Things to Do in: the Saint Louis MO metro

A few non-fishing fun places to go (and take the kiddos in most cases).

Below are My top things I tell anyone headed to the STL for the first time, esp. with family in tow, doubly so if not from the Midwest. I know I am missing other good stuff too, but here are the ones that come to mind, order is not critical. If time allows always take in a baseball, hockey game, or soccer if you are a sports fan.

• Note see also the Winter Eagle Watching Article if you are around in the winter or just want to look at river related stuff
• Note again, if you are hungry, look to the bottom of my good place to eat page

W/in City Region:
• The Arch and Jefferson Expansion Memorial (and take a stroll on the riverfront, and walk over to the Old Courthouse): The Gateway Arch is the defining (human constructed) landmark for Saint Louis Missouri, and under it and around it is the Jefferson Expansion Memorial (a US National Memorial), which includes a pretty good history museum below the Arch, covers the time before and after the Lousiana Purchase. A tram runs to the top of the Arch from the museum. Parking is always interesting near it and around downtown, so be watchful if you have a vehicle. Reachable by bus or taxi, or by walking from the baseball stadium or convention areas (though a healthy walk). The Old Courthouse, site of the Dred Scott Decision, is also walkable by the healthy from the Arch.
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• Forest Park Attractions The Saint Louis Zoo, Turtle Park, and Forest Park Museums, if in summer, the Muny ( make sure hit Ted Drewes for Frozen Custard too): (these will eat a whole day at least),
• The Saint Louis Zoo: Unique in most Areas of the US, Saint Louis has a free (as of this writing, and really good) zoo, i.e. no admission. However, a small fee will get access to the children's Zoo, and Zooline RailRoad, and let you pet sharks and rays, and get you good parking. One can park for free in other areas of the park also. Make sure in the Zoo to hit the Reptile and Bird Houses (good for the architecture alone), the Penguin exhibit (you can get REALLY close, and even splashed, by them), the Insectarium, the Living World, and River's Edge.
• Turtle Playground Park: A quick hit, walk over the highway bridge south from the Zoo (Playground visible from Zoo Parking lot and I-64), to let the kids (or adults) crawl on giant turtles such as the multi-ton softshell turtle..very interesting and fun!
• Forest Park: (which encloses the Zoo and Turtle Park): Was used for the 1904 World Fair and (Summer) Olympics , now holds a decent Art museum, a Saint Louis Missouri-targeted history museum , and a (Free) outdoor Ampitheater (the Muny) among many other things such as the remaining pavilion .
• The City Museum(bring sweats and kneepads, anytime):
  No other place like this one. A very cool place of touchable Urban-industrial art mixed with a super-spectacular playground for kids and adults, made for crawling, climbing, jumping, sliding (!). Worth going for the art and museum side alone, but if you are up for it, do the whole nine yards, and climb and crawl till you drop. Maybe even feed the tropical fish, and crawl in the shark tunnel. There is a lunch room w/expresso to keep you running. I could win bets 100% of the time that the kiddos will sleep well after this one (they will sleep on the way home). Very good for the cooler months, but good anytime. Dress for adventure. I bring athletic shoes, knee and elbow pads, and wear active clothing (sweat pants and shirt if winter). (note: for the over 21 crowd, they have a grownups-only evening time w/wine and beer bar w/food, roasted marshmellows and climbing if you want too)
  • Inside the City Museum is the World Aquarium, an interesting attraction itself, and though it requires a seperate, small, fee, is very interactive and fun for tykes and adults, including many opportunities to touch animals, a shark tunnel, and a chance to feed the biggest Pacu you might ever see. The architecture itself is interesting, just like the Museum.
• The Missouri Botanical Garden (all months but best in warmer months)... picnic in Tower Grove Park nearby
  The Shaw Botanical Park, MO Botanical Garden is a maze of gardens spanning several acres, and multiple cultures and continents, featuring excellent art, a climatron with tropical rainforest plants, and a kid garden for running and climbing. Make sure to get fish food at the shop as you enter to feed the Koi and bluegill at in the Japanese section on the lake. You can also purchase plants for home and garden at the shop near the entrance, and get lunch. Tower Grove park is just south of the Botanical Garden and has lawns and Victorian era fountains, sculptures, and pavilions.
• Lemp Mansion (for overnight if you dare, or lunch, dinner) and Anheuser-Busch Brewery .
  South end of town. St. Louis is a beer town due to the caves and springs under the city (note: St. Louis was not the first big city at the site, the Cahokians had a big city here also ~1000 A.D.). The Lemp family was one the Beer Barron families of the mid 1800's, and their mansion was state of the art for the 1850's. It is believed by some to be haunted, but is an interesting place to get lunch, dinner, take in a murder-mistery, or if so inclined, get a bed and breakfast ( the upstairs bath is very interesting all by itself). The Lemp sucessors, the Busch's, made a super-brewery nearby (now owned by InBev), whihc is historical in its own right, and like the Lemps, intertwined with St. Louis history. The A-B brewery offers daily tours, has lots of Clydesdale horses, and free beer samples for the grown-ups.
• The Saint Louis Cathedral Basillica (very good mosaics) Spectaular world class mosaic art, definitely worth seeing.
• The Fabulous Fox Theater Take the tour of this historic 1929 art deco theater and or take in a play.Very interesting interior art all over.
• (For the Musically Inclined) Scott Joplin House Historic Site , Blueberry Hill, and statue and the Loop (for Grown ups).
  Scott Joplin was the father of Ragtime music, and his house is dedicated to him and his 'key' works pushing forward music evolution. Not over far away is the University City Loop, featuring Chuck Berry's Blueberry Hill venue and statue, where one can see live music and eat southern food.

