Hidden Treasures: Ted Drewes Concrete Ice Cream in St. Louis

If you live in St. Louis, you know all about Ted Drewes. However, if you are just passing through, it’s worth a trip out of your way to stop and enjoy a Custard Concrete. Once you pay your first visit, you will never forget it.

Not only a hometown favorite, Ted Drewes is also known in the celeb-circuit. Elvis Presley use to fly into St. Louis just to stop in and today has a special custard concrete named after him, called the “All Shook Up.”

Ted Drewes has been in business since the South Grand store opened in 1931, by Ted’s father Ted Sr. The Chippewa store was added in 1941, on the old route 66 highway. To this day, both locations serve thousands of customers each year. It is a great way to cool off on those hot St. Louis summers.

Ted Drewes has two locations in St. Louis: 4224 South Grand Ave and 6726 Chippewa.

Carl Benjamin is a Seed.com contributor.

Celebrate Elvis’ 75th Birthday at Graceland this week

Had he lived, Elvis would be turning 75 years old on January 8. Superfans can celebrate with a week of parties hosted Graceland from January 7 to 10.

Events include a day tour of Tupelo, where Elvis grew up, book signings from authors of books on Elvis, fan club events, and panel presentations from close friends and associates of Elvis. There will be musical performances, including a gospel concert of Elvis songs and a performance of tunes from Elvis done by the Memphis Symphony Orchestra.

Several birthday and dance parties will also be offered. The Elvis 75th Birthday Bash on Beale is just $15 and includes a night of drink specials, live music, and partying at clubs up and down Beale Street on January 9.

Tickets for all events are available online until 5pm Central today. After that, you can purchase them at the door for each event (pending availability) or at the Graceland Guest Services office.

Five famous fathers: Visit where they lived with their children

For a Father’s Day nod to famous fathers, it seemed apropos to do a post on Father’s Day travel with a twist. Read a biography of famous men and it may take more than a few paragraphs to get to their children. The children seem tucked in between those details that made a man famous. Regardless how much or how little press is given to the offspring, there are landmarks where these men lived with the people who helped keep their legacies alive.

Although these are the sites we head to to find out about what made these men tick as contributors to the rest of us, they are also the places that children called home, and where the men who might have tucked them in at night were called “Dad” (or “Papa,” or “Father” or “Pops” or some other variation) by those people whose tiny hands they once held in their own.

Here are five men through history who have had an influence on the world and where you can visit where they lived with their children. From humble houses to elaborate palaces, here are five places where you can imagine the varied conversations that happened within the walls–the type that only fathers and children share.

1. Henry VIII (Religion)–Hampton Court Palace, London. This Tudor palace is where King Henry 8th of England, with a penchant for beheading his wives, lived the most. It’s a gorgeous piece of architecture with a fascinating history and a remarkable maze in the garden. Henry’s three children used this palace as a haven after they became adults as well. Son Edward was christened in the chapel and Mary spent her honeymoon here. Henry died when Edward was nine. The two daughters were older. Henry’s desire to divorce his wives led to the England’s shift away from Roman Catholicism.

2. Abraham Lincoln (Politics)–Lincoln Home National Historic Site, Springfield, Illinois. This is a hallmark year to visit the house where Lincoln lived with his family prior to becoming president. Take a guided walk in the neighborhood where Lincoln took strolls, probably with sons Robert, Willie and Tad (son Edward died.) Lincoln brought the North and South back together.

3. Claude Monet (Art)–Monet’s House and Gardens, Giverny, France. Monet moved to this lovely farm with his family and lived here for 43 years. Here he painted is famous works connected to Impressionism and provided a haven of art and creativity for his brood made up of eight children. When you look at Monet’s studio where he painted, inspired by the garden on the property, imagine what his children saw and how the smell of paint and flowers were prominent in their lives.

4. Martin Luther King Jr.(Civil Rights)–Dexter Parsonage Museum, Montgomery, Alabama. Visit the house where Martin Luther King Jr. lived where he was a young pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist church. This is where he was living with his four children and wife when someone threw a bomb onto the porch. You can still see the damage. No one was hurt. The house looks as if the King family just stepped outside for a moment. It’s a step back in time for sure. King’s message of equality provides hope and drive to those who are struggling for equal rights. If it wasn’t for him, and those who rallied behind his words, where would we be?

5. Elvis Presley (Music and Popular Culture) Memphis, Tennessee–Graceland. No matter what a person thinks of the over-the-top decor of Graceland, it’s the place where Elvis felt at home and he lived with his wife Priscilla and daughter, Lisa Marie until Priscilla moved out, taking Lisa Marie with her. Still, this is the home where Lisa Marie can still go to remember her dad who made a big time impact on popular culture and music. The photo is of Lisa Marie’s swing set in the back yard.

Graceland? No, Deutschland

Elvis is buried in Memphis, right? So what’s he doing in the German town of Bad Nauheim?

No, he was not sighted by some bleary-eyed office worker on the way home after too many beers. Bad Nauheim is the place where Elvis did his military duty in the late ’50s. The people of this otherwise nondescript town (well, at least the Elvis fans among them) are not so quick to forget their most famous boarder.

A tour around town passes an arch where the photo for one of The King’s album covers was taken. There is also the house where he lived, and, for die-hards, the room that he sometimes rented at a local hotel. There is even a story about a beer hall where Elvis allegedly started a brawl.

The people of Bad Nauheim have made Elvis a kind of folk hero, and they are painfully aware that his army days in Germany are viewed as insignificant by fans from other parts of the world. According to local Elvis lore, the Bad Nauheim years were among the happiest in Presley’s life. Bad Nauheim will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Presley’s arrival in their town later this year.

Elvis Presley: More Than Graceland

I’ve been to the gates of Graceland. I had grand plans to visit a year ago, but since my direct flight out of Columbus was canceled and I was rerouted through Detroit, I arrived in Memphis 15 minutes after closing. I was on my way to Mississippi and had no time for a tour the day of my return flight. A minor disappointment.

I did see the special Elvis exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame years ago. One of the TVs Elvis shot was on display. There was much more than that, but who can forget a TV with a bullet hole?

For folks who seek out anything Elvis, and I’m not saying I’m one of them, there’s a new tourist site in the works. Some people already show up in Palm Springs, California wanting to go inside the house where Elvis once lived. The couple who own it want to return it to Elvis’s glory days splendor and have an idea that it might also attract people who might want to get married there. That’s not so far-fetched. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law got married by an Elvis impersonator in Las Vegas. Not that the place in Palm Springs would have an Elvis impersonator who performs ceremonies, but that would be an interesting addition, come to think of it. The photo is on AOL’s homepage today. Click on it for a link to an Elvis quiz also on AOL. Just a little something extra.