St. Louis

[LanaJayne]

Older kids love the City Museum. My 18yodd would go there today.
http://www.citymuseum.org/home.asp

Plan to spend part of a day at the City Museum. It was an old shoe factory that has been converted to a giant adventure of art using recycled items. Teens love it. My son went with school and begged us to go. We went, not really thinking we'd like it, but it is quite amazing. Well worth it! There is really nothing like it, well worth checking out!

 

[Kimmumum]

So where does everyone stay?????

 

[mamajoan]

The City Museum.. is awesome.. my college age kids love to take their out of town friends to it.
Hotels
Drury Inn is good, has free breakfast.
Millenium is nice, has a rotating restaurant on top... Rachel Ray did a piece from there.
both are downtown.

Lumiere is a Casino/ hotel on the river. not cheap... but very nice


Now if ya got the bucks to spend... go for the Ritz in Clayton..

Food unique to St. Louis:

Ted Drewes for frozen custard

Toasted Ravioli

IMO's pizza... gotta have that thin crust and provel cheese

 

[The Mystery Machine]

So where does everyone stay?????

Chesterfield.

Most of the stuff in the city closes early so staying in the county is preferred.

 

[NotUrsula]

Chesterfield.

Most of the stuff in the city closes early so staying in the county is preferred.

I disagree.

If you are speaking of museums and such, yes, most close early (except City Museum, which is open til 1 am on Fr-Sat). Restaurants, clubs, and live theatres in the city don't close early, and there are lots of them.

The only thing I can think of that you would want to do in the county later in the evening that you (mostly) wouldn't do in the City is shop, because all of the big malls are in the County. There are more movie theatres in the County, but the best one in terms of atmosphere is in the City: the Moolah Theatre and Lounge.

Most of the daytime tourist attractions such as the Arch, the Brewery, and the Forest Park institutions, plus Crown Candy, and also the professional stadiums, are in the City proper. Traffic is worse in the daytime, so you really don't want to put yourself in competition with the suburban commuters if you don't have to. While the suburban County lodgings can be cheaper, many City hotels have very nice deals, and doing without that commute to the sights is worth a little premium, IMO. My usual recommendation for families is the Drury at Hampton & I-44, which is in the Hill Neighborhood (it's listed as the Forest Park location on the website), *unless* they plan to attend pro sporting events, in which case it is better to stay downtown.

If you did stay in the County, I certainly wouldn't choose Chesterfield. There is really nothing there but chain shopping and chain restaurants, and the commute is REALLY long. (I live near Hampton and 44, and the commute to Chesterfield takes me at least 40 minutes each way with no traffic; and I have to detour a lot because of the I-64 construction.) If you must stay in the County, I would suggest Clayton as a preference, or failing that, something near I-270 on the west or south sides of the metro area.

 

[Stargazer]

Any suggestions on where to stay? Are the hotels expensive?

Lately, we've been getting really good hits on Priceline by bidding on 3 and 3 1/2 star hotels in the Westport-Chesterfield area. We've just been bidding $35-45 for a 1-night stay (for baseball games):

Late April - $40 (53.50 after taxes added) for Doubletree Hotel & Conference - Chesterfield
**Really liked this hotel; nice area (just down the road from Chesterfield City Hall & Police Station) and directly off the Interstate. They actually messed up our room (check-in was 4 and we arrived at 6:30, but our room still wasn't ready) but they comped us breakfast buffets for the next morning. MAJORLY comfortable beds, Wolfgang Puck coffees, etc.

Early June - $45 (59.31 after taxes added) for Courtyard By Marriott - Maryville
**Haven't stayed here yet, but has excellent reviews

I actually didn't have any problems w/ staying in Chesterfield (I agree that the I64 construction did mess us up a bit), but it only took us about 30 minutes max on Sunday morning to get downtown to the game. Since it's a holiday weekend, traffic might be heavier, though.

Our daughter is 7 and her favorite things to do are the baseball games, St. Louis Zoo, Science Museum, and Botanical Gardens (they have a really neat kids' garden w/ lots of interactive things).

Have a great time!

 

[LanaJayne]

A fun restaurant is Fitz's. Great Root Beer! There is a bottling plant on site.
We liked the Marriott downtown and also liked the Millennium, but both can get pricey without a special deal.

 

[OK!]

"...kids. You noticing the plight?"

gunshots....

"roll em up!"

Mikeeee

heheheheheee

Ahem....that would be EAST St. Louis. Not the same thing.