Note: If you are around the St. Louis MO region in the winter around the Thanksgiving through Christmas to just past New Year timeframe, take in the many excellent light displays:

• Way of Lights, Our Lady of the Snows...fyi this is also an interesting and peaceful place to walk in the Summer
• Winter Wonderland, Tilles Park
• Garden Glow, Missouri Botanical Garden
• Wild Lights, St Louis Zoo
• Brewery Lights, Saint Louis Anheuser Busch Brewery
• Celebration of Lights, O'Fallon, MO
• Holiday Night Lights, Wentzville MO
• Santas Magical Kingdom, Eureka MO

Drives w/in 1 hr (Grouped by geography):

(Illinois Side:)
• Cahokia Mounds and side trip to Confluence tower then to Alton, see next item below)
  St. Louis was not the first city in the region, and in fact is built on the bones (literally) of the Cahokian civilization and empire which preceeded STL by half a millenium. What is left includes Monks Mound and several other mounds, and a good archelogical museum explaining the whats and whys.For us fish geeks, plenty of ancient fish hooks, and ear bones from VERY large freshwater drum (to 300lbs!). Lots of deer patrol the grounds and trails (a few nice trails to hike), and kids activies and an interesting movie. The Confluence Tower as you drive up Rt 3, has a good view of the MO-MS River Confluence.
• Melvin Price Lock and Dam Visitor Center , Alton IL with the Great Rivers Museum nearby +Piasa Bird (and drive north to lunch/dinner at the Fin Inn in Grafton IL)
  The Melvin Price Lock and Dam (IL side has the museum and a good spot to watch barges, MO side the wildlife area for fishers, birders and kayakers) has a good pair of museums explaining some of the history of the region, and how locks and dams work. One is one the way (i.e. down river from) to the dam proper and is dug into the ground. The observation area overlooks the lock and one can see fish, birds, and all mannor of bardges and boats. Drive up Rt 3 to the River Road, look at the Piasa Bird painted on the cliff, then follow the river road north to Grafton and get lunch or dinner at the Fin inn (fyi...I would make a reseravtion in the warmer months!), which has tables surrounded by dozens of very large fish and turtle tanks (and some MONSTER turtles). Fun to eat a buffalo sandwich (the fish, fried, locally caught, and yummy) while a turtle the size of a dinosaur (and likely older then anyone at the table) watches through the glass inches away.
(SW of STL):
• Museum of Transportation ,
  Spectacular place for Train buffs, Car buffs, and of lovers of things that go zoom! Not farm from Grants Farm (see below) and possible to do both in the same day if you have the enduance (Though the museum deserves longer in my humble opinion). While at the museum, ride the trollies, trains, and tugs.
• Grant's Farm,
  Named for a famous Saint Louis one time resident (Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, US Civil War Army chief and U.S. President post Civil War, who had 'Hardscrabble' farm) this place is part zoo, part beer garden, part kids petting farm (with huge Clydesdales and mini-ponies), and part historical site, it was owned also by A-B. There is a nearby US National Monument that is outside Grants Farm also on the same road. Free tickets (and beer), though parking at Grant's Farm is not. Part of fence around the 'Farm' is made from Civil War rifle barrels (several thousand).
(South of St. Louis:)
• Mastodon State Park and Museum
