Missouri Fall Magic! Beautiful Long Branch Lake! Fantastic German Feast!

Traveling with Terriers experiences Missouri in the fall. On this episode, we visit beautiful Long Branch State Park and eat a fantastic German feast in the town of Hermann, MO!

Posted by Jess-

Missouri in the Fall

Close your eyes and picture the perfect Hallmark fall movie. Trees everywhere, leaves in vibrant shades of red, yellow, and orange falling around you and crunching under your feet as you walk through the woods. The air is crisp and cool and everything around you has a golden hue.

Fall in Missouri looks like this. Growing up with family in the state, I spent a lot of summers as a child there. They were hot and humid. I always thought fall would be the perfect time to visit. After all, the whole state is filled with trees and rolling hillsides. So, when Danny and I were planning a fall trip, the state of Missouri was one of the top destinations on my list. In order to get there we had to figure out how to avoid ice storms across the middle of Nebraska (which are fairly common in October) and keep our RV tanks from freezing. Once we did that, the trip was on!

We planned our trip for early to mid-October hoping that the leaves would be vibrant and beautiful. Spoiler alert- they weren’t. At least not at first. One of the highlights of our trip was watching the leaves change from green to gold to red as we traveled through the state. It was truly a beautiful experience.

First Stop: Long Branch State Park

Our first stop in Missouri was at Long Branch State Park in Macon, MO. This is a beautiful state park complete with a fantastic lake in north-central Missouri. The leaves were just starting to change, so we were able to walk among some falling leaves and pick acorns off the ground. I was especially excited about the acorns! I used them to make a garland for my Christmas tree to remind me of the trip each year in December.

One of the highlights of our short stay at Long Branch was the beautiful fog on the lake the next morning. Danny is usually an earlier riser than I am, so he came and got me up. I’m glad he did. It was so beautiful and a great start to our first magical fall in Missouri!

Movin’ on Down the Road!

From Long Branch State Park, we headed towards the St. Louis area where we would spend the next three nights at Meramec State Park. On the way, we stopped in the small town of Hermann, MO. Hermann, a suburb of St. Louis was settled by German immigrants in 1837. Their dream was for the town to be the German center of America. While that dream was never realized, the town today is both the center of the Missouri wine making industry and the sausage making capital of the state.

The town of Hermann was wonderful. We stopped at Stone Hill Winery with the intention to have lunch in their Vintage 1847 Carriage Barn turned restaurant. Unfortunately, they were closed that day. It worked out for us. We ended up finding the Hermann Wurst Haus, which had an assortment of flavored sausages, and house-made German sides. The whole meal was delicious! As a bonus, they have a market on-site where you can buy sausages, beer, and sauces to take home. We enjoyed several varieties of bratwurst with our family throughout the rest of the fall and winter season.

Unfortunately, we were unable to explore as much of Hermann as we would have liked. It is on our list of places we would like to go back to, so the next time we venture into the St. Louis area we will be back to see more of what Hermann has to offer.

Welcoming Fall in Missouri at Meramec State Park!

From Hermann, we traveled the back roads and eventually arrived at our home for the next three nights. Meramec State Park located about an hour outside of St. Louis is a beautiful area. We didn’t visit the lake at this park, but we did hike the area. It was a fantastic place to watch the leaves turn. But, that is for the next episode, which will be out soon!

In the meantime, for more of our adventures, check out our other Behind-the-Scenes blogs, Travel-a-Long, Drive-a-Long, Hike-a-Long, and Top 5 Tips and Tricks videos. Also, just in time for the holidays, be on the lookout for our new Traveling with Terriers merch in our Merch Store! We always love to hear from our friends so please give us a shout out. Finally, don’t forget to hit Like and Subscribe on our vidoes!

See you next time and happy traveling!