St. Louis
Sep 21st, 2003, 01:17 PM
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St Louis has a lot to offer. The Arch is a must if you've not been there. The Brewery tour with free beer, Grants Farm with free beer, and the old town of St Charles. St Charles would be a good place to stay also. Go to the little box above and type in St Louis, you will get more info than you wanted! Here's a web site for a B&B in historic St Charles you might want to check out. http://www.ohwy.com/mo/b/bolitrin.htm Have fun!
Sep 24th, 2003, 07:26 PM
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I suppose it depends on what you like to do to figure out what would be good for you. But, as cd says, there's quite a bit available. Staying in the city is not such a bad thing either, really, if you locate well. St. Charles is good, but most of Old Main closes down pretty early. The Sheraton on South 14th Street or the Westin on Spruce St. Both are very convenient to the light rail system, both are safe and very nice. The Westin is more upscale/boutique.
Main attractions:
- All those cd already mentioned. Good stuff there.
- The St. Louis Zoo. Every city has a zoo, but STL's is one of the tops in the US. Free admission.
- If you go soon, the Missouri Botanical Gardens (aka Shaw's Garden). Really wonderful 77 acres of gardens, including the "most important Japanese Gardens outside of Japan" according to Japanese Gardening mag. Also in the Gardens is the Climatron, the first geodesic dome greenhouse, which contains a multilevel rainforest. $7
- Art Museum. Decent collection, including some Masters housed in Exhibition Hall from the 1904 Worlds Fair
- Cahokia Mounds. Just 10 miles on the Illinois side of the river, it's a pre-historic mound builder Native American archeological site. A UNESCO World Heritage site http://whc.unesco.org/sites/198.htm
With Kids:
- Much of the above plus,
- The Magic House. In suburb of Kirkwood.
- City Museum. Artsy/fun interactive stuff for kids and families.
- Eugene Field House. Home of childrens poems like Winken, Blinken & Nod. His house downtown is now a Toy Museum.
- Science Center. IMAX theater, planetarium, interactive and free admission. One of the top rated science centers in the country.
A bit further out:
- Wineries. Head west down Hwy 94 off of US40 for a winding tour of German wineries through Defiance, Augusta and as far as Herman. Really pretty country and if you're going soon, the Autumn colors should kick in in mid Oct.
- Hannibal, MO. Home of Mark Twain. His house, plus Becky Thatcher's home and "Injun Joe's Cave" are all open to the public.
- Meramec Caverns. Sullivan, M0. Touristy, but great cave formations and easy paved walking, it was the hideout for Jesse James and Co.
- St. Genevieve, MO. Founded by the French, it's the oldest settlement west of the Mississippi.
Eats & Nightlife:
- Laclede's Landing. Old buildings and cobblestones on the St. Louis Riverfront. Full of restaurants and bars and atmosphere. Personally recommend Hannegans for their baked double cut pork chop with apple rosemary stuffing with poivrade sauce. I loooove this!
- Soulard neighborhood. More turn of the century buildings. Tucker's Place for steaks.
- The Hill. Far and away the best Italian going. Every corner seems to have a family run (generations) restaurant. The area is around Kingshighway and Southwest. Favazza's is my favorite but there are a number of close seconds. If you really want upscale Italian, Tony's in downtown is the only 5-Star, 5-Diamond Italian restaurant in the United States (but you'll pay like it is, too!)
- Union Station. A magnificant old train station, once the busiest in the country has been converted to a shopping/hotel complex, but there are some decent eats within. Leary's for seafood is good.
- Central West End. Funky, eclectic neighborhood with unusual shops and trendy restaurants. I'd recommend Jesse's on MacPherson bu I'm not sure they're still there. I'm not that funky & eclectic as I once was.
The fingers are tired but the night was kinda slow. Can you tell? Been meaning to put all this in one place for awhile. You got the brunt of it.
Enjoy my hometown!
Main attractions:
- All those cd already mentioned. Good stuff there.
- The St. Louis Zoo. Every city has a zoo, but STL's is one of the tops in the US. Free admission.
- If you go soon, the Missouri Botanical Gardens (aka Shaw's Garden). Really wonderful 77 acres of gardens, including the "most important Japanese Gardens outside of Japan" according to Japanese Gardening mag. Also in the Gardens is the Climatron, the first geodesic dome greenhouse, which contains a multilevel rainforest. $7
- Art Museum. Decent collection, including some Masters housed in Exhibition Hall from the 1904 Worlds Fair
- Cahokia Mounds. Just 10 miles on the Illinois side of the river, it's a pre-historic mound builder Native American archeological site. A UNESCO World Heritage site http://whc.unesco.org/sites/198.htm
With Kids:
- Much of the above plus,
- The Magic House. In suburb of Kirkwood.
- City Museum. Artsy/fun interactive stuff for kids and families.
- Eugene Field House. Home of childrens poems like Winken, Blinken & Nod. His house downtown is now a Toy Museum.
