Travel Log: Ladies Weekend 2019 - St. Louis, MO

Friday
Since I moved to Alabama last year, this year we decided to meet in the middle in St. Louis, MO for our annual Ladies Weekend with my Mom and Sister. I took Margherita, my little Fiat Spider convertible and had a great time riding through some beautiful scenery northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. My morning started with fog in the valleys and a beautiful sunset.

And nothing beats the sun on my face and wind in my hair or the fragrance of pine as you drive through a forest.

We agreed to meet at the Wild Sun Winery and managed to time our arrival to be within 2 minutes of each other which is pretty amazing considering the distance each of us were traveling (from Wisconsin and Alabama to Missouri). It was a great winery to start at.

Before heading to our hotel, we decided to check out one more winery, Villa Antonio Winery which had a beautiful vineyard.

We then headed to the hotel and checked in. We stayed at the TownePlace Suites St. Louis Fenton which had the perfect room for us. It was a two room suite, one room with a king bed and a second room with two double beds. Plus there was a living room that included a couch and chair, large kitchen table with three chairs, and a full kitchen.

We went out to find some supper and ended up dodging the rain drops as a severe storm made its way through St. Louis.

Saturday
Today's goal was to hit a whole bunch of wineries, first two in Hermann, MO and then along the Augusta Wine Trail. Our first stop was Hermann, MO which had a tasting room for three California Wineries: Dierberg, Star Lane, and Three Saints. Even my Mom found some wines she really liked in this tasting room. In a second building on that same property, they have the tasting room for their Missouri winery, Hermannhof Winery. The Hermannhof Winery building is a historical building and the cellar is open for people to explore.

We then headed to the Augusta Wine Trail and visited Holy Grail Winery (not worth it), Noboleis Vineyards, Montelle Winery (I purchased two bottles here), Chandler Hill Vineyards (very good wine but a little pricey), and Defiance Ridge Vineyards (I bought a bottle here). The last four wineries kept getting crazier and crazier. They were clearly bigger operations that brought in music on the weekends. They also had huge decks and patios where you could leisurely enjoy some wine and food.

Antique decanters at Holy Grail Winery

Montelle Winery

Chandler Hills Vineyards

Defiance Ridge Vineyards

After seven wineries, we realized we had hit our limit and so headed back towards Fenton to find dinner and relax in the hotel.

Sunday
We took a break from wineries today and headed to Meremac Caverns. This is a huge cave that has become a bit commercialized but still has some pretty impressive formations and unique features. Additionally, there is evidence Jesse James and his gang used the cave to hideout.

Lantern and other artifacts found in the cave that were traced back to Jesse James

These grape like formations only form in water so this room must have been mostly under water at one point.

Wine table

The tour ended with a patriotic tribute light show which was a bit cheesy. I feel like caves are doing more and more light shows which often detracts from the natural beauty of the cave. Regardless, you can watch the show here.

After the cave tour, we headed back towards the St. Louis area for some shopping at the St. Louis Premium Outlets before checking out a sculpture garden near our hotel.

The first sculpture that draws your eye when you arrive at the Laumeier Sculpture Park is the Eye, 2007 by Tony Tasset.