A Guide to a Weekend in St. Louis

Summer has always been a special time, especially when I was young. Summer brought on the end of the school year, free of textbooks while relishing the sun-filled, carefree days.

It also meant family fun when Dad would take a few extra days off, load the cooler with baloney sandwiches and soda pop, and head off for that special experience. Maybe the zoo, with its eccentric array of animals beyond our imaginations, a museum with treasures only seen in books, or even better, a ball game in the big city. Throw in an ice cream and root beer float, and summer was memorable.

As you age, the enjoyment of those experiences does not diminish, but the ability to set aside time for them seems to take a back seat to life.

Sometimes, you simply have to give that little extra effort to summer.

So, we found ourselves searching for those summer thrills in St. Louis.

This French-founded municipality has welcomed visitors since the Louisiana Purchase, when entrepreneurs used it as a stepping stone to the West. Today, instead of heading for regions beyond, visitors find plenty of reasons to stay in this city brimming with summer entertainment.

We had slipped across the Mississippi River into Missouri’s second-largest city for one of the Midwest’s great fan-fun rivalries—a baseball game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs. However, before the first pitch, there were places to explore in the Gateway City.

Lester and The King of Beers

Lester is a ham. I had no idea because, up until the moment that Tom, our guide, said, “Look this way,” Lester was playing our visit very nonchalantly. However, the minute Tom uttered those three words, Lester’s ears stood straight up, and he snapped his blazed, bay-colored face around and looked straight into the camera unerringly.

Lester commanded the room. He stands slightly over 6’ at the shoulder or 18 hands in horsetalk. He weighs in at a ton of muscle, hooves, and sinew. He consumes 50 lbs. of hay and 30 gallons of water a day to maintain his magnificent chestnut form.

Lester, if you haven’t already guessed, is a Clydesdale. And not just any old horse. Lester is one of the world-famous Budweiser Clydesdales. We met him in an ornate brick and stained-glass stable built in 1885 on the historic 100-acre Anheuser-Busch brewery complex in St. Louis.

For years, Lester helped to pull one of the famously red, 3-ton turn-of-the-century beer wagons at events throughout the country. At sixteen years of age, however, he is now retired and the acting ambassador for the brewery. He is very good at it.

What visit to St. Louis would be complete without a stop at the Anheuser-Busch Brewery? Having called St. Louis home for more than 160 years, the house of Budweiser is well ensconced in the city’s landscape. The iconic red wagons pulled by the Clydesdales were first introduced to the American public on April 7, 1933, to celebrate the repeal of Prohibition.

A “Budweiser Tour,” whether to see the brewing process or to meet Lester and his pals, was actually a fun way to learn about the history of brewing in America. Our tour ended in their Beirgarten, where we sampled the brewery’s foamy efforts accompanied by an order of a popular St. Louis treat: toasted ravioli. It was a good start to the day.

The Gateway Arch National Park

Of course, it is virtually impossible to visit St. Louis and ignore the Gateway Arch, which sits downtown on a 91-acre park along the Mississippi River. Believe me, you do not want to.

In a nod towards irony, beneath the tallest arch in the world lies a 140,000 square-foot underground museum. We entered the circular stainless steel and glass entrance to the Gateway Arch Museum and Visitor Center and descended three stories beneath the earth.

Long before railroads crisscrossed the continent or bridges spanned the Mississippi River, oar-propelled flat-boats and steam-driven paddle-wheelers delivered tens of thousands of souls to St. Louis’ sprawling riverfront seeking a new start out west.

The museum, which is free to enter, explores St. Louis’ impact on westward expansion through six redesigned galleries that explore the beginnings of St. Louis in 1764, its contributions, both good and bad, to the “conquest” of the western frontier, and culminating in the celebration of its gateway to the west with the Arch’s completion just over 200 years later.

Displays of stagecoaches, Conestoga wagons, log cabins, American Bison, and Native American lifestyles all contribute to a better understanding of life before and after European settlement. Children and, frankly, this adult were enthralled by the spacious and interactive museum.

And Then, There Is the Arch.

Reaching 630 feet above the landscape, the arch was designated a national park in 2018 and is the tallest monument in the Western Hemisphere. There are 1,076 steps to the top of the stainless steel-clad memorial, but for a small fee, a four-minute, slightly claustrophobic tram ride will take you up to its viewing level for spectacular views of the St. Louis skyline and the Mississippi River.

