April 28 - 30, 2024 - A Short Train Trip to Hermann, Missouri, for John's Birthday

Several weeks ago John said he wanted to take the train to Hermann, Missouri, for a few days to celebrate his birthday and asked if we wanted to come along. It sounded like fun. He arranged getting the train tickets and rooms in the "Inn at Hermannhof". We were up at 5:30 a.m. on Sunday for them to pick us up at 6:30 a.m. for the drive to Kirkwood, Missouri, to catch the train to Hermann.

When we got in the car John told us that Amtrak messaged him at 2:30 a.m. that the train was canceled due to a derailment but they would provide a bus to get us there. We arrived at the train depot, paid to park for three days, and, upon entering the train depot, were advised that they couldn't find a bus. Come back tomorrow. That wouldn't work for us since we had rooms reserved. We had a car so we would drive there. One lady there said that she had to get to Kansas City. She offered Carlene $500.00 to drive her to Kansas City. We hoped she found a way to get there. We took the "Lincoln Train" to Hermann:

We drove to Hermann, arriving much earlier than the train would have. We parked and went into the "Inn at Hermannhof" where we had reservations for the next two nights. We were too early for check-in but they allowed us to leave our bags there. We would be notified by text when the rooms were ready. Great.

We headed across the street to get something to eat at the "Hermann Wurst Haus".

We arrived at 10:00 a.m. They didn't start serving lunch until 11:00 a.m. so we settled for their "all you can eat buffet breakfast". It was $35.00 for the two of us. I should have looked at the buffet before paying for it. I won't make that mistake again. Each item was spooned out by a lady behind the buffet table. One item looked less appetizing than the next. If she hadn't told me what they were I couldn't have identified any of them except the bacon. The "biscuits and gravy" was gravy (with no meat in it) slopped over a square hockey puck, the "cheese and hash browns" were a mushy mess the consistency of oatmeal with absolutely no taste, the "scrambled eggs and ham" tasted like a month old quiche, and the "bacon" was so salty you could hardly eat it. The meal came with a drink. I got a bottle of apple juice, which was the best part of the whole meal. Awful, just awful.

After that lovely meal we walked down the street to the trolley yard. There you can catch a trolley which takes you to all the wineries for a mere $25.00 per person per day. It was Sunday and the trolleys were parked there but no personnel to be found. The trolley did not run on Monday but was supposed to run on Sunday. John called the office and they soon sent Patrick in a white van to collect our money and take us to the first stop on their route.

We first visited the "Adam Puchta Winery", the oldest family owned winery in the country. It was $14.00 for a tasting. Kelly liked their Norton and bought two bottles.  Randy Puchta was the Associate Judge in Gasconade County for a number of years and I met him several times at judge's training years ago. His grandson is operating the winery now. The trolley driver picked us up and kept the wine for us so we didn't have to carry it around from place to place. Convenient.

We next visited "Stone Hill Winery", the largest and oldest winery in the area going back 175 years. We skipped a tasting but took a tour of their wine cellars, which were all hand dug over a period of twenty-five years. The winery was started in 1847 just ten years after the town was founded in 1837. It grew exponentially until prohibition when the cellars were converted to mushroom growing and the buildings were allowed to deteriorate. In 1965 a local farming couple, with no wine making experience, purchased the property, and built it back up as an award winning winery. With 200 acres of vineyards its not the largest winery in Missouri but it has won the most awards. In 1979 the Carriage House and Stables were converted into a nice restaurant with a German menu. We made reservations for super on Monday, for John's birthday dinner. Here are some pictures of the cellars. Only a few of the old original barrels survived Prohibition.

Missouri was the largest wine producing state in the country prior to Prohibition.

From there we took the trolley to "Copper Mule Distillery". There are now several distilleries in the area to take advantage of all the tourist traffic. This place was known for their slushy whiskey drink. We didn't do a tasting there either but enjoyed one the slushy whiskey drinks.

From there the trolley headed to "OakGlenn Winery". It is high on the bluff overlooking the Missouri River Valley. A beautiful view. Kelly did a tasting and bought a glass of wine.

Up on this bluff was the only time we experienced bad weather, although we had expected it could rain all day. It drizzled just enough to force us up on the deck area to enjoy our drink. From there we caught the trolley to the inn and checked in. Here is a picture of one of the painted doors and our hallway. Exceptionally well done.

Our room on the third floor was outstanding, one of the nicest we have ever been in. Here are a couple of pictures.

The lady at the desk recommended the "Tin Mill Brewery and Restaurant" across the street for supper.

After relaxing in our rooms for a couple of hours we had a great meal there of prime rib followed by creme brulee dessert using coupons the Inn provided us.

Monday breakfast was provided at the inn. Breakfast is cooked fresh each day and each day it is different. It was fabulous.

The trolley does not run on Monday so after breakfast we drove to the "German School Museum", which is housed in be the old German School built in 1871.

It was a fabulous museum packed with German memorabilia. We loved it. I learned several things. The first is that barbers used to be somewhat of a doctor and would "bleed" customers with this tool called a "bleeder". I had never heard of that before.

Another interesting item was a wooden bowling ball. I never knew bowling balls were made out of wood at one time.

Another interesting item was a cast iron lamb cake mold. I took an interest in this item because my son-in-law makes a lamb cake every Easter using his grandma's sheet metal mold.

After a renovation the original clock in the clock tower still works and keeps excellent time. They had a list posted with phone numbers of who was in charge of winding it daily. Quite interesting. The final item that caught my attention was the wear on each side of the oak stair treads from years of students going up and down.

From there we drove around town looking at all of the old brick homes and to the RV Park. The RV Park is owned by the city and now has a waiting list of up to two years to get in. We stayed there about twelve years ago before it was so popular.

From there we headed to the "Hermann Riverfront Park" to watch the river, which was five feet over flood stage. The current was quite swift from flooding up north. A crazy amount of large debris was floating down river and a crazy amount was gathering along the shore. Here is a video and some pictures.

A picture of John and Carlene at the park.

From there we drove back to the Inn, parked the car, and walked to a couple of wineries and distilleries nearby to use coupons we were given for free tastings . We had a tasting and a nice Rueben sandwich at the "Hermannhof Winery". From there we walked down the street to our final whiskey tasting at the "Black Shire Distillery". Here is Carlene trying to decide which one to sample first! I thought they were all pretty good.

Back at the Inn we relaxed for an hour before heading to the Stone Hill "1847 Restaurant" for John's birthday supper. For supper there were several options for German dishes. Several of us had the "German Trio", which was sauerbraten, schnitzel, wurst, with red cabbage. Yum!

It was to a beautiful day for all of these activities and Tuesday morning it was beautiful for a drive home. Now we have to get the laundry done, the grass cut, and pack before leaving early Thursday morning for a two week long tour of Greece. A blog of that to follow after we get home.