Founded in 1852, Anheuser-Busch is one of the largest producers of beer in the world. The St Louis-based brewery hosts an annual Brewery Lights Festival (now in its 38th year) amplified by more than a million twinkling lights that decorate its elaborate red-brick buildings.  It’s a great holiday experience that includes a stroll down Pestlozzi Street, fire pits, ice maze, photo op with the Clydesdales, and lots of festive music and street vendors (and of course, beer!). It was a great experience and well worth a visit. It certainly put me in the Christmas mood.

Location: Anheuser-Busch St Louis Brewery

Just west of St Louis is Route 94, a ribbon of scenic highway that runs through places such as Weldon Springs, Defiance, Klondike Park, Augusta, and multiple wineries.  You’ll also find a series of trees that are spread across the many farms that blanket the area.  The trees are especially striking during the colder months when their leaves are gone and their dominance is clearly visible.  Here is a series of images - both color and black & white - to appreciate these amazing trees and their beauty.  A cruise along Route 94 is highly recommended and well worth the trip!

Location:  Route 94 (MO)

Featuring nearly two million lights, the Garden Glow at the Missouri Botanical Gardens transforms this iconic place into an enchanted wonderland rich with mesmerizing displays.  We ventured there on a chilly night packed with thousands of others who wandered through the Glow maze that meandered through the Gardens.  The event was complimented with hot chocolate, fire pits, and plenty of festive sounds.  The Garden Glow will definitely be on my annual ‘must visit’ places.  And of course, if you go, bring your camera for an amazing array of photo opportunities.

Location: Missouri Botanical Gardens

Doors are fascinating to me.  They take you from inside to outside, outside to inside, and between spaces; from one world to another.  They come in all shapes, sizes, colors, textures, and are ripe with intricate details and features.  Doors also serve as a sort of identifying badge or symbol to mark a building or architecture’s location.  Over the years, I’ve amassed hundreds of photos of interesting doors.  Here’s a collection to celebrate their uniqueness from around St Louis and the surrounding area .   

Location: Greater St Louis

Lead was big business in the eastern Ozarks for nearly 300 years.  The Missouri Mines State Historic Site (formerly known as the St. Joe Lead Co) is a complex full of rusted buildings and machinery that mined the area since 1720.  The former powerhouse of the Site has been turned into a museum that interprets the area’s lead mining history and displays actual machinery from the mines and houses that were located  here.  The Missouri Mines are located about an hour south of St Louis and are well worth a visit.  Here’s a series of black and white images to help you get a feel for this great historic place.  

Location: Park Hills, MO

Located just 45 minutes south of St. Louis, there is an elegant family-owned vineyard nestled amidst the picturesque, rolling hills of De Soto, Missouri in Jefferson County (quickly becoming a premier destination for wine enthusiasts).  The winery offers fine wines along with breathtaking views.  It was an amazing day out and the food (went for the flatbread!) and Chardonnay were amazing.  This is well worth a visit.  Just be sure to bring your camera to capture the winery’s gorgeous scenery and grounds.

Location: DeSoto, Missouri

According to Eckert’s Family Farm website, they have been ‘growing apples for more than 100 years in rural Illinois, near St. Louis. Proud of their farming heritage and diligent stewards of the land, the Eckerts have cultivated and preserved their orchard business for seven generations.’  After circling the parking lot many times due to the huge crowd, it was a tour of the general store (with lots of apple samples to try) along with the cider shed and bakery.  We then took the wagon ride to the orchard and followed by going to the pumpkin patch.  We finished the day with lunch at the country restaurant.  Here are a few images of the trip, which is well worth a visit!

Location: Eckerts Farms, Belleville, IL     

During the month of October, the Lafayette Square neighborhood has been busy making preparations for Halloween.  Homeowners have been installing lights and decorations all across the Square.  As you criss-cross the streets, you’re greeted by an amazing array of ghosts & ghouls, spiders & skeletons, witches & warlocks complimented with spooky lights and eerie sounds.  The ‘hood’ is chock full of colors, decorum, and figurines.  To fully appreciate it all, I took a recent stroll with my camera just before dusk to celebrate the spirit of Halloween.  Here are some images from my photowalk.  

Location: Lafayette Square

About an hour west of St Louis is the town of Hermann, Missouri.  Hermann is a picturebook village with red brick buildings and an array of restaurants, breweries, wineries, and boutique shops.  Its rolling countryside provides the perfect day out.  Their annual Oktoberfest (which lasts the entire month of October) is a mecca for tourists and travelers and includes music, entertainment, drinks, and plenty of German food.  Hermann and its Oktoberfest should be on everyone’s Fall ‘day tripper’ list.

Location: Hermann, MO

Union Station is a national historic landmark and former train station in St Louis.  It opened in 1894, closed in 1978, then reopened 1985 as a mixed-use complex with shops, restaurants, event spaces, and a hotel.  Today it includes the Wheel, St Louis Aquarium, and a small lake with plenty of koi.  It’s an amazing place to photograph because it’s vibrant with color with star attractions and historical grandeur as its backdrop.  Here are a series of images that display the hotel and surrounds that make up the amazing Union Station.

Location: Downtown

Since 2018, VegFest (also known as Veggie Fest) has taken place at the World’s Fair Pavilion in Forest Park in St Louis.  Vegfest is an annual event that attracts close to 10,000 visitors and encompasses all things vegan.  It includes 70+ vendors, speakers, entertainment, yoga, and fun activities for the kids.  Though I was hoping to see an abundance of vegetables, I was amazed to see so many people that are dedicated to the vegan lifestyle.  Here are a few images from the event.   

Location: World’s Fair Pavilion Forest Park

Founded in 1859, the Missouri Botanical Gardens are the nation’s oldest botanical garden in continuous operation and a National Historic Landmark.  It contains a greenhouse dome, Victorian home & gardens, butterfly house & so much more spread across its 79 acre campus.  It’s also home to the most amazing array of plant species gathered from every corner of the globe.  I have visited the Garden many times and it’s certainly a photographer’s paradise providing endless photo possibilities.  A must see in St Louis! 

Location: Shaw Blvd

The Basilica (officially known as The Cathedral Basilica of St Louis) is home to the largest collection of mosaic art in the western hemisphere with mosaics covering the entire structure. Construction of the church began in 1907.  One hundred years later, the Cathedral was designated a Cathedral Basilica by Pope John Paul II.  He honored the Cathedral Basilica with a visit during his history-making visit to the United States in October of 1999. The Cathedral is open daily for masses and self-guided tours.  It’s an absolutely amazing structure filled with intricate detail no matter where you look.  Here is a range of images that display its astonishing architecture.

Location: Central West End

The Great Balloon Race is one of the longest running hot air balloon races in the country, and one of the only that takes place in a large metropolitan city. The tradition began in 1973 with a handful of hot air balloons and a few spectators. Now an internationally renowned event, the GFPBR welcomes more than 50 of the nation’s best hot air balloon pilots and thousands of spectators annually.   I took these images of the Balloon Glow at Forest Park the night before the race.   

Location:  Forest Park