Think the Midwest is flyover country? Think again – particularly when it comes to St. Louis. Booking passage to faraway places with strange-sounding names is terrific, but there’s a bunch to be said about coming home to the Heartland. St. Louis is beautifully connected to the rest of the continent, with a large slice of that lift via Southwest Airlines.
Get off the plane, take the Blue Line MetroLink train downtown and open your eyes to what St. Louis has to offer. Among the options:
- Start out at the Gateway Arch, the city’s iconic landmark. From a perch at the top get a bird’s eye view of the city, and the might Mississippi. Out there, on the river, is a replica of a 19th Century paddle-wheeler. When you get back down board her for a narrated cruise down the river. Gateway Arch Riverboat Cruises will take you on a one-hour daytime tour, or a two-hour moonlight dinner cruise.
- Something less sedate? Since you’re downtown anyway, head to Washington Avenue or Laclede’s Landing. That’s where you’ll find some of the city’s best bars and nightspots. Most are smoke-free these days, and open till three in the morning. In search of some authentic St. Louis Blues? Soulard is the site.
- Break away from downtown and take the MetroLink to Forest Park, one of the largest urban parks in this country. Bike, hike, picnic in this jewel box of an urban enclave. While there, carve out at least half a day and see the Saint Louis Zoo. Hands-down, it’s one of the finest zoological parks on the planet
- Revel in the outdoor creations at Laumeier Sculpture Park. Be flat-out blown away by the The Awakening, a 70-foot statue of a giant embedded in the earth. You’ll find it at Chesterfield Arts.
- Don’t leave town without a trip to the Anheuser-Bush Brewery. That’s where the Budweiser Clydesdales hang out, and where you can take time sample some of the historic brewery’s brands.
(Image: digitizedchaos)
