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St. Charles' historic railroad depot is adjacent to Katy Trail.

This is one last post before Tim and I land at the farm where wheat harvest is gearing up and time will be limited.  We spent the last two nights camped at St. Charles on the banks of the Missouri River just 25 miles northwest of St. Louis, Missouri.  By walking through the gate at the rear of our campground, we could saunter a quarter-mile along the Katy Trail (a hiking/bicycling trail that transects the state of Missouri) to the historic downtown of St. Charles, Missouri.  This was the first permanent European settlement on the Missouri River.  It was the final embarkation point for the Louis and Clark Expedition for it was here on May 16, 1804, that the Corps of Discovery camped at St. Charles, a traders' outpost, the last European civilization they saw until they returned from their expedition two years later.  

Bella Vino Wine Bar

The historic downtown evokes the bustle of that trading outpost with its quaint shops and trendy restaurants.  We rarely eat dinner out when it's just the two of us, but we couldn't resist a chance to try the tapas at Bella Vino Wine Bar.  Calamari on a bed of flash-fried spinach; Portobello mushrooms stuffed with spinach, feta cheese and kalamata olives; cheese fondue set alight by our waiter and accompanied by torn pieces of artisan bread left little room for us to try the restaurant's signature St. Louis Gooey Cake, but we couldn't resist.  Oh, my, was that delicious! 

We also made time to visit the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site in St. Louis.  We've seen Grant's Tomb in New York City and his home in Galena, Illinois where he formed a regiment of soldiers at the beginning of the Civil War, but we'd never stopped at White Haven, the farm where he met his wife, Julia Dent.  

I think White Haven is a misnomer, but the park ranger said this lime green color was very similar to the underlying paint  of the house's exterior.

Grant's roommate at West Point was Fred Dent, Julia's oldest brother.  Upon graduation, these two friends were assigned to Jefferson Barracks near St. Louis.  Fred often invited Grant to visit his home.  There Grant met Fred's sister Julia whom he courted with letters while he was away fighting in the Mexican-American War.  They married in 1848 and for a time, they lived with her family at White Haven.  

Behind the house is the slaves' domain: the kitchen and the room where laundry was done.

Grant's relationship with Julia's father, a slaveholder, was a difficult one.  While not a fervent abolitionist (Grant at one time did own a slave, William Jones, whom he freed in 1859), he was against slavery.  Yet, even Julia felt that there was nothing wrong in owning slaves.  So there was tension in Grant's familial relationships.

A lot has been written about the failures Grant experienced in his life.  Indeed, he was not able to make a profit raising horses while he lived at White Haven and he relocated his family from Hardscrabble, the unprofitable farm he once owned near his father-in-law, to find work in his brother's tannery in Galena, Illinois.  But perhaps it simply took him awhile to find his niche.  However, no one can deny that if it wasn't for Ulysses S. Grant, the Union could not have won the Civil War as soon as it did.

With our visit to this historic site of Ulysses S. Grant, we've now visited 58 National Park Service properties since we began our full-time RV life in January 2016.  Considering that there are 417 properties in total, I guess we still have a ways to go!  However, adding any more sites to our collection of memories will have to put on hold.  Duty calls!

Note:  Tim and I arrived back on the farm June 1st and it's been a whirlwind ever since.  Farmwork has sucked us into its vortex as everyone prepares for the juggernaut of wheat harvest.  This afternoon my 87-year-old father pulled the combine into the field and lowered the header almost to the ground before setting the cutting bar into motion.  The stalks of wheat are very short this year due to the ongoing drought.  In fact, the National Weather Service has reported that this was the driest winter in western Kansas since they began tracking in 1874.  So, we'll see how it shells out.

"Who plants a seed beneath the sod and waits to see, believes in God." ~ Anonymous