Good morning!

Wentzville-area weekend plans are apparently taking a “choose your own adventure” approach this week.

You can see dinosaurs, celebrate Irish culture, enjoy Asian food and performances, go to a baseball game, hit up a Memorial Day market, listen to live music, or simply take your kids to Splash Station and call it a heroic parenting achievement.

The big ones this week are Dino Day at Frankie Martin’s Garden, Missouri River Irish Fest in St. Charles, and Asian Festival STL in St. Peters.

Basically, your weekend can be educational, cultural, delicious, loud, or slightly prehistoric.

Maybe all of the above.

Here’s what’s happening around town. 👇

Find the perfect gift for Dad, grandpa, husband, boyfriend, or the guy who’s hardest to shop for with our collection of Father’s Day Gifts & Bar Favorites for Him.

Featuring custom engraved whiskey glasses, slate coasters, bottle openers, cigar accessories, and more, these personalized pieces are designed to elevate his favorite drinks and favorite spaces.

Choose from a variety of custom graphics, sayings, logos, and designs to create a gift that feels personal, practical, and unforgettable.

Whether he enjoys bourbon in his home bar, relaxing on the patio with a cold drink, or showing off unique accessories in his man cave, this collection is built for the moments he enjoys most.

From rugged slate coasters to engraved barware and wallet-sized bottle openers, these gifts combine everyday function with meaningful customization — making them perfect for Father’s Day, birthdays, holidays, and special occasions.

Personalized. Functional. Designed for his favorite pour.

Check out the whole Father’s Day Collection and design options here.

2026 Annual Taste of the County
⏰ 5–7 p.m.
📍 Dardenne Prairie City Hall Park
Food and drink samples from local spots, live music, community fun, and a chance to “sample your way around town” without committing to a full dinner decision. Which, frankly, is ideal.

Find Your STR Path: How I Replaced My Income in 12 Months
⏰ 6–10 p.m.
📍 Waterbury Meeting Center, O’Fallon
A short-term rental investing event with case studies, local market strategy, networking, and a cash bar afterward.

Equine Community Connection
⏰ 5–8 p.m.
📍 The National Equestrian Center, Lake Saint Louis
A free equine-focused networking event for horse owners, trainers, families, and anyone interested in local horse resources.

LSLCA Annual Summer Kick-Off Event
⏰ 6–10 p.m.
📍 100 Cognac Ct., Lake Saint Louis
A members-and-guests-only summer kickoff with a water ski show, Bubble Bus, Kona Ice, face painting, concessions, and live music from DRAWL STL Band.

Zero to Ninety Back on Stage at Brewskeez
⏰ 7 p.m.
📍 Brewskeez, O’Fallon
A full-throttle 90s alt-rock night with live music, cold drinks, and probably at least one person saying, “I forgot how much I loved this song.”

Dino Day FMG
⏰ 11 a.m.–12 p.m.
📍 Frankie Martin’s Garden, Cottleville
Dinosaurs are coming to Frankie Martin’s Garden for a family-friendly morning with walking dinos, photos, and Jurassic-sized excitement for kids.

Lake Saint Louis 2026 Summer Concert Series
⏰ 7–10 p.m.
📍 Windjammer Pointe, Lake Saint Louis
The summer concert series kicks off with Trilogy. Bring chairs, blankets, and your favorite people. Just leave the glass containers at home.

PettyCash Junction at Frankie Martin’s Garden
⏰ 7–10 p.m.
📍 Frankie Martin’s Garden, Cottleville
Live music celebrating the sounds of Tom Petty and Johnny Cash in the outdoor garden setting at Frankie Martin’s.

Emerging Archer
⏰ 10–11:30 a.m.
📍 Quail Ridge Park, Wentzville
A beginner-friendly archery program for adults and kids 10 and older. Equipment is provided, and pre-registration is required.

Bree’s Gift Fundraiser at Flower Coffee Collective
⏰ 6 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
📍 Flower Coffee Collective, Wentzville
Grab coffee, pastries, or a little Monday motivation while supporting Bree’s Gift. A portion of sales will help families growing through adoption.

Memorial Day Service
⏰ 10 a.m.
📍 VFW Auxiliary 5327, Wentzville
A Memorial Day service honoring veterans and remembering the brave men and women who served our country.

Party at the Park
⏰ 12–2 p.m.
📍 Zachary’s Playground, Lake Saint Louis
A free community gathering with burgers, chips, a bounce house, and splash pad fun for the kids. Bring a favorite summer side dish to share.

Memorial Day Market
⏰ 12–3 p.m.
📍 Frankie Martin’s Garden, Cottleville
A pop-up market with local vendors, food trucks, live music, and plenty of reasons to wander around with something iced in your hand.

Bree’s Gift Fundraiser at Raising Cane’s
⏰ 10 a.m.–10 p.m.
📍 Raising Cane’s, Wentzville
Support Bree’s Gift while grabbing chicken fingers. Use fundraiser code RCFUND96, and 15% of proceeds will support Bree’s Gift.

