Sundermeier RV Park
St Charles, MO
Yes, I even made it in time to get a cup before it was empty.
After an orientation meeting where we snacked and listened until our stomachs and brains were both full, we just had to relax with afternoon Happy Hour.
Our Welcome dinner was a buffet at the Banquet Center of the Little Hills here in the Sundermeier RV Park. Good food, good time.
We were entertained by 2 men who are with the Lewis & Clark Reenactment Group. In 2003-4, they did a real reenactment of the trip on the water and following their journals as closely as possible. Obviously, some things have changed in 200 years, but they were able to go on the water and live off the land. They had their own great bear stories to tell.
Saturday May 21,2011
St Charles, MO
We were promised rain today, and yes we did get it, at 3:00 am.
Our morning coffee was in the sunshine and it just got better as the day went on.
We carpooled to downtown for the Lewis & Clark Heritage days. We learned that St Charles was the first state capital of MO, mainly because they got the rooms rent free, but also because this is where the population was.
The Capital 
was really 2 rooms up over the Dry Goods Store. The Representatives were from
the 
blue collar people.
The senate was comprised of lawyers and educated. They had the room with the green tablecloths to assist in their writing. That’s a spittoon on floor by the desk. The state charter said that the capital would be out in the center of the state but only 2 families lived out there. It would be 5 years before the town of Jefferson would be built and capable of holding the state capital.
We were entertained with a parade of mainly drum & bugle corps dressed in the style of the 1800s and because of the ‘Heritage Days’, many of the historic buildings had tour guides in historic dress.
I think my favorite was at the dry goods store where a man was showing us how to make fire using a striker and stone.
This is Holly trying her luck with the striker.
Thank goodness that I don’t need to depend upon my skills for dinner. We would all be hungry. I did get one spark so he said there is hope with practice.Another, that I particularly enjoyed, was a man making wool hats. He said that it takes about 8 hours to make a hat.
At the Boathouse museum, we saw the replicas of the boats used by Lewis & Clark for their discovery trip. The keel boat, the red pirogue and the white pirogue were the boats used by the reenactment group for th
eir trip in 2004. It is absolutely amazing how Lewis & Clark ever made the journey.
A bit of ice cream to tid us over and 3 of us walked the trail back to the RV park.
Well, we did need to stop and have a little fun along the way.
Arrived home just in time to celebrate Holly’s birthday, which was really yesterday, but we had her cake at Happy hour today.
Topped off a perfect day by going back into town and having dinner on an open veranda above the bustling street and nightlife of this quaint little town. Who would have thought this place could come so alive at dark.
