Meet me in St. Louis

If you’re ever traveling through St. Louis, be sure to stop in Collinsville, Ill. 

I’m sure the good folks who live there would give you 101 better reasons to visit this quaint town. But I’m going to add to the list … from a traveler’s perspective.

If you have kids, you should drive by the world’s largest catsup bottle. The kids thought it was very cool. Especially when we wondered what would happen if you shot it with a BB gun. Would a cascade of catsup flow over the road?

We pondered that while driving to the hotel.

Need a hotel in close proximity to St. Louis?

I highly recommend the Doubletree Inn, Collinsville. We got a great rate by searching online and then calling the hotel direct and asking them to match the price. Best of all, it’s beautiful, clean, friendly … there’s a great pool for the kids and free chocolate chip cookies when you check in.

The kids were thrilled again.

We don’t usually receive such treatment on our typical vacations camping in the woods.

The rooms have down comforters and feather pillows (sure, they’re probably imitation down and feathers, political correctness and all that). The artwork is awesome … sepia-toned prints of factories in the Collinville and St. Louis area.

The throw pillow on the bed says Sweet Dreams.

It’s a cozy, cheerful place.

And the powder room made me happy.

Need a place to eat near St. Louis?

A place that is kid-friendly, delicious and casual?

(And yes, of course, they are all ANGELS every minute of every second of every day.)

Delicious. And I won’t even tell you about the plates of barbecue beef and pork, or the many, many sauces you can choose from to spice or sweeten things up a bit. Bandanas Bar-B-Q is conveniently located off I-70 in Collinsville, Ill.

Oh, and it’s an educational place, too.

I bet you didn’t know …

It’s good to learn something (or 35 somethings) new every day!

Tomorrow …

I do my best to conquer my fear of heights.

Gulp.