6 charter buses parked and there were Kids everywhere. It took me about 35-minutes to get through security and into the Arch Visitors Center. After checking the tram schedule and seeing that these school had pre-purchased their tram tickets I decided to forgo the tram ride to the top of the arch. The next ticket available was 3-Hours and 45 minutes away. I went to top on my first visit back in 2010 and didn't really see the need to wait close to 4-hours to do it again.  So I just took a quick tour of the Museum and headed back out to check out downtown St. Louis.

It was really cold this morning and that cold was compounded by a 15-mph wind, but I was prepared, and dressed for the occasion. My first stop was at the Old Courthouse, which is located in the shadow of the Arch. This building was the site of the Dred Scott Case in 1848-1850.  The original court room where the Dred Scott case heard not longer exists as the courthouse was renovated in the late 1800's to make it more structurally sound.

After walking around downtown for a while I decided to head to the car and warm up and head toward Historic Bellefontaine Cemetery where some of the more notable historic figures are buried, including Auggie Busch, William Sublet and General Sterling Price, no I am not talking about John Wayne's Cat in True Grit.

Having visited Bellefontaine Cemetery back in 2010 I made this a quick visit and headed back to the south side of town for an afternoon treat at Ted Drewes.

Ted Drewes has been a landmark on historic Route 66 since 1941. Specializing in frozen custard, Ted Drewes has been featured on both the Food Channel and the Travel Channel and once again it lived up to the hype.  I had a raspberry concrete custard (their version of a DQ Blizzard.) Yep. It was good.

From Ted Drewes it was back across the river to Cahokia for my last night in St. Louis. Tomorrow I head west for the first of Four night in Kansas City.Using my Choice Hotel Point my four night in Kansas City are free, Yes again loyalty has its perks.