- Science Center. IMAX theater, planetarium, interactive and free admission. One of the top rated science centers in the country.
A bit further out:
- Wineries. Head west down Hwy 94 off of US40 for a winding tour of German wineries through Defiance, Augusta and as far as Herman. Really pretty country and if you're going soon, the Autumn colors should kick in in mid Oct.
- Hannibal, MO. Home of Mark Twain. His house, plus Becky Thatcher's home and "Injun Joe's Cave" are all open to the public.
- Meramec Caverns. Sullivan, M0. Touristy, but great cave formations and easy paved walking, it was the hideout for Jesse James and Co.
- St. Genevieve, MO. Founded by the French, it's the oldest settlement west of the Mississippi.
Eats & Nightlife:
- Laclede's Landing. Old buildings and cobblestones on the St. Louis Riverfront. Full of restaurants and bars and atmosphere. Personally recommend Hannegans for their baked double cut pork chop with apple rosemary stuffing with poivrade sauce. I loooove this!
- Soulard neighborhood. More turn of the century buildings. Tucker's Place for steaks.
- The Hill. Far and away the best Italian going. Every corner seems to have a family run (generations) restaurant. The area is around Kingshighway and Southwest. Favazza's is my favorite but there are a number of close seconds. If you really want upscale Italian, Tony's in downtown is the only 5-Star, 5-Diamond Italian restaurant in the United States (but you'll pay like it is, too!)
- Union Station. A magnificant old train station, once the busiest in the country has been converted to a shopping/hotel complex, but there are some decent eats within. Leary's for seafood is good.
- Central West End. Funky, eclectic neighborhood with unusual shops and trendy restaurants. I'd recommend Jesse's on MacPherson bu I'm not sure they're still there. I'm not that funky & eclectic as I once was.
The fingers are tired but the night was kinda slow. Can you tell? Been meaning to put all this in one place for awhile. You got the brunt of it.
Enjoy my hometown!
Sep 24th, 2003, 07:43 PM
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Wow Clifton that was a great reply! very detailed!
Another fabulous area, depending on budget is Clayton. It is very central to everything. It is a suburb of the city, but is a small and quaint city unto itself. It has some unique hotels, for instance : The Seven Gables Inn. It is charming with a wonderful restaurant that has a very private court yard.It looks like an inn from Europe. It is is the heart of the business district of clayton.
The Danielle Hotel - smaller hotel, walk to restaurants, bars
The Ritz Carlton is in Clayton as well.
Great Restaurants include:
Remy's Wine Bar.
Shitake - Asian.
Figaro's - awesome crab cakes...
Cafe Provencal - inside the Seven Gables Inn (mentioned above)
Lots of fun places in Clayton.
Nearby University City is known for it's very funky and eclectic shops,cafes. It is a fun place to people watch. If you are in the market for a tatoo you are in the right place.
Forest Park has a brand new Boat house on the lake. There are bands who play here often. You might want to pop over there after the museum(s), zoo, a bike ride in the park, etc..
Another fabulous area, depending on budget is Clayton. It is very central to everything. It is a suburb of the city, but is a small and quaint city unto itself. It has some unique hotels, for instance : The Seven Gables Inn. It is charming with a wonderful restaurant that has a very private court yard.It looks like an inn from Europe. It is is the heart of the business district of clayton.
The Danielle Hotel - smaller hotel, walk to restaurants, bars
The Ritz Carlton is in Clayton as well.
Great Restaurants include:
Remy's Wine Bar.
Shitake - Asian.
Figaro's - awesome crab cakes...
Cafe Provencal - inside the Seven Gables Inn (mentioned above)
Lots of fun places in Clayton.
Nearby University City is known for it's very funky and eclectic shops,cafes. It is a fun place to people watch. If you are in the market for a tatoo you are in the right place.
Forest Park has a brand new Boat house on the lake. There are bands who play here often. You might want to pop over there after the museum(s), zoo, a bike ride in the park, etc..
Sep 24th, 2003, 08:39 PM
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Thanks Anne.
Glad you remember the U-City Loop, as I'd thought it but forgot to type it up.
The Red Sea in the Loop has got excellent reggae nights in the basement. Ethiopian menu upstairs on the street level.
There's a Lebanese restaurant there on the loop too. "King of Garlic" is their slogan, and they aren't kidding. Good good food though. I just can't recall the name of the place!
And the Ritz Carlton is very nice. We had our wedding night there. How could I not recommend it??
Glad you remember the U-City Loop, as I'd thought it but forgot to type it up.
The Red Sea in the Loop has got excellent reggae nights in the basement. Ethiopian menu upstairs on the street level.
There's a Lebanese restaurant there on the loop too. "King of Garlic" is their slogan, and they aren't kidding. Good good food though. I just can't recall the name of the place!
And the Ritz Carlton is very nice. We had our wedding night there. How could I not recommend it??
