STL Tour Guide: A Day Outdoors

Saturday was seriously the most beautiful July day in St. Louis. Great breeze, blue skies, and I don't even think it hit 80 degrees. Would have been a shame to spend it inside, and so leads me to the second in my STL Tour Guide series.

10:00am We started off the day, as we do many Saturday mornings, at the Tower Grove Farmers Market. Can't miss items this week are peaches (finally in season!) and sun gold tomatoes. Trust me - I don't even consider myself a fan of tomatoes, but I've been snacking on them like crazy. So good. We got some blackberry lemonade from Holy Crepe (in a mason jar! So hipster of us!) and a 'special' from The Big Cheese - goat cheese, pickled red onion, and greens on Companion bread - and sat down in the grass to enjoy our little meal and some people (and dog) watching. 

1:00pm Stopped at G&W to pick up some landjager - they are like little summer sausage / jerky sticks and so, so good. Salty, juicy - not dry like you'd expect. We've been snacking on these sticks like crazy the last couple weeks.

 2:00pm Headed west to Castlewood State Park for a hike. They have plenty of trail options depending on what you're in the mood for (visit their site for more info on the different trails). We did the 1.5 mile Lone Wolf Trail that overlooks the river and then dives down in to a nice shaded walkway along the river. Really pretty, not too difficult and you get some great pictures out of it. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

4:00pm After hiking, we wanted a beer (obviously) and a patio, so we came back to the city to visit one of my new favorites - Milo's on the Hill. I usually opt for the Chicken Florentine pizza, but this time Joe and I split a Milo's Special sandwich and some toasted raviolis (duh). Nice late lunch. Then we played a game of bocce ball, and it was a lot of fun! We had never played before, but the rules were posted on each court and it's a fairly simple game so you catch on quickly.