ToBeThode

Adventures of the Thode Family: living and loving the crazy life. Family. Food. Fun.

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • StumbleUpon
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Home
    • About Me
      • Work with ToBeThode
      • Disclosure Policy
  • Life, Love, Blogging
    • Random Blogginess
    • Kids, Pets, Photos
    • Essential Oil Love
    • Faithfulness
      • Prayers for Jemma
    • Rocky
    • Reviews & Giveaways
      • 2014 Holiday Gift Guide Reviews
      • Giveaway
      • Thursday Giveaway Linkup
  • Pets
  • Cooking & Recipes
  • St Louis and Travel
  • About Me
  • Work with ToBeThode
    • Disclosure Policy
    • Find ToBeThode

St Louis Fun! Grant’s Farm is fun for all ages!

July 25 by Stefany 7 Comments

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google+
  • Pinterest
  • Yummly
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit

Disclosure: We received passes and a gift in exchange for coverage of Grant’s Farm. 

grants farm sign

Grant’s Farm has been a St. Louis tradition for more than five decades. The 281-acre ancestral home of the Busch family, located just south of the city of St. Louis, is home to more than 900 animals representing more than 100 different species. More than 24 million guests have visited this popular family attraction since it was opened it to the public in 1954.

The Farm takes its name from Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th President of the United States. In the 1850s, Grant founded and farmed a portion of the 281 acres.

Grant’s Farm ranked the seventh-best family attraction nationwide in the U.S. Family Travel Guide Zagat Survey®. Zagat, the world’s leading provider of consumer survey-based leisure, with Parenting magazine, surveyed more than 11,000 avid travelers to rate family-oriented attractions across the country.

One of our favorite places to visit in St Louis is Grant’s Farm. Grant’s Farm is celebrating 60 years this year and they have added some really fun additions too. We went this past weekend and, while incredibly crowded and unbearably long lines, we still had a great time.  Here are some pictures from our day!

When you get to Grant’s Farm the first thing you will do is get on the tram. Our tram ride was great this time. There were a lot of animals out and about because of the great weather. This is a guided tour so you learn all about the farm and animals that are out.

longhorn grants farm

elk grants farm

The tram will stop once you make it to the Tier Garden. Once there you can feed the goats (be careful because they will try to eat your clothes… just ask Joley!), see an Animal Encounters show, ride the carousel, eat some snacks, see some animals that live at the farm, see the Elephant Education Show, feed parakeets, see or ride camels, and have lunch.  There is really so much to do at the farm! On hot days you can walk through the mist to cool off.

We always go to the Elephant Education show. It is Joley’s favorite!

elephant show grants farm

New to Grant’s Farm this year is parakeet feedings. This is $1 and you are given one stick to feed the birds with. This was really fun and there are so many birds in this little caged area. We were able to get up close with a few who climbed on the sticks to eat!

parakeet feeding grants farm

parakeet grants farm

I personally love the camels. We didn’t go on any rides this visit but you can! The kids loved riding the camel last year.

camel grants farm

Grant’s Farm offers fun for adults too! Once you work your way through the farm, you will come to an area that you can eat and drink. Those that are 21 or over can sample two Anheuser-Busch products.

busweiser samples grants farm

The kids each enjoyed a snow cone during this trip. You can buy a pass that allows you to have 2 goat bottles, a carousel ride, and a snow cone for only $5 (a $7 value) and I recommend doing that. Those snow cones are so good! They enjoyed their snow cones while we had our beers and relaxed before heading home.

jemma snow cone

joley snow cone

johnny snow cone

You can also walk through the historic stables and see carriages, awards, horses, and donkeys.  It is fun to see some of the history of Grant’s Farm and Anheuser-Busch right on the grounds.

old carriages grants farm

When you are all done eating, drinking, and looking around, you get back on the tram to head back to the entrance area. At this point you can either head home, go to the general store, or visit the new Swan Paddle Boats (you can do this at the beginning too if you like). These are new this year! We didn’t have time but it looks like a ton of fun.

swan boats

I love that Grant’s Farm is such a friendly place to be. They have the best workers there and everyone is always kind and helpful.

grants farm exit sign

You might think this is the end of the trip, right? Wrong! There are Clydesdale stables across the parking lot. We weren’t able to go on a tour but you can schedule that if you have time. It is on our list of things to do this fall! The Clydesdales are outside though and you can walk through the barn as well. These are beautiful horses and some have even been featured on Anheuser-Busch commercials!

grants farm clydesdale

clydesdales grants farm

Grant’s Farm is such a great place to visit. Entrance is free but parking is $12 for a car (more for buses and you can purchase a year pass too). There is free parking across the street but we prefer to just park in the lot. I encourage you to visit Grant’s Farm if you are in or near St Louis. Hours of operation are:

April 29 – September 1
Tuesday – Friday 9:00 am – 3:30 pm
Saturday 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Sunday 9:30 am – 4:00 pm
Closed to the public due to private event on August 16th

September 5 – November 2
Friday 9:30 am – 2:30 pm
Saturday and Sunday 9:30 am – 3:30 pm
Closed to the public due to a private event on Saturday, September 27

October 10 – 11th, 16 – 19th, 23 – 26th, 30th
Hours of Operation: 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

You can find Grant’s Farm on Facebook and Twitter.

«
»

Filed Under: Random Blogginess, St Louis and Travel Tagged With: Grant's Farm, St Louis, travel

You May Also LIke:

Comments

  1. Cassandra Eastman says

    July 28 at 4:21 pm

    We are definitely going to have to visit Grant’s Farm next time we are in St. Louis! Thanks for sharing!!

    Reply
  2. amanda @attachedmoms says

    July 27 at 11:29 pm

    I like those special dates. The kiddos seem to be quite happy!

    Reply
  3. Rosey says

    July 27 at 8:33 am

    That’s awesome that it’s a free entry! I like looking at the animals, and the older things like the carriages. What a fun way to spend some time.

    Reply
  4. Amanda Love - Growing Up Madison says

    July 27 at 12:33 am

    Sounds like a fun place and one that my kids would really enjoy, especially my daughter. She really loves animals.

    Reply
  5. valmg @ Mom Knows It All says

    July 26 at 4:47 pm

    It sounds like a fun place to spend an afternoon! I’d especially love to see the horses!

    Reply
  6. Michele says

    July 25 at 11:57 am

    Oh what fun that must have been! I have never been to St. Louis and unfortunately doubt I’ll ever get there. If I do you know where I am heading!

    Reply
  7. sharon martin says

    July 25 at 11:34 am

    It looks like so much fun and so much to see, wish I lived closer.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

logo
Food Advertisements by

Archives


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google+
  • Pinterest
  • Yummly
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit