Tilting at a Windmill, Part 1

Neon Memes • Although I abhor much modern architecture, especially the soulless high-rises that have dominated the landscape since the '70s, I scarcely qualify as a preservationist. Still, I unabashedly treasure certain local structures, and this past Saturday, for the first time in too long a time, I visited a fave just 3 miles from my bungalow: the Bevo Mill (4749 Gravois Avenue, 314.481.2626). On its wedge at the intersection of Morganford and Gravois, the salmon sails of August A. Busch Sr.'s South Side windmill were describing their customary sedate clockwise gyre against an almost cloud-free turquoise sky. Inside, over coffee, I idly eyed the stuffed pheasant and dozens of tankards topping the big fireplace at the back of the main dining room, a latter-day Scandinavian mead hall. The P.A. was playing music that sounded not so much German as Mexican; it featured the accordion, to be sure, but also brass much closer to mariachi than Volkstümliche Musik. At early afternoon, the landmark (whose centennial lies less than a decade away) still held a respectable crowd; utensils clinked, and regulars in their 60s, 70s and 80s chatted about this and that. It felt almost ineffably serene there. ―Bryan A. Hollerbach, Managing Editor