  An hour south of downtown down I-55 near Imperial. Home of a very important fossil find: A mastodon (like a furry forest elephant) with a Clovis point contacting the bones, i.e. around an eon ago, paleoindians took down the elephant for dinner. Nice museum (small fee for adults, free for kids) with many paleological animal fossils and arrow/spear/atlatl points, and the Annex with kid activities. A few nice wooded hiking trails and a picnic area. Worth a half days visit.
• Laumire Sculpture Park (bring a picnic lunch and walking shoes)
  Out off I-44 in Sunset Hills (not far from Powder Valley below) An outdoor museum (100+ acres) of Modern Art, with long hiking trails, and some very interesting pieces of modern art on a large scale. Lots of open lawns for the kiddos to run about, with a gift shop and indoor museum too.
• Lone Elk Park and the World Bird Sanctuary
  Both Places are in Valley Park off I-44/Hwy 141, and together make for an interesting afternoon/day. These two are tucked in the forested hills away from the interstate, but very easy to get to. Lone Elk park has a resident herd of American Bison (a.k.a. Buffalo) that are not shy about getting close, though driving by car through their part of the park is the way to go, ditto for the Elk area. There are picnic areas outside of the big mammal forests. Accross the road from the Entrance to Lone Elk Park is the WIld Brid Sanctuary that has a two-fold mission of rehabilitating injured wild birds (esp. Raptors like Eagles, Hawks, Vultures, and big birds like Herons and Pelicans) and allowing the public (esp. kids) to get close and in some cases pet birds too injured to be released. Trails and flight cages are throughout the sanctuary, and there are teaching exhibits, volunteers and researchers to answer your questions, and a small shop. Both places live by donations FYI. If you bump into Walt Crawford at the bird sanctuary tell him hi.
• Powder Valley Nature Center and Route 66 State Park (not far from the Bird Sanctuary or Laumeir fyi).
  Power Vally Nature Preserve is tucked up-hill from the Meremec River near the I-44/I-270 interchange and in addition to many long forested paved hiking trails (with signs to explain the wild habitats), has a very good kid-friendly visitor center with a bee-hive, indoor learning area (with puppets, and giant earthworms and bugs), and aquariums. Lots to touch and pet, lots of MO Dept. of Conservation volunteers to answer and wildlife or nature questions, and a shop w/nature bookstore. Down I-44 in what was Times Beach, is the Route 66 State Park where one can 'get your kicks' (couldn't resist that last) wondering on trails and an old section of the famous highway.
  • Purina Farms
    Purina Farms is out in Gray Summit MO near I-44/Hwy 100 interchange, and is a run by the animal food maker of the same name. It has a variety of exhibits, petting zoos (where one might even milk a cow the old fashioned way), and a dog house, and a multi-story cat house (for felines!). Daily and hourly shows, and many opportunities to pet animals of many types. A museum shows how animals live and get fed. A freebee (like many other things on this list, and you might get samples for your 4-legged pets) last I checked.
  (WNW of STL):
  • Historic Area and riverfront in Saint Charles MO (while there: Lewis and Clark Pirogue Museum, First State Capital, Katy Trail)