The Cards are indeed in town that weekend; they'll be playing the Royals and, because I'm bored and have the schedule sitting right here at my desk at work, games are at 7:15 on Fri., 12:10 on Sat., and 1:15 on Sunday. The weather's gorgeous today and has been fantastic, temp-wise, for the past few weeks so hopefully it'll be the same through Memorial Day weekend! With St. Louis, though, you can never tell, so pack for everything between 45 and 95 degrees and you should be good to go.

 

[kydisneyfans]

We stayed at a Clubhouse Inn on the far west side, it may have been Chesterfield. Expedia had a buy 2 nights get 1 free deal, plus the hotel was running $59 a night on Expedia, so 3 nights for $118.+ tax. A full breakfast was included daily and evening manager's reception was included. It was about a 30 minute drive downtown, but nowhere near that for the zoo or Grant's farm. I have no problem staying 20 miles out to save more than half on my stay. It was a nice, clean area with restaurants not too far away.

 

[OK!]

Oh, and if you're interested at all in the Cardinals and the history of the stadiums, take a walk around the outside of Busch III. They've got markings set into the sidewalk indicating where Busch II's outfield walls were (the footprints of the 2 stadiums overlapped during construction and demolition). I never knew it was there until I killed a lunch hour walking around and came across them. Quite cool. There are also plaques and whatnot on the outer stadium walls full of Cards history.

 

[merekc]

Ahem....that would be EAST St. Louis. Not the same thing.

The Cards are indeed in town that weekend; they'll be playing the Royals ...

I....can't...resist. GO ROYALS! Maybe I'll come down and join this mini-dis meet.

I'm seconding others about going to Blueberry Hill, your teens will love it. The food (burgers and such) is good and the atmosphere fun and unique. Ted Drewes always delicious and part of Route 66. We also try to eat something Italian on "The Hill" every time we visit.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I....can't...resist. GO ROYALS! Maybe I'll come down and join this mini-dis meet.

I'm seconding others about going to Blueberry Hill, your teens will love it. The food (burgers and such) is good and the atmosphere fun and unique. Ted Drewes always delicious and part of Route 66. We also try to eat something Italian on "The Hill" every time we visit.

I still have not eaten at Ted Drewes. It is on the list this summer.

My favorite right now on "The Hill" is Rigazzi's. I plan to eat at all of them now that I am pretty close.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I disagree.

If you are speaking of museums and such, yes, most close early (except City Museum, which is open til 1 am on Fr-Sat). Restaurants, clubs, and live theatres in the city don't close early, and there are lots of them.

The only thing I can think of that you would want to do in the county later in the evening that you (mostly) wouldn't do in the City is shop, because all of the big malls are in the County. There are more movie theatres in the County, but the best one in terms of atmosphere is in the City: the Moolah Theatre and Lounge.

Most of the daytime tourist attractions such as the Arch, the Brewery, and the Forest Park institutions, plus Crown Candy, and also the professional stadiums, are in the City proper. Traffic is worse in the daytime, so you really don't want to put yourself in competition with the suburban commuters if you don't have to. While the suburban County lodgings can be cheaper, many City hotels have very nice deals, and doing without that commute to the sights is worth a little premium, IMO. My usual recommendation for families is the Drury at Hampton & I-44, which is in the Hill Neighborhood (it's listed as the Forest Park location on the website), *unless* they plan to attend pro sporting events, in which case it is better to stay downtown.

If you did stay in the County, I certainly wouldn't choose Chesterfield. There is really nothing there but chain shopping and chain restaurants, and the commute is REALLY long. (I live near Hampton and 44, and the commute to Chesterfield takes me at least 40 minutes each way with no traffic; and I have to detour a lot because of the I-64 construction.) If you must stay in the County, I would suggest Clayton as a preference, or failing that, something near I-270 on the west or south sides of the metro area.

Your mileage may vary with the city. I am not into going to bars and I checked out Lumerie, and it is not cup of tea.
Althought the OP is going to be there over Memorial Day and staying downtown may be worth it for that.

Probably better to stay downtown, now that I think about it. It is going to be busy over the holiday.

Now I was going to say The Drury as a recommendation. I have stayed in the one in Fenton.
It is a good hotel to stay outside the city.

 

[nephthys43]

and if you're looking for real pizza, head to racanelli's.

 

[Kimmumum]

Okay, so I'm going to Grant's Farm, the Arch, Upper Limits and the City Museum, I think. Are they all in the same "area" of St. Louis? Is there a hotel I should stay at based on that? TIA