For the second year in a row I find myself in St. Louis to attend performances at the Muny, North America's largest outdoor theater, seating up to 11,000 people. A friend performs here and we have mainly limited our visits to the area around Forest Park and the Chase Hotel, which is where we have stayed both visits. We love the Chase Park Plaza and the Central West End, which is a neighborhood filled with restaurants and shopping just around the corner from the hotel. On the other side is the huge Forest Park, with a zoo, art museum, conservatory, bike rentals and paddleboats. Everything is within walking distance, although we did drive our rental car to the theater at night, because we were dressed up and didn't relish walking the mile and a half in heels. Tonight was our third attendance of Godspell at the Muny and the final show is tomorrow, Sunday. I 'll write more then about the hotel,Forest Park, the Central West End and the Muny.

Finally getting around to finishing this trip report. The Chase Hotel was a perfect location for our purposes. We walked across the street into Forest Park every day for our exercise. We didn't even use the fitness center at the hotel because the weather was so nice, we wanted to be outside. You can walk, rent bikes ($10/hr), or paddleboat, which is quite a workout for the legs. The paddleboats are at the Boathouse, where you can sit for a drink or lunch afterward. Forest Park's zoo is rated highly and is free. There is a great Science Center for the kids as well.

Our suite at the Chase was comfortably appointed and the service was great. There were three girls in one room and we needed tons of hangers. Nothing was a problem with the hotel staff, extra wine glasses, corkscrew, etc. They assisted me in arranging a dinner for 13 at the cafe next to the pool, let us each have separate checks, set aside a private area. The only complaints I have are that it can be a big noisy with the music from the bar area (get a higher floor to avoid this) and sirens all night because it's across the street from the hospital. Although we had more noise because our friend liked the windows open. Oh, and the windows were quite dirty, inside and out. Valet parking was $22 a day and internet access $9.95 a day. However, we got a good rate on the suite and were quite satisfied otherwise. Food and drinks were quite expensive at poolside.

The hotel is within an easy walk from the Central West End. Great gelato place, coffee shops, lots of outdoor eating areas. We ate at Bar Italia, which I highly recommend for the food and ambiance. The temps and humidity can be quite high in St. Louis in July/August, but we lucked out and it was unseasonably cool (70's), which was perfect for us.

We attended performances at the Muny. It's an amazing experience. There is a ballpark atmosphere before the show, with refreshment vendors walking the aisles and they even have people stand for the national anthem. But when the lights go down the huge stage transforms the space and you are caught up in the drama. Last year we saw Miss Saigon and they were able to lift off a real helicoptor from the stage and flew off into the distance. I attended four performances last weekend and the 11,000 seats were almost filled every night, despite the All Star game festivities in St. Louis. It's a very popular venue.

Both my friends, who were first-time visitors to the area, want to return with their families. There are many more things we want to explore on future trip. St. Louis was really an unexpected pleasure and discovery for us. For my photos of the trip:
http://picasaweb.google.com/maggiwun...eat=directlink

I enjoyed reading your report! I am glad you had fun in my home town!

Thanks! As a local, do you attend the Muny performances?

I attend about one a season - I wish more though. I have not been to any this year as we spent a boat load on our Daimond box tickets for the baseball cardinals. I loved Meet me in St louis there!
When I was in HighSchool my girl friends and I would sit in the free seats and enjoyed the experience.

I am glad you uenjoyed Forest park too! I love to walk my dog a few times a week there. The boat house has free dog biscuits and water so he is in heaven!

Forest Park reminds me of Central Park in NY. So much to do! We rented bikes (at $10/hr, which I thought a bit too much, but if we lived there I'd be riding every day). I had free water at the Boathouse too, though not out of the dog's dish Wish we had enough time to sit and have lunch there. The paddleboats gave our legs a good workout. We saw a unicyclist ride down the steep hill from the art museum to the water's edge, make a sharp right at the water's edge and proceed to ride his unicycle along the edge all around the lake. (I got a photo of him). I think the free seats at the Muny are such a great idea. Good for them!

I meant if we lived there, I'd be riding my own bike there every day...

Wow, this brought back memories! I grew up in Illinois, about 45 miles from St. Louis, and went to the Muny with my mother and my aunts several times as I was growing up. Always a great experience!

I saw the unicycler too!! I could not beleive he went down that huge hill at such speed!!
He must come out on weekends!

How funny you saw him too. Did you see my photo of him? He was riding within inches of the edge of the water! Then he rode up the bridge to the other side and kept going there as well. Amazing!