{"id":704,"date":"2009-12-08T20:53:39","date_gmt":"2009-12-09T03:53:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thejohnsonsjournal.com\/?p=704"},"modified":"2009-12-09T19:31:31","modified_gmt":"2009-12-10T02:31:31","slug":"the-gateway-to-the-west","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/?p=704","title":{"rendered":"The Gateway to the West"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On Friday evening we made it to St. Louis and met my cousin Kristen at my uncle Keith and aunt Diane&#8217;s house. We had a nice time catching up as we hadn&#8217;t seen them in years.<\/p>\n<p>Afterwards we went with Kristen to the Delmar Loop for drinks at the Blueberry Hill Bar and to meetup with our friends Pam and Aaron. The Loop was decorated for the holidays and the bar we stopped at had a good vibe.<\/p>\n<p>When we were leaving to head to Pam and Aaron&#8217;s we got the surprise of a flat tire. We proceeded to put the spare on at 1:30 am, in the freezing cold. When I was lowering the jack down, I noticed the spare tire bulging under the weight of the car.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<div id=\"attachment_720\" style=\"width: 490px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_3547.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-720\" class=\"size-full wp-image-720 \" title=\"IMG_3547\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_3547.JPG\" alt=\"That tire is very flat!\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_3547.JPG 800w, https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_3547-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-720\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">That tire is very flat!<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Turns out the spare tire was flat too! Yay! How exciting. So we decided to leave the car in the parking lot for the night and call a tow truck in the morning.<\/p>\n<p>After taking the car to the shop in the morning, we went on our biggest brewery tour this far &#8211; Budweiser!\u00c2\u00a0 (Don&#8217;t worry we also made sure we went to a few microbreweries for some real beer following the tour)\u00c2\u00a0 The free tour took us to see the Clydesdales among other things.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_706\" style=\"width: 490px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2614.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-706\" class=\"size-full wp-image-706 \" title=\"IMG_2614\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2614.JPG\" alt=\"The King of Beers\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2614.JPG 800w, https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2614-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-706\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The King of Beers<\/p><\/div>\n<p>It was a beautiful old factory and was decorated for the holidays.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_707\" style=\"width: 370px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2617.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-707\" class=\"size-full wp-image-707 \" title=\"IMG_2617\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2617.JPG\" alt=\"Inside the Brewery\" width=\"360\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2617.JPG 600w, https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2617-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 360px) 100vw, 360px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-707\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Inside the Brewery<\/p><\/div>\n<p>And of course we got to taste some of their many types of beer. They brew around 12 at this brewery. The Winter Bourbon Cask Ale was pretty decent given the location.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_708\" style=\"width: 490px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2622.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-708\" class=\"size-full wp-image-708 \" title=\"IMG_2622\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2622.JPG\" alt=\"Free beer\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2622.JPG 800w, https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2622-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-708\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"> Cheers to free beer<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Later that night we checked went to dinner at Schlafly&#8217;s Taproom where we got a great 3 course meal paired with beer.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">After dinner we went to the City Museum which is less of a museum and more of a crazy jungle gym\/park for grown-ups and kids alike.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_709\" style=\"width: 370px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2623.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-709\" class=\"size-full wp-image-709 \" title=\"IMG_2623\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2623.JPG\" alt=\"This place is crazy!\" width=\"360\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2623.JPG 600w, https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2623-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 360px) 100vw, 360px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-709\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">This place is crazy!<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Here&#8217;s Courtney and Pam climbing up the crazy metal maze thing.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_712\" style=\"width: 490px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2636.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-712\" class=\"size-full wp-image-712 \" title=\"IMG_2636\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2636.JPG\" alt=\"Having Fun\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2636.JPG 800w, https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2636-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-712\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Having Fun<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Pam enjoying one of the big slides.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_710\" style=\"width: 370px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2627.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-710\" class=\"size-full wp-image-710 \" title=\"IMG_2627\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2627.JPG\" alt=\"Weeeeee!\" width=\"360\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2627.JPG 600w, https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2627-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 360px) 100vw, 360px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-710\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Weeeeee!<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The next day we went down to the Arch.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_713\" style=\"width: 370px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2649.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-713\" class=\"size-full wp-image-713 \" title=\"IMG_2649\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2649.JPG\" alt=\"I can see the arch from here\" width=\"360\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2649.JPG 600w, https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2649-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 360px) 100vw, 360px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-713\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">I can see the arch from here<\/p><\/div>\n<p>To get to the top of the arch you had to take a small pod-like elevator that seats up to five people at one time.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_714\" style=\"width: 370px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2653.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-714\" class=\"size-full wp-image-714 \" title=\"IMG_2653\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2653.JPG\" alt=\"In the pod\" width=\"360\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2653.JPG 600w, https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2653-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 360px) 100vw, 360px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-714\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">In the pod<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Once we got up to the top we got some great views of the city.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_715\" style=\"width: 490px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2664.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-715\" class=\"size-full wp-image-715 \" title=\"IMG_2664\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2664.JPG\" alt=\"At the top\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2664.JPG 800w, https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2664-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-715\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">At the top<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_716\" style=\"width: 370px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2665.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-716\" class=\"size-full wp-image-716 \" title=\"IMG_2665\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2665.JPG\" alt=\"Check out the view\" width=\"360\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2665.JPG 600w, https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2665-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 360px) 100vw, 360px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-716\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Check out the view<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Later that day we went to Forest Park with Scott&#8217;s cuz.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<div id=\"attachment_717\" style=\"width: 490px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2670.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-717\" class=\"size-full wp-image-717 \" title=\"IMG_2670\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2670.JPG\" alt=\"Kristen and Courtney in the park\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2670.JPG 800w, https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/IMG_2670-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-717\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Going for a cold walk in the park<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Friday evening we made it to St. Louis and met my cousin Kristen at my uncle Keith and aunt Diane&#8217;s house. We had a nice time catching up as we hadn&#8217;t seen them in years. Afterwards we went with Kristen to the Delmar Loop for drinks at the Blueberry Hill Bar and to meetup [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,4],"tags":[5,94],"class_list":["post-704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-missouri","category-usa","tag-beer","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=704"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":724,"href":"https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704\/revisions\/724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejohnsonsjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}