St. Louis

St Louis Arial picture
  1. Busses Nowhere Near the Arch: A premiere VW event!

    Busses by the arch

  2. The Arch: A ride to the top is necessary for everyone at least once in their life. The Arch is right on the Mississippi River. You can take a cruise on the river as well.

    The Arch from Below Looking down from the Arch

  3. Forest Park: Home to the Art Museum, History Museum, Zoo, Science Center and more. A great place to ride your bike or go for a jog.
  4. Missouri History Museum: its FREE! They have a decent disply on St. Louis history, but the best thing is usually the special exhibits. The special exhibits are also free one day a week (maybe Tuesdays?).

    In addition, for several months each year (May/June, Aug/Sept?) there are free concerts on the lawn of the history museum every Tuesday evening.

  5. St. Louis Art Museum: its FREE! They have some great art and they even have several Egyptian mummies!
  6. St. Louis Zoo: its FREE! It is really a great zoo, even if you are opposed to keeping the poor animals caged up. There are some great animals and some of the cages even look somewhat humane.

    The snake at the zoo

  7. St. Louis Science Center: its FREE! Planetarium, omnimax, exhibits.

    At the Science Center, you can even build your own arch!

  8. The MUNY: its FREE! Outdoor theater (the nation's oldest and largest!). Around seven shows each summer. Bring your dinner, some beer/wine and enjoy the show (bring your binoculars because the free seats are quite a way back, but it is a great time).
  9. Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis: its FREE. Every summer for several weeks there is a free show on the hill next to the Art Museum. The only bad thing is that they only put on one show, but there are different pre-show entertainers so it can be fun to go more than once.
  10. Earth Day St. Louis: Great event with lots of music and lots of booths to look at hippy wares.
  11. Steinberg Ice Rink: An outdoor ice skating rink! They have late night skating and it is open all winter!

    Steinberg Ice Rink

  12. The Great Forest Park Balloon Race


    The ballons Blake at the Balloon Race

  13. Riverfront Bicycle Trail: Great trail from the Arch to Grafton, Illinois! Over 50 miles one way (with a great place to camp in Grafton if you want to make an overnight out of it).

    Riverfront Trail The bike gang

  14. Chain of Rocks Bridge: Perhaps the longest pedestrian bridge in the country. The old route 66 bridge accross the Mississippi River.
  15. Missouri Botanical Garden: Some people really love the Botanical Gardens. I'm not one of them. It is very nice and very well done, but it is also a bit boring.
  16. Cahokia Indian Mounds: This is one of my favorites. The museum is very well done too. This is about 20 minutes away from the city.

    The indian mounds from above The indian mounds from above Rebecca at the indian mounds

  17. St. Louis City Museum: Not for just kids! This place is amazing---lots of fun for everyone!

    There are so many amazing things to do at the City Museum---climb, explore caves, see a glass blower and actually museum-type displays.

  18. The Magic House: Okay, not great, but it is somewhat fun for kids.
  19. Moonlight Ramble: One of the largest night rides in the country. A very fun time.
  20. Bicycle Fun Club: Group bike rides!
  21. St. Louis Cathedral: Home to the largest mosaic collection in the world. It is pretty amazing. Taking a guided tour is recommended (they give a lot of great information on the mosaics and some of the symbolism in the mosaics).

    This is just a couple blocks from my house.

  22. First Unitarian Church of St. Louis: How bad can a church be when the Christmas Pageant is introduced by calling it a nice story that probably never happened.
  23. Fair St. Louis: Fourth of July celebration at the Arch. Free music! Pat Benitar played in 2003! Its not so hard to sneak beer in, but they don't really want you to bring your own beer.
  24. The Pageant: great concert venue.
  25. Soulard Farmer's Market: One of the oldest farmer's markets in the country (how can this be? I don't know.). It is great! You can find lots of interesting things to buy---morel mushrooms, beaver, possum, rabbit, etc.
  26. The Old Courthouse: At first glance, it looks boring, but it is really pretty cool. One of the first iron domes in the country.
  27. The Ozarks in Southern Missouri

    Here are some photos from the St. Francis river---a popular kayaking river.
    St. Francis River Kayakers at the St Francis River

    It can't get any more beautiful than these photos of Johnson Shutins and the Current River:
    Water below the shut-ins The Current River

  28. Left Bank Books: St. Louis' largest independent bookstore. They bring in lots of authors including Hilary and Johnny Cochran.
  29. Ted Drewes: Frozen custard. Not overwhelming, but it is pretty darn good (and it certainly grows on you).
  30. Trader Joe's: Two locations!!
  31. Llywelyns Pub: Nice pub in the Central West End.
  32. Blueberry Hill: Great beer. Chuck Berry plays almost every month here.
  33. The Fox Theater
  34. Washington University
  35. St. Louis University: A Jesuit university.

    Here's a picture of the SLU church.
    SLU Church

  36. St. Louis Cardinals
  37. Mardi Gras: Yes, St. Louis has a huge Mardi Gras Celebration. I have heard it called the 2nd largest Mardi Gras fete in the country.

    Mardi Gras 2002 Mardi Gras 2002

  38. Missouri River Relief: help clean up the Missouri River (you can read about me there if you look closely). A very fun time.