The latest news from 724 Center Street is I started my trip out west yesterday with Honey Tours. Honey Tours is owned by mother, Sandy Harmon. Normally my dad makes these trips but he had surgery last week and can’t travel for six weeks. So I am off with mom and forty-eight more folks. We’re headed to Montana and back in 10 days. Unfortunately, Little Bit, my faithful travel companion, was not allowed on the trip. It was very difficult to leave her behind. For those of you who know Little Bit and Horace you know that they don’t always get along. That’s a story for another day, but I am hoping since they are going to spend so much time together that maybe their relationship will improve.
St. Charles, Missouri has been an outpost since 1769. It was the first permanent European Settlement on the Missouri River and on May 14, 1804 Lewis Clark arrived with 42 men. Six days later Meriweather Lewis arrived. On May 21, 1804 the Lewis & Clark Expedition made their final embarkation. After reaching the Pacific Ocean. Lewis and Clark retraced their journey and returned to St. Charles on September 26, 1806.
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Missouri First State Capitol Building
National Register of Historic Places Collection
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In 1804 St. Charles had about 100 houses and 459 inhabitants, mostly french. The St. Charles Historic District included numerous
19th century residential and commercial buildings and is the home of the first Missouri State Capitol Building (1821 - 1826). I took the color picture above yesterday and found this historic picture on the internet. Notice the old car parked in front of the building. I bet the guys that are sitting in front of me on the bus would know exactly what the make and model of that car is.
We had lunch at the Lewis & Clark’s American Restaurant and Public House. The food was good and the service was very accommodating. The street is lined with delightful shops, but many were closed on Monday. So if you are planning on visiting St. Charles I would do so later in the week. I think there would be plenty of shops to for a full afternoon of browsing if they were all open. The main street is just one block off of the river and there was a lovely walking and sitting area if you have some time. Unfortunately, we only had about an hour to eat and explore this wonderful little town. I had never been there before and was delighted that I got to see and learn a little more about this little Missouri town.
We arrived in St. Joseph about 5:30 pm and had just enough time to get our bags to our room, relax for a few minutes and get down to dinner at 6:30 pm. We stayed at the Holiday Inn and it was very nice and the staff was very friendly. After dinner we had a lady from the community come in and give us a presentation on the local area. I bet you didn’t know that the Pony Express began in St. Joseph and I bet you didn’t know that Jesse James was killed in St. Joseph. St. Joseph also has a wonderful collection of beautiful old mansions and St. Joseph claims to have had more millionaires in 1870 than any town of its size in our country.
I ended my day enjoying the swimming pool and hot tub. It was a great day.
