Hello STL!
Two months here and I barely miss my hometown. The Mississippi, the arch, the few manufacturing units I see along the bank of the river, the casinos, the amalgamations of cultures and the weather - so far, so great. Winter? I don’t know what to look forward to here. I haven’t experienced extremely cold temperatures before nor have I seen snow in person. That apart, I see and understand that St. Louis has a rich history and I’ve seen a few run down buildings around here and experienced Anheuser Busch’s tour to understand a little history of the time.
I haven’t been around much so far but I love exploring places. I just learned that Ted Drewes from St. Louis topped the world ice cream index and that they also are the inventors of the ice cream cone! Now this is the kind of stuff I like to learn! Are you from around here? What more hidden gems of here can I look out for?
I’ve been in/around the area for about 20 years now (since college). There’s a ton of things to do, both inside and out, around the city and county. Restaurants are all over the flavor chart and you’re certain to find some new favorites. “The Hill” is a concentration of mostly old-school italian restaurants. There are clusters of bosnian families that brought their foods with them.
You gotta check out the Zoo and Forest Park. The zoo, like Ted Drewes, is insanely popular and well-known (and it’s free). Katie’s Pizza (on clayton road, just west of the zoo/park) is a great local spot. Chava’s mexican restaurant - down in Soulard, south of downtown, has great food and drinks. The City Museum is a crazy, quirky place for kids and kids-at-heart.
Thank you for all those tips, Aaron! I’m definitely lining up a schedule to hit each of the places you mentioned and I’ll certainly share my feedback with you when I go there.
I hope you’re enjoying STL! As it gets warmer, there are a ton of great places to check out. If you haven’t been to the farmer’s market in Soulard, I highly recommend it. There are also restaurants like Urban Chestnut (In the Grove and Midtown) which have great seasonal selections and patios to enjoy the weather. I’d also recommend Copper Pig, Civil Life Brewery, and Mission Taco in the city.
Life long St. Louis resident here!!! Hope you are still enjoying the area. Ball Park Village and City Garden are two downtown spots I always visit, they are awesome places for entertainment! If you haven’t yet seen City Museum I strongly suggest going soon, so you can experience the Roof Top.
I’ve become a fan of the farmers market at Soulard and try to make it a point to visit it at least once every other Saturday. I think I’ve made a few friends with the folks there too through the visits. The fresh produce, the variety on offer and the food stores! Yummy!
The Mardi Gras through the streets of Soulard was something else! It showed me so much more of STL and the life that’s gone into hibernation.
I’ve tried a few restaurants around the downtown area and South Grand area but as it turns out I still have so much more to visit and try out.
I think I must’ve had to drop off at least 3 attempts to get to the City Museum in the past one year. The first time someone talked me out of it because he was lazy to walk along and the two other times they were closed. I think I should go there before they close parts of the museum for the winter! I will keep you posted when I finally make that visit!
Ball Park Village - love it! Been there a few times already and experienced a game of the Cards against the Red Sox on one occasion. The City Garden is where is go pick up lunch from the food trucks that line up each day. My workplace is just around the corner from there.
If you are new here, St. Louis is a fantastic place to try exploring new places, culture, food, history, etc. It could definitely improve in many ways but it really punches above its weight in lots of categories like that. It is just often unknown to most people outside the area.
I like your phrase about the amalgamations of cultures. I would say that amalgamation of cultures and the temperament of the people (mostly) are 2 things that make this a great place.
It’s really fun to hear about your experiences so far
I went to the Guinness brewery tour in Dublin last year. It’s nice, but… yeah A-B tour in STL is easily a lot cooler.
The first time I went to the City Museum maybe 15 years ago… what??? How does this place exist? And it even has alcohol too? What other place has something like this? Not possible, lol. Ok, now time to find the biggest slides!
You’ll have to watch for events that you are interested in as well because there are always many things to do - festivals, music, food, sports, plays, etc.
There will be lots of Halloween things going on now also. If you want to be spooked, there are some pretty large haunted “house” places.
I’m glad to see you have a great start. Happy exploring!
We recently had been to Eureka, MO for the Lantern Fest and Pere Marquette State Park last weekend to witness autumn colours through both places and we were spellbound! Are there any other places that you suggest we could or should visit to witness the fall while it still lasts?
Alton/Graffton is the top tier of fall drives…I have visited Ava, MO and Fordland,Mo just driving those back country roads aimlessly. just beautiful… AND ANY OF OUR WINERY’S especially in Hermen MO. But truthfully nothing is quite like the riverroad to Alton/Grafton. They also have some awesome antique shops and flea markets.
We recently had been to Eureka, MO for the Lantern Fest and Pere Marquette State Park last weekend to witness autumn colours through both places and we were spellbound! Are there any other places that you suggest we could or should visit to witness the fall while it still lasts?
Excellent, really cool you went to those 2 places. Pere Marquette is a favorite of mine with their trails and that is definitely a great spot for fall colors. I know I’ve seen people there just pulling off the road to get photos of themselves with the colors. And like @LMOSTLOU said, the River Road is maybe the most scenic drive around with the bluffs there. It’s also fun to take a ferry across either the Mississippi or Illinois Rivers in that area. There are some produce/fruit stands around there to explore.
For more fall colors, I can recommend Babler State Park west of STL (southwest of Chesterfield, north of Wildwood). There are LOTS of deciduous trees there and a few roads going around the interior of the park. If you can bring a bicycle there, that’s a great way to go too, on the road, and they do have some paved bike trails. But of course I recommend the foot trails Bring some food and have a picnic in the central area of the park which has parking and BBQ grills.
I didn’t know about the Lantern Fest in Eureka, very neat. I was just in Eureka area actually hiking a trail at a nearby conservation area.
Hey @HikingMike ! We did just that! Drove down through Grafton and onto Hardin. We then took the ferry back from Brussels to Grafton town. The experience was mesmerizing, to say the least. I initially was planning for an encore to Pere Marquette since the colours are out even better lately but I’ve decided to visit the Babler State Park based on your recommendation! I’ll tell you how it goes.
Here’s one of the pictures from our evening that I had handy since you missed witnessing it live!
Awesome! Mesmerizing is a great word for that photo also. Great shot.
Ok, wow you went all the way to Hardin and did a ferry ride too Excellent.
Hopefully Babler State Park is a nice visit too. It’s really hard to beat Pere Marquette and the River Road with its long views. I just thought of another neat place that might be good for fall colors - Lone Elk Park. It’s just north of I-44 - exit on 141 - so it’s not quite all the way out to Eureka. You might have seen signs for it when you drove there. There is a road around the park and a lake in the middle and hills around so maybe you can have some nice views that way. There is also a little tower that you can climb up into for a view. And of course there are foot trails.
I coincidentally heard of the Lone Elk Park from another friend who has now moved from STL to Seattle. As it turns out, St. Louis does have many worlds in one state! I’m hoping we can list more of these places and author a blog for future first timers and those unfortunate ones who don’t know what they’re missing in their backyard despite living here all their lives!
Castlewood State Park is pretty big, and a great place for fall colors - based on when you wrote your post. As of right now, it’s March 2020, so the weather is finally warming up. I know I’m looking forward to taking in all the trails and parks I can. Apps like the Missouri State Parks app or “AllTrails” are great resources to find places to get out and explore.
