St. Louis

My Guide to St. Louis

St. Louis is an amazing city. I think a lot of people don’t realize that (I sure didn’t when we first moved here 16 years ago!). If you’re from St. Louis, you may be so used to the city that you’ve forgotten what makes it great. If you’ve never been here, you may have seen St. Louis’ name pop up on city crime lists, and be scared to visit. Or you may think it’s just flyover country; too small to be cool, and not worth your time.

But St. Louis is an interesting, vibrant city with a unique history. I challenge you to learn more about this town, visit someplace new in the city, or visit the metro area for the first time, and let yourself fall in love with the city that I choose to call home.

What makes St. Louis great?

St. Louis has art. Lots of art, all around. For the city’s 250th birthday, there was a massive public art project in the form of Cakeway to the West…something that would rival anything a big city like New York or Chicago has done. We also have a great (free!) art museum in Forest Park, plus many other galleries sprinkled about town. One of the best sculpture parks in the world is located just west of the city. And art fairs, including one that is regularly ranked as one of the best in the country, can be found throughout the area at different times of the year.

St. Louis has parks. Lots of parks. Small parks here and there, sculpture parks, playgrounds, spray grounds, and a little place called Forest Park, the park that was home to the 1904 World’s Fair and is bigger than New York’s Central Park. If you want to get out and play, or just get out and relax, you don’t have to go far to do so!

St. Louis has sports. Of course, the Cardinals are king, but we have the St. Louis Blues hockey team (yay!). We have a Frontier League baseball team, as well, and Division II soccer has come to St. Louis…plus a MLS soccer team will be here before you know it! College sports are also popular here, and we even have a cricket league!

St. Louis has schools. Schools cover St. Louis, whether the famed Ittner elementary schools (many of which are now abandoned), private schools, universities, and seminaries. You can learn just about anything here, and you’re in good company….Washington University has students from around the globe!

St. Louis has hospitals. People need hospitals, for happy occasions like childbirths, and sad occasions like accidents, and for every kind of occasion, routine and not-so-routine in between. St. Louis has some great hospitals…teaching hospitals, nationally ranked hospitals, smaller, but well-loved hospitals…and of course, at those hospitals you can find doctors in just about any speciality you can imagine. Should you need medical care, you’re in good hand in St. Louis.

St. Louis has great family attractions (and many of them are free)! Forest Park is a great place to find some of them…the zoo, the Science Center, and the Missouri History Museum. But, there are also places like the City Museum, Grant’s Farm, and Eckert’s Orchards, not to mention the fantastic Magic House in Kirkwood.

St. Louis has 79 unique neighborhoods, plus many suburbs. Each neighborhood and suburb has its own unique story. You can learn about ethnic groups (and their amazing cuisine!) in places like The Hill and the Bevo Mill neighborhood, you can learn local history in places like Dogtown and The Ville. And the people in these places will proudly tell you where they went to high school!

St. Louis has the Delmar Loop. It’s not downtown, but it bustles like a downtown area. There are numerous options for dining and entertainment, festivals, and public art projects, all thanks to a vision Joe Edwards, the “Duke of Delmar” had a few decades back. You can even stroll down the St. Louis Walk of Fame and the Loop Planet Walk along Delmar! It was named one of the “10 Great Streets in America,” and even a quick visit will show you why.

St. Louis has beer! Of course, everyone’s first thought is Annheuser-Busch, but there are so many breweries here. Schlafly, Perennial, Urban Chestnut…they’re all brewing unique beverages that reflect their individual goals! Many of them have tours and tasting rooms or bierhalls, so a visit can turn into not just a chance to fill up a growler, but a full event. And St. Louis has been named the best “bar city” in America, which is at least in part due to the great beer options here.

