I love the big rivers around St. Louis. I spend a lot of time thinking about how I can travel them. A trip I have been thinking about for a while now is a float down the Mississippi to Kimmswick, MO. The map below is a screen capture from maps.google.com with driving directions from St. Louis to Kimmswick.
With a float trip in mind, I just needed an excuse to drive down there and look for river access. On this particular Saturday, it was cold and we had a scheduling issue. We got the wrong time for Corvin’s basketball game and showed up as the game was over. We were all frustrated with the situation and didn’t want to go home and stew over the mistake. I took the initiative and suggested we drive to Kimmswick to check it out. Further more, I suggested we wait until we got down there to get lunch instead of going to one of the same old hangouts.
As we drove down, I was in a bit of a hurry because the grunts of hunger were getting louder and more often. Getting off the highway, there seemed to be only one place to eat, The Blue Owl. The kids weren’t so sure about the restaurant, but we went in and sat down anyway. The food was amazing and the regular apple pie large enough to feed a family.
After lunch, we took a cold walk around the town square looking at the different shops. They are mostly what I would call “junk” shops.
Ultimately, I didn’t find any way to access the river from the city and give up. Looking now, there is Hoppie’s Marina that we were very close too, but didn’t realize at the time.
After browsing all the stores, we ended up at Flamm City access on the Meramec river. The kids had a blast exploring and throwing rocks in the river. Overall, it was a perfect day to be together as a family and explore our surroundings!
Hogan Haake