I'm going to be in St. Louis next week. What should I do?

My wife and I are taking the kids to St. Louis for a few days next week. My wife is going to a professional conference and we decided to make it a family trip.

Tuesday and saturday will be travel days, so I’m looking for places to take a couple of rugrats during the day on wed-friday. We’re going to be staying at a hotel downtown that has a free shuttle service within a radius of a few miles. I’m hoping to take my kids to the zoo there, but I’d also appreciate suggestions for any other kinds of sights, museums, ice cream parlors, etc. Anything downtown where I can take the ankle biters for a few hours. Any good suggestions for where to get a good burger/hot dog/pizza, etc. Would be welcome.

Thanks in advance.

The science center is a lot of fun, and free.

As for ice cream, there’s Ted Drewes if you want to hang around outside and Crown Candy Kitchen if you want to, like, have air conditioning or something.

The City Museum costs money, but it’s sooooo worth it. It’s like the pinnacle of awesome fun. That’s one where you could easily spend a whole day.

There’s always the arch. That’s kind of fun. I think the museum bit is free, but it costs to go up in it.

There’s the brewery… that’s kind of fun. They have clydesdales. But it smells bad. At the end, you get free beer and root beer. And there are clydesdales. I liked the clydesdales.

And speaking of root beer, there’s Fitz’s… they make their own root beer and, from what I remember/hear, the food is pretty good.

Zoo’s a good bet. It’s free, and could take up half a day at least, maybe more. If you get there early enough to park on the road nearby, you can park for free. Otherwise there are parking lots just across from the entrance that charge a little.

I second the City Museum. Easily you could spend three quarters if not a whole day here. It’s something like 10-12 bucks per head, but man, it’s worth it. I’ve never seen anything like it anywhere. link

The Arch is interesting, though they’ll likely be bored by the museum underneath (unless they’re particularly interested in Expansion-era history). The ride to the top and the view is interesting, but a little expensive. It is the tallest national monument though.

Fitz’s is good stuff. The food’s good too, if a little pricey. I don’t know if they’re currently bottling or not (there’s a big glass window where you can see into the factory part from the dining room). It’s way out in University City though, so if you’re not driving and you don’t want to take the bus, it probably won’t work out. link

Crown Candy Kitchen is in a bad part of town (but maybe close enough for the shuttle), but the food is good and relatively cheap and the malts are amazing. link

Hmm.

I can’t really think of much other fun “kid stuff” to do besides take in a ballgame if they’re into baseball (afternoon game on Wednesday with the Rockies). Maybe see the park anyway, if there’s interest.

I’d say if the baseball thing works, there’s most of Wednesday right there. Then the Zoo/Science Center (they’re both in Forest Park) on Thursday and City Museum on Friday – and there’s your week. The Arch could go with either the game or the City Museum. If no baseball, I’d suggest doing the Arch on its own, and then maybe walking down around the River and Laclede’s Landing.

As far as food goes… There’s the aforementioned Candy Kitchen that has sandwiches/lunch-type foods. Fitz’s that’s sort of far away. There’s a bar/restaurant downtown called Calico’s that’s decent (don’t know how kid-friendly though). If you want to try St. Louis-style pizza, I’d go with that or Imo’s. If you want the best pizza anywhere ever (not St. Louis style), it’s to be found on the South Side. Delicious. Most of the places I would recommend are likely too far away for a shuttle.

Here’s the weather, by the way. The zoo has some indoor areas (Penguin house, monkey house, reptile/amphibian house) so I wouldn’t worry too much about that. One of the City Museum’s biggest features is a humongous climb-all-over … chunk of sculpture and metal and junk. It’s outside, so try to go when it’s not raining…if it is you can look at the stuff inside (There’s a lot inside too) and try to wait it out.

I’m not originally from St. Louis, but I’m from nearby originally and have lived there for about the past six months. Any more specific questions, feel free to ask and I’ll see what I can do.

I’ve never been, but I LOVE Imo’s Pizza, which is like the “official” pizza of St. Louis. You can’t get anything like it in most other parts of the country, but they apparently have locations all around the city.

I third the Science Center. The place is a blast for all ages. Ditto the brewery. For dinner hit Fuddrucker’s.

St. Louis kid here. Zoo is a must. Science Center is sweet. City Museum is awesome. Ted Drewes, yes. I worked at Imo’s for years and still love it. So I basically second/third everyone else’s recs. How old are the kiddos?

I’ve got a 7 year-old and an almost 2-year old. Both girls, so unfortunately (for me) a ballgame is probably out. :frowning:

I appreciate all the suggestions. Thanks especially to Garfield for all the detail.

I think the zoo and the Science Center are definite gos and probably the City Museum too. We’ll be close to the arch, so I think we’ll probably check that out as well. We’ll also defintely get some Imo’s while we’re there. We’ve had Ted Drewe’s recommended by someone at my wife’s office so the chances are good we’ll end up there with the kiddies.

Again, I appreciate the help.

Zoo. Zoo. Zoo.

Did I mention that I looooooved the Zoo?

I didn’t have time for the City Museum but that’s on my list when I return.

St. Louisian checking in with a top four list of things to do with a seven and two year old (and I know, having hosted my then seven y/o niece and two y/o nephew a couple years ago).

  1. City Museum. The 2 y/o and i went down the slide a bunch and the seven y/o was thrilled w the art ‘class’ as well as the aquarium.

  2. Magic House. My wife took the kiddies there so I lack first-hand knowledge but she said they loved it. NOTE: its in Kirkwood, 15-20 minutes from downtown so the shuttle may not get you there.

  3. Zoo. Zoo shouldn’t be third, should it? Our zoo is awesome, there is apparently a new sea lion exhibit, its great to see them at feeding time. There’s a baby elephant who I don’t believe is available to be seen yet and a cousin who’s about 12-18 months old that you do get to see. Good kid’s section, too.

  4. Grant’s Farm. My personal favorite. Site of the U.S. Grant home and museum and home to a couple dozen Clydesdales, this is run by A-B. Take a shuttle ride around the park and see all sorts of animals, and then stop at the petting zoo area and feed the baby goats - this absolutely thrilled my niece and nephew. By the time we were done there I was absolutely thrilled to stop by the carriage house and sample a couple A-B products and have a bite to eat. NOTE: Again, 15-20 minutes from downtown.

Whatever you end up doing, I hope you give us your feedback afterwards, and enjoy the STL.

:smack: :smack: :smack:

Of course! If the shuttle’ll get you there or if you’re amenable to public transportation, I’d second this too. I haven’t been in at least 10 years, but IIRC it was quite the experience. Most vividly, they have (had, at least) one of the big static electricity generators that make your hair stand on end. That was pretty cool all by itself.

I don’t recall how old your rugrats are Dio, but my then 6yo loved the museum at the arch.

If you are even the slightest bit claustrophobic, the arch is best enjoyed from ground level.

Well, here I am posting from my laptop in the hotel in St. Louis. I took the kids to the Arch today and they had a lot of fun. The museum at the base was a hit. My 7 year old really dug the animitronic robots. Tomorrow we’re going to the City Museum. We’ve also been gorging on Imo’s for the last two nights. We’re having a lot of fun so far. I appreciate all the help.

I totally ordered Imo’s tonight because I was homesick (in Columbia MO at school, used to work at Imo’s).

Hopefully the weather isn’t bad there, I know there are/were some storms a brewin’.

The weather’s been kind of rainy. We had a thunderstorm earlier this evening. Knocked out the satellite TV in the hotel for a while. Fortunately it came back on in time for Earl and the Office. :).