What to do in St. Louis

St. Louis (my birthplace) is the hot, new wedding destination. Okay maybe not. Since sending out the Save the Date cards, I have discovered that many of you have never been to St. Louis or even the state of Missouri. After getting over the initial shock, I realized that it might be helpful to give you some ideas of things to do while in St. Louis for our wedding.

Even though I only lived in St. Louis for my first 7 months, my parents faithfully took my sisters and me back to their hometown every summer and every holiday season for weeks at a time. I realized that I've actually spent quite a lot of time in the city, so here are my recommendations of things to do.

Forest Park Attractions:

Forest Park is right next to the Chase Park Plaza and Parkway hotels.
Forest Park is a 112 acre park in St. Louis (close to the Chase Park Plaza and Parkway hotels). It was the site of the 1904 World Fair and some of the attractions built for the fair are still there today. The World's Fair Pavillon is still there.

The park is also a great place for exercise with lots of trails for walking and running. It also has a golf course, basketball courts etc.

St. Louis Zoo: The St. Louis zoo is free to the public. It is one hundred years old this year and is definitely my favorite zoo and also the one I have visited the most times.

St. Louis Art Museum: The St. Louis Art Museum is also very old and free to the public, aside from the special exhibitions. http://www.slam.org/

St. Louis History Musuem: I don't know much about this but it is free and in the park.

Muny Opera: This oudoor venue has performances in the summer and offers $9 bleacher (i think) seats for perfomances. It looks like Footloose will be the performace the week of our wedding.

Boathouse: The Boathouse has a popular restaurant and a nice view of the park. It has rental paddle boats.

Downtown Attractions:

Arch: The arch is downtown right on the Mississippi riverfront. You can ride up to the top of the arch and look out the windows at the top. You can actually feel it swaying at the top (not good for those of you afraid of heights). Expect to wait in line to get to the top. The movie about the construction of the arch is also very cool if slightly dated. There is also a history museum at the base of the arch.

Busch Stadium: The Cardinals are not in town but I think you can still go to Busch stadium to see it if you want.

City Garden: I haven't been here yet, but I've heard great things about this new children's sculpture garden downtown. It includes a water play area so bring your suits!

The Loop:

University City has a section called the Loop that has 140 shops and restaurants in a six block area.

Fitz's Rootbeer Bottling Company is a fun restaurant in the Loop. The food is pretty good and it is really fun to see them making the delicious rootbeer, cream soda and other soda flavors. The rootbeer floats are a treat!

Things to do with school aged kids:

Science Center: The Science Center is very cool and general admission is free. They have an IMAX theater and lots of neat exhibits.

Magic House: The Magic House is another great place for kids in St. Louis. You do have to pay $8.75 admission to this museum.

Grant's Farm: Grant's Farm, a property of the Busch family, and formerly the farm of President Grant has over 1000 animals representing over 100 species. Admission to Grant's Farm is free.

Hopefully this is helpful. Let me know if you have any questions!