Cousins Maine Lobster at Lowe’s Lake St. Louis
⏰ 11 a.m.–7 p.m.
📍 Lowe’s, Lake Saint Louis
The lobster truck rolls into town with lobster rolls, quesadillas, tots, bisque, and other seafood favorites.

O’Fallon Hoots Opening Day
⏰ 6:35 p.m.
📍 CarShield Field, O’Fallon
Opening Day for the O’Fallon Hoots, featuring a national anthem performance and the first home game of the season.

The Portholes: Jammin’ Concert Series Season Opener
⏰ 6:30–9 p.m.
📍 Civic Park, O’Fallon
A free outdoor concert with live music from The Portholes, food trucks, concessions, and a classic summer-evening-in-the-park setup.

Country Music Bingo
⏰ 7:30–8:30 p.m.
📍 B&B Wentzville Tower 12
A free country music bingo night with prizes, food, drinks, and a good excuse to test whether your brain still remembers every chorus from the radio.

Sip & Shop
⏰ 5–8 p.m.
📍 The Barn at Woods Fort, Troy
A local shopping night with vendors throughout the property, a grab-and-go bar, and a relaxed evening atmosphere. A little bit of shopping, a little bit of sipping, and no one judging you for calling it “errands.”

2026 Missouri River Irish Fest 20th Annual
⏰ Friday, May 22 at 5 p.m. through Sunday, May 24 at 5 p.m.
📍 Lewis & Clark Boat House Museum Parking Lot, St. Charles
A Memorial Day weekend festival celebrating Irish culture with music, dancing, food, drinks, folk activities, and plenty of green. Basically the closest you can get to Ireland without needing a passport or pretending you know how to riverdance.

Asian Festival STL
⏰ Sunday, May 24, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
📍 1000 Lakeside Park Dr., St. Peters
A big cultural celebration with food from different Asian countries, arts and crafts, performances, and family-friendly activities. Great if your weekend plans need more flavor, color, and “okay, we’re definitely trying that” energy.

Splash Station opens for the season this weekend
Wentzville’s Splash Station Aquatic Center opens for the 2026 season on Saturday, May 23, which means it is officially time for sunscreen, towels, and pretending you’re “just going to sit in the shade” before ending up completely soaked.

Splash Station features a lazy river, zero-depth entry pool, deep diving well, kids water playground, spiral water slide, and more.

⏰ Regular hours:
Monday–Friday: Noon–6 p.m.
Saturday–Sunday: Noon–6:30 p.m.

📍 Splash Station Aquatic Center
1141 Peine Rd., Wentzville

Daily visit fees range from $3–$14, depending on age and residency. The pool is currently scheduled to be open May 23 through Aug. 23, with a few late-season weekends after that before closing for the season in September.

You know those restaurants where the parking lot tells you everything you need to know?

This is one of those.

The Hawthorne Inn sits out in Labadie, tucked along Front Street in the kind of spot you don’t usually stumble into by accident. You have to mean to go there. You wind through the hills, pass the wineries and country roads, and eventually arrive at a restaurant that feels like somebody let you in on a very well-fed secret.

The Hawthorne Inn has been around since 1994, serving Franklin County and the surrounding area with a menu that covers steaks, pasta, chicken, seafood, pizza, salads, sandwiches, and daily specials. Basically, it’s the kind of menu where everyone says, “I’m just going to look for a second,” and then disappears into decision paralysis for 12 minutes because everything sounds good.

The restaurant’s story is part of the charm. Owner-chef Chris Hancock has spent years developing original recipes, with a from-scratch menu that has often used local farm produce. Chris and his wife, Cathy, helped build the place into a local favorite, first opening in an 1800s general store before later moving several doors down to the current location.

And then there’s the thing people talk about.

The fried spinach.

It’s flash fried, tossed with Parmesan, and has been lovingly described by at least one very correct person as “grownups cotton candy.” Which sounds ridiculous until you try it and realize, unfortunately, vegetables may have peaked. The appetizer is still listed on the menu as flash-fried spinach tossed with Parmesan cheese.

The building has some local flavor too. Above the bar and dining room, artist Bryan Dawes Haynes painted a mural depicting Labadie’s history, in a style compared to Missouri artist Thomas Hart Benton.

So if you’re looking for a little Memorial Day weekend drive, or just want dinner that feels like a mini road trip without needing to pack a suitcase, The Hawthorne Inn is worth putting on the list.

That’s it for this week!

Whether you’re heading out for a festival, chasing dinosaurs, grabbing chicken fingers for a good cause, or just looking for somewhere to sit outside while pretending summer hasn’t fully arrived yet, there’s plenty happening around town.

As always, if you know of an event coming up, send it my way. I love finding the fun stuff before everyone is already posting about it from the parking lot.

And if you own a local business and want to get in front of Wentzville families, reply to this email about sponsoring an upcoming issue. We’d love to feature more great local spots at the top of the newsletter.

See you next Thursday,
Skyler