St. Louis

[Kimmumum]

We are thinking about going to St. Louis over Memorial Day weekend. I haven't been there since I was a kid. What do we need to do?? We were thinking the Arch, a Cardinals game and a riverboat cruise. Ideas?? TIA

 

[lovetoscrap]

I think they have a nice zoo there. I have been trying to find a time to go also. My sister lives there and I have never visited there.

 

[SwedishMeatball]

If you visit the Arch, walk over and check out Laclede's Landing.

http://www.lacledeslanding.com/destinations.html

 

[NotUrsula]

We've had a couple of St. Louis threads in the past few months:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1884280&highlight=st.+louis

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1931631&highlight=st.+louis

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2100498&highlight=louis&page=2

Will you have young kids with you? St. Louis is a great destination for the little ones because most of our children's attractions are free or budget-priced.

Be aware that attractions in the City proper around US64 should be approached from the I-170, I-44 or I-55 corridors at this time; approaching on the interstates from the West or East will get you tied up in detours, as 5 miles of that highway are closed until the first of the year. The Hampton Avenue crossing over the highway (near the Zoo, the Science Center, and the major museums) will be closed during your visit.

 

[JR6ooo4]

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

gunshots....

"roll em up!"

Mikeeee

heheheheheee

 

[mamajoan]

I have friends coming this weekend. They have a 10 year old dd. They will be going to Grant's Farm, The Arch, maybe lunch in LaClede's Landing and maybe the zoo/forest park. I like to hit Delmar Loop and have lunch at Blueberry Hill with friends from out of town. Easy and fun.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I don't know if you can do a riverboat cruise. Rivers are hitting floodstages, but you never know.

Forest Park. Explore it. Go to the boathouse and rent paddleboats. Zoo, art museum, history museum, Science Center, etc...
http://stlouis.missouri.org/citygov/parks/forestpark/

(however do note that hwy 40 is closed by the zoo, Kingshighway to Brentwood)

I will be going to a Cards game on the 22nd. I have not been to the new stadium yet. The old Busch stadium is no more, as an fyi.
In fact I have not been to a Cards game, in a very long time.

Looks like they play Fri, Sat, Sun.
http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/schedule/index.jsp?c_id=stl

Here is a Rib Festival...I might have to check that out.
http://www.ribamerica.com/stlouis.html

Free Shakespeare play in Forest Park...
http://www.shakespearefestivalstlouis.org/

Feeling Greek? A church it holding it's annual festival.
http://www.stlgreekfest.com/info.html

Do you like wineries? You can always head to Augusta and Dutzow. Rent a bike on the Katy Trail and then ride and tour.
http://www.augusta-missouri.com/wineries_brewery.htm

 

[kydisneyfans]

We went to St Louis over Memorial Day a few years ago. It was one of the biggest surprises and enjoyable weekends ever.

The zoo is wonderful, the best we have visited.
Grants Farm is really nice. We went to the park by the arch, but didn't expect the 3 hour wait.
The river seemed dirty but there had been floods just to the north.

We never felt in danger and would go back in a minute. It was one of the cheapest long weekends we ever have done, as most admissions are free or cheap.

 

[Kimmumum]

Thanks everyone. My boys are 15 and 11. We will not be doing the zoo. We live close to Brookfield Zoo and Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. Any suggestions on where to stay? Are the hotels expensive? We are going to Disney on June 4th so we don't have a lot of money to spend in St. Louis. Thanks again.

 

[sunlover13]

Hey fellow Chicagoan. I live near the Brookfield zoo too!

We went to St. Louis last September over Labor Day weekend to catch the Illini - Missouri football game. We had a great time.

We stayed at The Drury Inn Convention Center which is right next door to the stadium where the Rams play. I highly recommend it as the parking was free and they serve a free HOT breakfast daily.

https://wwws.druryhotels.com/PropertyOverview.aspx?Property=0058

There are other Drury Inns in the St. Louis area if you do not want to stay at that particular location.

My DD was 5 at the time, but we did the Arch, Grants Farm, and the Brewery tour. I think the Brewery tour would be something your whole family would enjoy. I liked Grants Farm a lot too. Not sure if your kids are too old for that or not.

My only piece of advice would be to try to get to the Arch when it opens. We went on a Sunday and it was packed. It took us a couple of hours for our turn to go up.

Have a great time!

ETA: You can find coupons & other fun things to do here:

http://www.explorestlouis.com/specials/index.asp

 

[etoiles]

Another Chicago person here!

There is a free sculpture garden there that is really nice. It also has a kids sculpture garden section where they can hang and play on the sculptures.

http://www.laumeier.com/

 

[61292cna]

There is also the Butterfly House, The Old Courthouse( Dred Scott decision), the Fox Theater, Transpotation Museum, City Museum(a childrens museum), Botanical Garden, & just southwest of town is Six Flags. Whatever attractions you decide to see, I hope you really enjoy your visit!!!

 

[ICF]

We went to St Louis over Memorial Day a few years ago. It was one of the biggest surprises and enjoyable weekends ever.

The zoo is wonderful, the best we have visited.
Grants Farm is really nice.

and the zoo is Free---parking along the street near there is free too, but get there early for that.

Grants farm is free...I think parking is $10.