St. Louis has festivals. There are so many festivals in and around St. Louis all throughout the year…there’s something to appeal to everyone! Whether it’s a craft beer festival, the St. Louis Scottish Games, the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Chinese Culture Days and Japanese Festival, Legends and Lanterns in Historic St. Charles, Oktoberfest in many locations, The Great Forest Park Balloon Race, (which includes an amazing balloon glow the night before!) the Horseradish Festival in Collinsville, Greek Fest (downtown or in West County), or Fair St. Louis, there is always something happening in St. Louis!

St. Louis has monuments. The country’s tallest monument, the Gateway Arch, is easy to spot. But there are also monuments to explorers and presidents and even a French king! Not all of them are without controversy, like the recently removed Confederate monument in Forest Park. Take some time and look around, and see what has been immortalized in the city.

St. Louis has architecture. Some of the beautiful architecture of this city has already been lost to time and the wrecking ball. But much of it still stands, and you need only to slow down, look up, and enjoy the brick-built beauty of the city. We even have our own “Painted Ladies” in the Lafayette Square area!

St. Louis has Christmas. A whole book has been written about Christmas in St. Louis, because it’s such an amazing time of year in the city. From historical displays at the Old Courthouse, to amazing light displays at Tilles Park and the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows, a German Christmas market on the town square in Belleville, and festivals like the day-long Christmas on The Hill, or the season-long Christmas Traditions in St. Charles, St. Louis does Christmas right!

St. Louis has history. Some of the earliest American history can be found in the St. Louis area at Cahokia Mounds. Did you know that in nearby (but unrelated to the Mounds) Cahokia, you can find a Revolutionary War Memorial, dedicated to George Rogers Clark’s Illinois campaign? There are Civil War veterans buried on both sides of the river, and many historic cemeteries of all kinds throughout the region. St. Louis’ history and the country’s history are so tied together, from the colonial age to the space age, that you can’t really separate them…and why would you want to?

St. Louis has food. There is great food in St. Louis, whether you’re looking for an amazing burger (Hint: Go to Seamus McDaniel’s), a local favorite like toasted ravioli, amazing BBQ, or a four-course dinner. There are great neighborhood restaurants, a whole neighborhood known for its restaurants (The Hill…some of the best Italian food you’ll find anywhere!), upscale and trendy places, and great frozen custard at Ted Drewes. But St. Louis also has great Farmer’s Markets, like the one in Soulard which dates back to 1779, where you can purchase local food to prepare yourself. There are also great orchards where you can pick your own fruit and even vegetables if you’re longing for a “day in the country!”

St. Louis has shopping. Outlet malls, strip malls (including the longest in America!), upscale malls, regular malls…but that’s just the beginning. There are also cool local shops (including those on “America’s Longest Main Street” in nearby Belleville), great grocery stores, and popular destination places, like The Lego Store and the long-awaited and highly-anticipated IKEA store! If shopping is your thing, St. Louis is a great place to be.

St. Louis has rivers… Too many rivers, for those of us that hate bridges. But the rivers around here (including the Mississippi and Missouri, but also the Meramec, Illinois and Kaskaskia, to name a few), have a whole life of their own. Barges and boats, fishermen, people running, hiking, and biking by the river’s edge, and great wildlife in abundance. The rivers are an important part of St. Louis’ history, as well as its present and future…there’s even a tower built by the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, where you can get a bird’s-eye view of the mighty waters!

St. Louis has culture. If you’re looking for culture, the St. Louis area has plenty to offer, from the St. Louis Symphony at Powell Hall and a ballet company that calls the Touhill Performing Arts Center home, to  theaters large and small, as well as outdoor and drive-in, to the Botanical Garden and its offerings from around the world. There are ethnic festivals celebrating the homelands of the varied residents of the city, and even ethnic architecture, built as a tribute to a far away country.

St. Louis has music. There are so many musical offerings in St. Louis, from the St. Louis Symphony, to the Bach Society of St. Louis, to famous pop artists that have concerts at various venues around town, from small (The Pageant) to large (Scottrade Center). Did you know the second oldest continually operating orchestra in the U.S. (the Belleville Philharmonic Society), is in the Metro-East? If you can’t find a musical event to suit your tastes in St. Louis, you’re just not looking very hard!