The park also includes over five miles of riverfront trails and the city’s Old Court House, the scene of the infamous Dred Scott decision.

Summer’s Pastime: Baseball

St. Louis is a baseball town, and its beloved Cardinals are embraced and cheered at Busch Stadium, a beautifully retro-styled ballpark next to the Arch.

Even if you are rooting for the other team (we tend towards Cubbie blue), it’s easy to be charmed by the hospitality of Busch Stadium. We settled into our seats for an evening game with soda and peanuts in hand.

Shortly after a wonderful rendition of our National Anthem, the grounds crew covered the infield with a tarp as ominous dark clouds rolled in. So we explored the park and got to know our fellow fans, like the couple who were celebrating his 60th birthday by visiting three ballparks in seven days!

Unfortunately, with summer fun comes unpredictable summer weather. Nearly two hours later, with lightening streaking across the sky but nary a drop of rain yet to be had, the game was postponed to another day.

As the field quickly emptied, fans in need of a baseball fix quickly swarmed Ballpark Village, which is immediately adjacent to the ballpark and a haven for everything baseball. Cardinals Nation is the centerpiece of the Village. A 34,000 square foot, four-level establishment with nothing but Cardinals Baseball at its finest. Cardinals Nation includes a two-story restaurant and bar, a Cardinals Hall of Fame and Museum, a Cardinals Authentic retail store, and an impressive 330-seat rooftop deck to watch the game.

Broadway Oyster Bar provides a distinctive alternative for something a little less baseball. This quirky restaurant, housed in a building built in the mid-1840s, is just a couple of blocks from the park. The gator tacos and a muffuletta sandwich provided a taste of New Orleans in the heart of St. Louis. A couple of libations and live music completed the evening.

The St. Louis Zoo

The following sun-lit morning, we discovered that American Pink Flamingos’ plumage can tend towards an almost orange hue due to their diet. The bright shade starkly contrasted with the murky lake they stood in. They can also be quite aggressive during their demonstrative courtship display.

We learned this when we came upon a squawking flock in the shallows of their lake located within the boundaries of the 90 acres of the St. Louis Zoo.

It was made famous by its former director, Marlin Perkins. It is located within the beautiful 1,371-acre Forest Park and is free to enter.

We were told that the vast natural habitats house over 16,000 animals. We did not count them, but there are many wonderful creatures to see. Each step creates an expectation as you move from one exhibit to the next, not knowing what may lie around the bend, past a grove of trees or a mound of boulders.

As we walked through the shade of a canopy of trees, we were serenaded by children’s squeals of wonderment as they stared at each new exotic animal. Occasionally, the children’s boisterous expressions of joy increased in volume with the subsequent booming roar of the resident male lion.

I had many favorites, but an up-close encounter with a herd of elephants and the frolicking orangutans were particularly beloved.

Outside the zoo’s boundaries is Forest Park’s vast landscape. Forest Park, officially opened in 1876, is one of the largest urban parks in the United States. At around 1,300 acres, it is bigger than even Central Park in New York. Walking back to our car, we passed the north entrance of the St. Louis Art Museum, where a bronze equestrian sculpture of King Louis IX of France, the city’s name-sake, overlooked the Grand Basin Lake.

Fitz’s Root Beer and Bottling Company

My brother is fond of root beer. He is especially fond of Fitz’s St. Louis classic root beer. So, before leaving town, we stopped to visit the diner and bottling company to pick up a six-pack or two to bring to him.

Fitz’s is in the vibrant Delmar Loop neighborhood, home to an eclectic array of shops and entertainment venues. It is also home to another free adventure, the St. Louis Loop Trolley. The 2.2-mile route, which utilizes vintage trolley cars, has 10 stops and stretches from the University City Library to the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park, stopping right in front of Fitz’s.

Its famous draft root beer was developed in 1947. Today, as you sit and munch on a hamburger while sipping from an icy cold mug of root beer, you can watch the soda being bottled on a 1940s bottling line behind windows just off the dining room floor.

After loading the car with several bottles of root beer and a few other flavors, we drove back across the river towards Illinois, passing by the Arch, the gateway to summer fun in St. Louis.

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