another bloody yank

I don't think there are very many here who live in the STL area but some might be close enough for a weekend or day trip.

The St Louis Zoo:



http://www.stlzoo.org/

The St. Louis Art Museum:


A St. Louis tradition, sledding on "Art Hill" in front of the Art Museum


http://www.stlouis.art.museum/index.aspx?id=1

http://www.slfp.com/ForestParkAM.htm

The Missouri History Museum:


http://www.slfp.com/ForestParkMHS.htm

http://www.mohistory.org/content/HomePage/HomePage.aspx

The Municipal Opera (The "Muny")


1,620 of the 9,000 seat in the Muny are set aside as "free" (and have been since 1918) on a first come first served basis so anyone can see a show regardless of financial status. Otherwise, tickets range from $9.00 to $62.00.

http://www.slfp.com/ForestParkOP.htm

http://www.muny.com/

The Jewel Box (Greenhouse/ Gardens)



"The Jewel Box, an Art Deco floral conservatory built in 1936 by the City of St. Louis, has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places."


Admission is $1. It is free from 9 a.m. to noon on Mondays and Tuesdays.

http://www.slfp.com/ForestParkJB.htm

another bloody yank

Con't...


McDonnell Planetarium


http://www.slfp.com/McDonnellPlanetarium.htm


St. Louis Science Center

There is no admission fee to the Science Center. However, there is a nominal charge for shows in the OMNIMAX® Theater, the Planetarium and some traveling exhibitions in the Exploradome.
http://www.slfp.com/ForestParkSC.htm

All of the above are located in Forest Park:
http://stlouis.missouri.org/citygov/parks/forestpark/


"Saint Louis Forest Park - In 1876, Forest Park was created from 1,371 acres of land west of downtown St. Louis. By the 1890s, the public park was widely used for recreation with bicycle paths, baseball diamonds and lawn tennis courts. An expanded lake provided parkgoers with an opportunity for boating in the summer and skating in the winter."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_...28St._Louis%29
Forest Park in St. Louis, Missouri, opened in 1876 and the former site of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904, (better known as "The World's Fair") is one of the large urban landscape parks created during the later 19th century, following the example of Central Park in New York City. At 1,293 acres (5.2 km²), Forest Park is considerably larger than New York's Central Park.

ironporer

Ahhh, fond memories of our years in STL.
Don't forget visiting the Gateway Arch...free from the outside, not expensive to go in and go up inside it.

A wonderflu FREE zoo, great parks, science center, and much more to do for little Money...visit the hill- great Italian food, a fine little Spanish Tapas Bar (Guido's Pizza, on Shaw...I know- it does not sound Spanish but they ARE Spanish and have great Tapas...the Pizza just pays the bills).

clynnog

[QUOTE=another bloody yank;4733580]I don't think there are very many here who live in the STL area but some might be close enough for a weekend or day trip.

My brother in law and family moved there in 2002 from Canada. They live in O'Fallon, the ultimate in exurb sprawlville. (it suits him to a tee). In 2001, on an unrelated family trip for a wedding, we visited STL. Spent time in the West End area (very nice, renovated n'hood, but only a couple of blocks to the south of extreme urban depravity (which surprisingly didn't seem to faze the people we were visiting with), and the actual wedding (which was in the Botanical Gardens...very nice, it was mid April, flowers bursting out etc).

We also visited the St. Louis Zoo and the large park that it is within. The zoo and related park were nice. The burbs just seemed to stretch on and on w/o any focus. My AAA road map showed a whole slew of individual municipalities many of which I'm sure are inefficient. Most of the north 1/2 of the actual City itself was very rough (lots of boarded up shops/houses, high proportion of liquor stores/pawn brokers, shifty characaters on the streets) and East St. Louis was even worse.

We also visited the old train station which had been Disneyfied into a slew of stores that sold stuff you didn't need.

another bloody yank

100% true and spot on.


And it's a shame about the "old train station", it's history and architecture are wonderful.

clynnog

Yes, the people we were with (also from out of town like us) seemed unaware and uninterested in the fact that it was an old train station with wonderful architecture. Is there still an Amtrak stn in STL?

The bus station is in a rather dodgy n'hood.

From what I have ready the City of STL has a population now less than WWII (with the same boundaries) while the burbs just keep on going.

another bloody yank

From 1978 when union Station closed until recently when the new station opened, the Amtrak station was an enlarged construction trailer under a highway bridge just south of downtown. No, I'm sadly not kidding. It was supposed to be temporary but lasted nearly thirty years. Locals called it the "Amshack" and caught the train out in Kirkwood, an "older" 'burb about 10-15 minutes west of the city. The station there is an old stone historical building built back when Kirkwood was a rural area and St. Louisans went there for a "day in the country" picnicking and such. My wife and I have a framed print of the Kirkwood station in our dining room. The St. Louis/Kansas City train was our link during the long distance romance period of our courtship and we had many sad goodbye's and many very happy hello's there.

The old St. Louis Union Station:


Grand Ballroom:


Kirkwood Station:



Union Station's replacement, the New Amtrak station in St. Louis:





I'm not sure about the population figures of the city proper, but you're probably close. White flight is in full effect, although there are still some really nice neighborhoods, predominately in the southwest quadrant with some enclaves in other parts like the West End you mentioned. Mostly older, brick (outer walls are brick all the way through with plaster on the inside surface, interior walls are plaster and wood lathe.) homes but not much for a yard, especially the closer you get to downtown (east). I lived in the City until nearly four years ago when we moved about 100 miles north to an extremely rural area. It was something we had wanted for a long time and I'm not a suburbs type of person.

ironporer

[QUOTE=clynnog;4734147]
I actually kind'a like the Union Station Mall- and always thought it was a good idea to turn it from a derilect boarded up building into a mall. It sure beats what has happened in so many places- bulldozing it down. Unfortunately, no one uses Amtrack in the Midwest, and it became non viable following the advent of jet aircraft.

unicorndreams

Hi,

Thats some great pic's.

Its my 5th year here on May 14th.

another bloody yank

I think it has alot to offer, as far as cities go. Have you done any of the things I listed?

clydegirl

Done the zoo a few times and Forrest Park. I didn't know about the Muny having the free tickets. Have you ever tried to get in for free?

Also Fair St.Louis at the summer lots of good concerts for free.

http://celebratestlouis.org/site/ind...om_xegalleryxl

another bloody yank

Not since I was a kid. My Mom and a friend of hers who had a daughter that was in my elementary school class used to take us to nearly every show in the summer. We'd get there early to get free seats and the Moms would chat and save our seats for us. We'd run around playing until they announced the show would start in a few minutes, that was our signal to take our seats. Poor woman, tried her best to get me to appreciate culture! She'd also take me to the Symphony. We couldn't afford good seats but Mom would say that we came to listen not to look. That was good because we were so high up and far away the musicians looked like specks! She'd make me wear nice slacks and a sports jacket and we'd go to Shoney's for dinner before the concert. We didn't have much money when I was growing up, and we didn't often eat out. I thought Shoney's was a high class place, actually it was kind of a cross between Denny's and Applebee's! I do remember seeing Jean Pierre Rampal at the Symphony, maybe she got a little culture in me, despite my best efforts!

Sorry for rambling...

TouristTrap

What a great post. Keep them coming