St. Louis has churches. There are many “first west of the Mississippi” churches in the St. Louis area, and the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod was born here. Just about any denomination or religion you can think of is represented in a congregation large or small, and a variety of architectural styles are also found at the various houses of worship around town. The Cathedral Basilica even hosts one of the largest mosaic collections in the world!

St. Louis has seasons. Our winters may be relatively mild, but we do have four distinct seasons in St. Louis, and there are different things to appreciate about each, whether it’s a beautiful snow-covered scene in the winter, a field of flowers in the spring, the bright days of summer, or the majestic colors of autumn…we’ve got it all covered! And, if you must, we’ve even got the construction season, too, usually found on the area’s many bridges!

St. Louis has people. Obvious, right. But there’s just something about the people who live in the Midwest, whether the town is big or small, that’s just nice. Even with all the different ethnic backgrounds represented here, you still get that lovely Midwest feeling…saying hi to folks on the street, appreciating doors being held for you, community gatherings of all kinds.

Is St. Louis perfect? Of course not…no place is. But the imperfection is part of the story, and I can’t imagine wanting to call any other place home!

Reigning Men

It has been a very fashionable year at the St. Louis Art Museum!

Earlier this year, we saw an exhibit dedicated to Degas and the Paris Millinery trade. We also went on a fun scavenger hunt looking for hats designed by British milliner Stephen Jones. But that wasn’t the end of the fashion exhibits! Last week, we also had the opportunity to tour the Reigning Men exhibit,  which showcases men’s fashion from 1715-2015, thanks to “Free Fridays” at the St. Louis Art Museum!

Reigning Men is divided into five sections. First was Revolution/Evolution, which focused on both the more aggressive, political side of fashion, as well as a general resistance to traditional menswear, evidenced by a change in colors and patterns. There was much in the part of the exhibit that felt familiar, due to our studies of history:

Next was East/West, which showed how events such as the Crimean War changed then-current fashions in Europe. The changes have persisted, and have extended to Japanese-inspired fashions, among other things, becoming popular, even today:

The third section, Uniformity,  was the largest. As the title suggests, military uniforms were displayed. More utilitarian outfits worn by civilians, as well as business and formal attire considered socially acceptable, were also included:

There were even several pairs of unusual shoes on display in this part of the exhibit!

From there, we moved on to Body Consciousness, which focused on clothing that flaunted a youthful, trim silhouette. In addition to some rather sheer styles, there were even underwear on display here, which caused some giggling from all of us. We also saw a swimsuit made of the material that was banned following the 2008 Olympic Games!

The final area was The Splendid Man, which focused on bold colors and adventurous styles, including heavy embroidery and even a suit covered in sequins! Let’s face it, we don’t normally see men dressed in the fashions displayed here, so it was the most foreign to us!

This was a fascinating exhibit. We saw suits of clothing that looked as if they had been lifted from the pages from history, tuxedos we recognized from movies, familiar military uniforms, and even the closest thing we have to “National Dress” here in America, in the form of a Ralph Lauren design. But as is the case with most high fashion, much of it was completely alien to us, and unlike anything we’ve ever seen on the streets. It was still interesting to see how men’s fashion has evolved, and I don’t imagine that I’ll consider menswear “boring” again!

The Japanese Festival at the Missouri Botanical Garden

When you see the flag of Japan flying at the Missouri Botanical Garden, you know something exciting is happening!

We have been meaning to go to the Japanese Festival for the last few years, but something always got in the way. This year (the 40th anniversary of the Japanese Garden), however, I was determined that we were going to be there, and I am glad we were!

We got to see a cool bonsai demonstration:

And also a cool ikebana, or floral arranging, demonstration:

When we went outside, we found an amezaiku artist. Not just a candy craftsman, he also did magic tricks and oragami…he made Chickadee a frog!

The koinobori (carp windsock) display is apparently a big deal in Japan, and they were everywhere!