    Saint Charles sits on the Missouri River and is quickly accessed by car from I-70, MO-94, MO-370 or of course the MO river, and Katy Trail. It was a french colonial settlement (of course settled by Missouri tribes before that though), settled in the late 18th century, used by Lewis and Clark as a camp and outpost, and built up from the early 19th century on. The older brick buildings (1840 and before) border a walkable line of cobblestone walkways, and have lots of shops and museums. Parking also puts you a short walk from the riverfront park which hosts many themed events (notables: Festivale des Petit Coates a.k.a. Festival of the Little Hills, the Lewis and Clark Heritage Days, Riverfest). For the big people there is a fancy hotel and casino, and MANY microbreweries and wineries west of the cobblestone area. On the cobblestones, Christmas is big (from Nov through Dec) with old time dress and cooking, as is Halloween (with free treats for the little tykes). The Katy Trail is not overly far from its eastern end at the riverfront and many determined bicyclists start here and peddle the hundreds of miles of it up the Missouri River, through 'little Rhineland' then to Sedalia MO. On the western edge of the riverfront park (near the boat ramp) is a small museum with a Lewis and Clark replica Pirogue (a boat) and artifacts in it. A longer walk up the hill will lead you to Missouri's first State Capitol. My favorite shops (many) include Grandma's Cookies and Figeroa's.
  • Daniel Boone Home and Village, and Wineries/Shops along Hwy 94: Weldon Springs to Dutzow to Augusta to Washington MO (and Katy Trail)
    A very pretty bike ride (on the Katy trail), boat run, or drive (Hwy 94) along a windy, wooded combination of river bottom, bluff, and hills, with farms and Wineries,Brewhouses, eateries, and Bed and Breakfasts aplenty. Many overlook the Missouri River Valley, and August-October is the most popular time to hit this area. The Daniel Boone Home and village sits off a way from the river (follow the signs) and is indeed the house the famous explorer lived in, worth a visit for kid and adult alike.
    Drives w/in 2hrs:
    • Hannibal MO: 2 hrs northwest of STL (up US 61), Mark Twain Stuff galore: Mark Twain Cave, Lighthouse, Mansions, MS riverfront...and take a riverboat cruise.
      One of a few places (San Francisco and Connecticut can too) that can claim Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain, born just to the west of Hannibal in Florida MO), though this one can lay the strongest claim to his early development. He drew from the rivertown for his books such as Tom Saywer and Huckleberry Finn, and the town knows it well. There are many interesting 1800's era buildings in Hannibal, including a lighthouse over the buff, and many mansions for both touring and staying at (as Bed and Breakfasts). There are riverboat excursions from the docks on the riverfront and good views from Lover Leap just south of town. The cave is pretty cool ;) and very long (a labrynth cave system) though with fewer features then Blanchard Springs Caverns in Arkansas (if you ever get that way, worth doing fyi, Blanchard ranks with Mammoth and Carlesbad)
    • Onondaga Cave State Park ,
      Far less of a tourist trap then many show caves in Missouri, family friendly with a nice Meremec River access area to swim and play in or canoe from. Around 1.5 hrs southwest on I-44.
    • St. Genevieve MO
      Oldest French colonial town in Missouri (older than St. Louis), shopping B+B's, wineries, and old buildings (18th, 19th Century) of course.
    • Springfield IL
      Capital city of Illinois, Home of Abraham Lincoln, location of Lincoln's tomb and historical sites.

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