HAPPY SAINT PATRICK’S DAY!
Day 188 – Saint Patrick’s Day is a really big deal in St. Louis – big parades, everyone in green, parties & celebrations – we’d been warned about the possibilities of traffic problems, so we went around the City & it worked out well. We were starting our trek towards Louisville, KY.
175 miles
370 Lakeside Park, St. Peter’s City Park, 1000 Lakeside Park Drive, St. Peter’s, MO 63376, (636) 387-LAKE, www.stpetersmo.net/rvpark. This Park was new; very well-maintained. In a nice location outside of the bigger cities & the sprawl surrounding St. Louis. It was close to everything we were going to do while in town. We were assigned site #207, full hook-ups, a back-in campsite in the middle of the Park. There were 3 loops with about 25 campsites per loop. Off-season rate was $37 per night, more for pull-through sites, and more still for the row closest to the lake. The Park was less than half full our entire stay. There were playgrounds, picnic areas, boating, fishing, a long hiking/biking path around the lake, soccer & baseball fields, etc. The campsites were big enough for larger RV’s. Trees had been planted but were still small, so the field was wide open. Traffic noise was minimal. We would stay here again.
It was 45 degrees, cloudy & windy, when we departed St. Peter’s, MO at 10:15 a.m. It’s always nice to have full hook-ups at the campsite; it speeds up the dumping & water-filling process, particularly when you don’t have to wait in line at the dump station. We got gas in the RV where the party-goers were already buying beverages & cheerily beginning to PARTAY in their green gear. Took the 370 south to Interstate 70 northeast. Traffic wasn’t bad at all & we soon left St. Louis, crossing the Mississippi River into Illinois.
Leaving St. Louis over the Mississippi
We got on Interstate 64 southeast, crossed Illinois, and headed into southern Indiana, stopping at a rest stop for lunch. Then going south on Highway 69, we entered Harmonie State Park, 4 miles south of New Harmony, IN. Then, following signs, we went southwest on Route 269. It was a very large, scenic State Park with numerous trails for hiking, horseback riding & biking, plus fishing & swimming. Although the Park is open all year, it was virtually empty & we had our pick of campsites. We arrived at 1:45 p.m., 57 degrees, windy & cloudy. We picked site #118 with electric hook-ups, 1 night at $32.10. Very quiet & peaceful, a great place to unwind.
