Uncorking St. Louis: Discovering Wine, Spirits, and Culinary Gems

Today on Go Nomad, we take a short flight to St.

Louis, Missouri.

Like any visitor to this important gateway to the West.

My first stop was at the famous Gateway Arch national park where above us towered the tremendous 600ft tall Gateway Arch.

You ride inside a tiny little elevator crammed with eight people to take a ride inside the arch all the way to the top where a magnificent view awaits.

Underneath the vast green area that surrounds the base of the arch is a giant new museum that tells the history of exploration that brought Lewis and Clark through here and open up the exploration of the US the museum does a fantastic job with videos, huge dioramas and artifacts in room after room that tell the big picture of how the west was settled.

Starting in St.

Louis, Missouri is famous for many things, among them wine that took me by surprise.

Montel Vineyards, one of the best locations for a winery is on a high hilltop in the small town of Augusta, Missouri.

The view up there is stunning in all directions.

We can see vines, distant brown fields, hills, and in the distance, the Missouri River.

For wine lovers interested in expanding their palate, a sign at Montel suggests if you like Chardonnay, try Chardonnel, or for Cabernet, try the Norton.

These unfamiliar grapes make up the majority of the best Missouri wines.

It's interesting and fun to sample a whole bunch of new grapes like Chamborcine and vignolles, as we did during our visit here and to another Augusta winery, Noblies Vineyards, which also has the same sweeping views that make vineyards in Missouri favorite places for leisurely lunches and wine tasting.

And I'd say the wine is pretty, pretty good.

Our first stop in the St.

Louis distillery scene was at still 6:30, where an extensive library of sample whiskey batches graces the walls.

It's where the distillery keeps the record of the many batches it produces.

This small distillery located in a former Hardee's fast food restaurant spot, and it makes not only bourbon whiskey, but rum, gin and a host of experimental spirits.

Every city needs that local guy who made goods somewhere else and returns to help improve his Hometown.

Well, in St.

Louis, that man is Jim McKelvey and the money came from starting the payments company called Square.

So far, McKelvey has spent upwards of 30 million in Del Mar and he keeps asking neighbors about buying their buildings.

To complete his vision for a Del Mar makers district, we visited a glass blowing workshop there called Third Degree Glass Factory where anyone can learn how to blow glass from experts who demonstrate their craf in the vast building.

The glass shop has brought many more people to the neighborhood along with the other businesses that Jim helps fund, including the Fountain on Del Mar, Steve's Hot Dogs and Florentine, an Israeli inspired restaurant with a menu of falafel, shakshuka and smoothies.

There are more opportunities to be creative in the Del Mar maker district, including made, a store with all manner of tools for makers, including 3D printers and sewing machines.

A new upscale Mexican restaurant is set to open in Del Mar very soon, right next to another distillery called Alpha Making Vodka owned by Derek Langeneckert.

You bet.

St.

Louis emblematic dessert is gooey butter cakes, which are little white bursts of sugary goodness and are ubiquitous in the city.

Fried or toasted ravioli is another city favorite in St.

Louis, which are available in many forms with dozens of varieties of fillings.

Dining in St.

Louis was full of great tastes, including Katie's own pasta in her big namesake Osteria near the baseball stadium.

Another standout St.

Louis was the Moroccan omelet at Winslow's Table in Clayton, right outside of the city.

But none of the restaurants compared to Justin and Amelia's backyard.

That's where this dynamic young couple hosts guests in their Ellsworth Supper Club.

On any seasonable weekend night, the two prepare a lavish feast and serve it in the cozy candlelit setting of their one car garage with appetizers outside in the yard.

It was an interesting and delicious experience in the Webster Grove neighborhood, complete with wine pairing and lots of interesting bites like a kohlrabi miso brulee and wagyu beef short.

Museums in the city of St.

Guy told us about this gigantic project back in the day where dozens of massive buildings were constructed in just months out of lightweight wood designed to look like stone.

The City Museum stood out as a place where kids can delight in climbing huge covered tunnels and jumping on the world's largest pencil.

The four story, 600,000 square foot museum is so big that they've been able to preserve and exhibit massive facades of stone that once graced local businesses in St.

Louis.

Nearly all the museum is constructed of these reconstructed pieces of buildings and interiors from all over the ages.

It's worth a visit for anyone.

And yes, there's a bar with cocktails here too.

It's fun to see the kids running up down the structures and having such fun.

It has forests, a giant outdoor concert area arena that seats 11,000.

It has lakes, four large museums and the City Zoo.

Oh, and it's all free.

Even the zoo.

Forest park is a place that St.

Louis locals enjoy all year round and all day times.

On the last night of our October visit to St.

Louis, we met up with a group of people who had packed all the gear we needed for island in the Missouri river.

We boarded 10 foot long canoes with an outfit called Big Muddy Adventures and began a leisurely downstream paddle about seven miles from where we put in.

Alongside the river were corn and hay fields with cormorants and ducks.

Swoop later, on a large blue barge for dredging, the river slowly cruised by.

After a somewhat vigorous paddle, we landed the boats at a wide, flat shoreline that used to be filled with water, but it was all open for our exploration and pilfering due to low rainfall.

After hearing that there were many arrowheads, petrified wood and other valuable stones, we set out.

It took only 10 minutes before a woman in our group plucked a very distinguished arrowhead and a few other keepers.

Find out more about what's cool, fun and tasty in St.

Louis@explore st.

Louis.

Com.