The festival processional included an Omikoshi (a portable Shinto shrine), a Bon Odori (summer festival dancing) group, and a Dashi (a portable float with a drum pulled by children from the Japanese language school).

We saw the art of Koma-Mawashi (top spinning). Dr. Tada can turn just about anything into a top!

The opening ceremony was held in the beautiful Japanese Garden, Seiwa-En. While we were there, we heard the taiko drums (my favorite part!) and witnessed the kagamiwari (opening of the sake barrel).

We went to a large-scale calligraphy demonstration (Shodo), by Seiran Chiba in the Garden’s theater:

While we didn’t get a good view of the ice sculpture as it was being made, we did get to see the finished product!

One of the best parts of the day was seeing Luck Eisa and St. Louis Okinawa Eisa perform their beautiful drum and folk dance routines.

And a highlight of those performances was the Shishi-Mai (lion dance)!

We also saw a karate demonstration:

I was amazed by the crowds at the Garden. Everywhere we went, whether at the demonstrations, shopping in the market, or at the food tents, there were masses of people, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves as much as we were!

This is a huge event. I had no idea there would be so many things to see, and yet we didn’t get to see even close to everything! There were also cooking demonstrations, a kimono fashion show, a rakugo performance, gaku music, and a candlelight walk in the Japanese Garden after the sun went down. Hopefully, we’ll get to experience some of those things next year…and we also know to bring more money, so we can try some of the amazing Japanese food that was being prepared in the “food court!”

The Drum Bridge–September

The Missouri Botanical Garden’s Japanese Festival is this weekend, and the Drum Bridge was busier than we’ve ever seen it!

The Wienermobile

When we saw the Wienermobile earlier this month, it wasn’t the first time we spotted it in the STL area. But it was the first time we “officially” saw it, and the children even got whistles (which, in retrospect, may not have been the best idea)!

Based on the license plate, this is a different vehicle than the one we saw two years ago…I love seeing all the clever ways they identify them!

Moonrise and Eclipse

In honor of the “Great American Eclipse” tomorrow, I’m sharing my favorite vintage style sign on the Delmar Loop, belonging to the Moonrise Hotel and Eclipse Restaurant, which is conveniently located by “The Sun” on the Delmar Loop Planet Walk!

Preparing for the Great American Eclipse

Unless you live under a rock, you’ve probably heard that on Monday, we are going to experience the “Great American Eclipse,” a solar (or lunar, I suppose), event that will literally stretch from sea to shining sea. The continental US hasn’t had such an event since before I was born, and St. Louis hasn’t experienced a total solar eclipse since before Columbus came to the New World! Seriously, it is going to be as DARK AS NIGHT in the MIDDLE OF THE DAY in places experiencing the totality!!! If that doesn’t stir at least a little something in your soul, I’m not sure you’re really alive. Of course, the reactions to the eclipse range from “Who cares?” and “I’m over the hype!” to “Science is cool, and I feel fortunate to get to experience this!” and “This is a religious experience!!!” not to mention everything in between!

As we live in the path of totality (and, let’s face it, are a pretty nerdy family), we fall at the “Science is cool!” end of the scale, and we’ve been preparing for the eclipse for months. Our preparations have focused on three areas:

  • The Science of the Eclipse–This has been a huge area of our focus as a family and as a school. In addition to the approximately one zillion books we have about space in our house, we have also been learning about The Great American Eclipse and eclipses in general at the St. Louis Science Center. They’ve been running a star show for months focused on the event, and not only was it very informative, we also received free solar filters with our admission. Which leads us to…
  • Eclipse Safety–Safe viewing of any eclipse is obviously a top priority. Because this eclipse is covering so much of the country (all 50 states will experience at least part of it!), and probably also thanks to social media, people are extra concerned about this event. It doesn’t help that there have been sales of counterfeit solar filters, so first of all, double-check and make sure yours are safety approved. Once you’re good to go, make sure you use them properly. Look down at the ground, put them on (and, in my opinion, keep holding them in place to prevent slippage), and then look at the eclipse. When you’re done viewing the event, look down at the ground again before removing them. They’re also not recommended for extended use, so keep your viewing times short, and remember, NO PEEKING! Please, enjoy the eclipse (safely), but remember, eye damage is real, and it is permanent…you don’t want to mess around with it! You can also make a good, old-fashioned pinhole viewer if you’d like.
  • The Story–This is the part of the eclipse that most interests me. I love thinking about how ancient civilizations, who didn’t have the scientific knowledge we take for granted today, viewed events such as this. We have read about some ancient myths that attempted to explain eclipses (many involved a story about a small animal such as a rabbit or a frog eating the sun!), and they are fascinating. But apart from the stories different cultures told, we’ve tried to put ourselves into the shoes of the individuals. What did they feel? Confusion? Amazement? Wonder? Certainly fear, and likely some had beliefs that the world was ending. This is a great opportunity to try to see things from a very different point of view!

So we have planned and prepared for the eclipse since before the summer began. In addition to the mandatory (safe) eclipse viewing on Monday, we also have some fun things planned for the day, including special foods (of course), and a reunion of our all-girl band to rock out “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”

What are you doing to make this once-in-many-lifetimes event memorable?

IKEA St. Louis

It has (unbelievably!) already been almost two years since IKEA came to St. Louis. This was a BIG DEAL. Ever since we moved here over 16 years ago, rumors have circulated about a possible IKEA location, and in the end, they always turned out to be false. We almost didn’t believe it when the news finally came out that St. Louis was actually going to get an IKEA store! But in 2015 it opened, and there was much rejoicing. Even so, I didn’t actually make it there until I went with Chickadee earlier this summer.

We have driven by the store and seen it from the interstate lots of times, but that in no way prepared me for how massive the store is when you’re in the parking lot looking at it!

If the store colors aren’t reminiscent enough of the Swedish flag for you, there is an actual Swedish flag outside:

And once you walk in the door, you are warmly welcomed:

Did I mention how big the store is?!? The map was so intimidating, I almost turned around and left!

The store may be intimidating, but it is extremely well-planned and organized:

Did I mention it was intimidating? The self-serve furniture area puts big stores like Walmart and Lowe’s to shame!

The free lockers are an especially good idea:

And given how big the store is, I think having a planned rest area is really smart!

What I was really there for, however, was the food. I’ve heard about the cafeteria style restaurant and the Swedish meatballs, so I had to check it out. It was also extremely well-organized. In addition to the hot food line, there were also cold options, including some amazing looking desserts:

I especially loved the carts for people who might have multiple meal trays!

Chickadee and I had already eaten lunch, so we just got a side order of Swedish meatballs and a piece of Daim torte to share. We also tried the pear fruit water and the lingonberry drink. Everything was delicious (Chickadee LOVED the meatballs!), and it was SO CHEAP!!!

Here’s a look at the full Swedish meatball meal:

The store also has Swedish treats (to enjoy at home) for sale:

Once we had exhausted ourselves walking around the store, we were ready to head out, and we received a very friendly goodbye, as well!

While we were there, we bought some Swedish treats to bring home and share with everyone, so we got to have a full IKEA meal at home…Swedish meatballs with the amazing IKEA gravy, lingonberry drink, and Kakor Choklad:

I loved our visit to IKEA, and I can’t wait to go back with the whole family…it’s one of the few places I can think of where we can all have a nice walk, look at some interesting things, and enjoy a filling meal, all without breaking the bank…as long as we don’t decide to redecorate our entire house while we’re there!

The Drum Bridge–July

I was really starting to worry that we wouldn’t make it the Missouri Botanical Garden this month…it’s been so hot, no one has wanted to leave the house, much less walk around outside. Yesterday it was a bit cooler (although drizzly and very humid), so we finally made it. The Japanese Garden looks almost as pretty when it’s raining as it does when it’s snowing…we really enjoyed watching the raindrops fall on the water!