Also as other's have mentioned....

The Arch is free to visit the museum part
The science center is free, excpet for IMAX as is parking.
The magic house while, not free is a nice and inexpensive children's museum (do a google search and you should be able to find B1 - G1 coupons for them).

We go on with the kids there about once a year and it's a lot of fun......

 

[NotUrsula]

Well, I wouldn't exactly call City Museum a children's museum. Our children's museum is called the Magic House, and while it is excellent, it probably won't appeal much to kids that age.

City Museum, otoh, just might. It's really a funky art installation with "toys" -- for instance, a giant slide made out of a factory conveyor belt. While it certainly appeals to little kids for the play factor, it also appeals to adults for the art factor (and the play factor, too.) The Friday Night cocktail hour is hugely popular with young adults. If you go, I recommend knee pads; it's easy to tear up your knees climbing through the cast concrete tunnels.

As to other things that might appeal to youngsters that age: I'm guessing that they might like the Brewery tour, though they can't drink the free samples at the end of it.

Upper Limits Climbing Gym downtown (by the Union Station Drury) has half-price climbing for youth on Friday nights, and there is a one-of-a-kind trampoline gym out in Chesterfield if you venture out that way, it's called SkyZone. http://www.skyzonesports.com/OPENJUMP/tabid/58/Default.aspx
My DS12 *loves* both of these places.

If you want to get outdoors, we also have a lot of impressive caves in this area, and canoeing on the Meramec river.

There are tours at all of the stadiums, but you might have to make yourself part of a group to get into them -- you can certainly call and ask. The Fox Theatre also has a really cool backstage tour, but I don't think it will be available that weekend because A Chorus Line is in town.

The RibAmerica festival at Soldier's Memorial downtown will have food and music on Memorial Day weekend. It's not a really HUGE event, but attracts a good crowd. The same goes for St. Michael's Greek festival, which has just phenomenal food. Gypsy Caravan is that weekend, too -- the mother of all traveling antique fairs. (So you send the boys to the climbing gym and go 'tiquing; the gym and the Caravan are right next door to one another.)

The tourism website is www.explorestlouis.com.

PS: The Mississippi River always looks dirty because of the strength of the current. It got the nickname "Big Muddy" for a valid reason. St. Louis hosts the Big Muddy Blues Festival on the riverfront on Labor Day weekend.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Thanks everyone. My boys are 15 and 11. We will not be doing the zoo. We live close to Brookfield Zoo and Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. Any suggestions on where to stay? Are the hotels expensive? We are going to Disney on June 4th so we don't have a lot of money to spend in St. Louis. Thanks again.

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

 

[The Mystery Machine]

If you want to get outdoors, we also have a lot of impressive caves in this area, and canoeing on the Meramec river.

I don't recommend THAT right now. Are you near the Meramec? The flood waters went down like magic today.

Do you canoe on the Meramec? I know people dump in jet ski's in Fenton, but here in Eureka, it looks so rough for a canoe!

I am curious about good parts of the Meramec to float or jet ski.

 

[kelleigh1]

We are thinking about going to St. Louis over Memorial Day weekend. I haven't been there since I was a kid. What do we need to do?? We were thinking the Arch, a Cardinals game and a riverboat cruise. Ideas?? TIA

Hey, that's where I'll be. We could have our own mini Dis Meet.

My sister lives across the river in IL, and it's my nephew's birthday, so I'm flying out for an extended weekend visit. We're going to catch a Cardinal's game while we are there, but I don't think we have any other plans for the trip. Although, maybe this time I'll actually get to ride to the top of the Arch. I've been to the Arch, even went down inside, but we didn't have time to ride to the top.

 

[kelleigh1]

I will be going to a Cards game on the 22nd. I have not been to the new stadium yet. The old Busch stadium is no more, as an fyi.
In fact I have not been to a Cards game, in a very long time.

Looks like I miss you by a day. We're going on the 23rd.

 

[NotUrsula]

I don't recommend THAT right now. Are you near the Meramec? The flood waters went down like magic today.

Do you canoe on the Meramec? I know people dump in jet ski's in Fenton, but here in Eureka, it looks so rough for a canoe!

I am curious about good parts of the Meramec to float or jet ski.

There's a lot of floating at the state park out in Sullivan, and also at Castlewood. The Meramec is normally considered Class I, and only sometimes Class II and above (and that sometimes would be about now, of course ). I *think* it should calm down enough to paddle by Memorial weekend unless we get another big storm next week.

There's a guy that I work with who goes in near the 141 bridge EVERY weekend in a kayak. He says it's really fun right now if you know what you're doing.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

There's a lot of floating at the state park out in Sullivan, and also at Castlewood. The Meramec is normally considered Class I, and only sometimes Class II and above (and that sometimes would be about now, of course ). I *think* it should calm down enough to paddle by Memorial weekend unless we get another big storm next week.

There's a guy that I work with who goes in near the 141 bridge EVERY weekend in a kayak. He says it's really fun right now if you know what you're doing.

Cool, thanks for the info. I am in Eureka and while there is a canoe rental near me, they end at Route 66 Park which is a little much for me. Maybe later. Learning Kayaking might be cool.

I am more of a Current, Black, or Snake River Floater, you know, nice and easy.