I am going to be travelling to St. Louis over spring break and need some site-seeing recommendations. Of course there is the arch, and the Pulitzer Foundation by Ando. Any other major sites I should know about? Also, any landscape architecture worth checking out?
is probably better than both of those (not to knock the Ando or Saarinen). The City Museum is just that good. This is one of the few truly great things in St. Louis. What building code inspectors these guys paid off to build this thing will forever remain a mystery.
forest park. its huge and amazing. and the art museum, which is in the park, rocks.
if you're a history dork check out the museum under the arch (its about westward expansion) and the st. louis history museum.
go to the central west end and eat at zoe's pan asian. and get coffee at kaldi's coffeehouse. there are some great modern furniture stores in the cwe too.
I second the suggestion for Forest Park, especially for the beauty of the pastoral landscape architecture. Also check out the natural history museum in Forest Park. HOK designed an addition to it a few years ago that harmoniously integrates with the original structure but uses modern materials.
it is a little drive (15 to 20 minutes) from downtown, but laumeier sculpture park is a good way to spend a day. there is also a cemetery (can't remember the name) on the north side of town that has some tombs designed by sullivan. the maki building at wash u is under construction. oh shit, go to east st. louis and visit the oz. i think it stays open until 5 so it is a good place to go once you get kicked out of every other place.
first some clarifications: while the city museum is good, to say it is way better than the arch or the pulitzer is overstating a bit. also, sorry 8888, but zoe's closed. The cemetery on the north side is Calvary/Bellfontaine.
definately second getting out to Laumeier and swinging by WashU to check out the new Maki building going up.
my addition to all of these would be to check out Lafayette Square and Tower Grove Park, as well as the South Grand neighborhood adjacent to the latter.
The Anheuser-Busch tour can't be beat for the die-hard tourist in you. The brewery complex is a city unto itself, and the samples at the end (crap-beer nonetheless) are free. Then head to the Schlafly Tap Room for some real beer and fish+chips.
The Arch....but that is obvious...It is cool though to walk around it take the elevator to the top, which by the way follows the curve of the arch. See all the great photos...and it isn't but a hop skip and jump to old towne...or what ever they call it.
Oh ya there is also the Train Station turned Mall/Hotel.....check out the check in at the Hotel. I was actually able to spend a night there
for $10.00 more than staying at a moldy old road side hotel just east of Saint Louis.
is going to a new city not reason enough for a visit?
and besides, I have good accomodations out there, and what if i came from a smaller shittier city? (that remains to be seen, of course) Wouldnt St. Louis look good in that respect?
And according to everyone else in this thread, it seems there are some good things to see.
If you have any interest in stadiums, the Cardinals' new stadium (named what else but Busch Stadium) opens up in April, so it should be nearing completion...well, at least for the first phase.
You may want to discriminate some of these. I don't know how many of these people live here or have visited here or what. I have lived here for years and am not from here. So that's where I'm coming from.
First of all Zoe's is not closed. I walked by there last weekend and a guy was placing napkins. Unless it changed restaurants - I didn't look up at the sign. Even if it were open, I would not call it a must visit anyway.
The absolute best restaurant in St. Louis is the Iron Barley. No one has even heard of it but it has something like 3 dishes on Gourmet Magazine's list of 100 best dishes in the COUNTRY. I don't know if Tony's can even boast that. The head chef and owner (with his wife) is this hard core biker dude who used to be head chef at Frazers Brown Bag who I guess got fed up with the (typical) upper class restaurant world and opened his own place. Very affordable too.
As far as modern furniture stores in the CWE, I can think of maybe one.
The history museum is a joke. Sure that addition is nice, but as far as a museum goes, if you're not 5 years old, it's pretty lame. And you'll see 1000s of HOK buildings in your lifetime let alone additions. Spend this time on other things.
Kaldi's is good, but I would advise going elsewhere if you plan on going on a weekend afternoon.
Forest Park is great if your into landscapes. Our favorite part is the far eastern end near the ice rink. It was created to be this natural Missouri prarie landscape with some little footbridges here and there. It's very authentic (or atleast believable) and takes you very far from the city.
Union Station (or the "Train station turned Mall/Hotel") is an absolute tourist nightmare. I would not advise going there unless you love eating at Houlihan's.
McGurks is good. It's best on a weekday night. They fly in bands from Ireland and put them up in their apartment above the bar in exchange for playing music pretty much every night for like a month. Then they fly in a different band.
I haven't been to the Arch, but I'm sure it's cool. I've heard good things. Same goes for Laumeier (sp?) Sculpture Park.
What I said about the Arch and Pulitzer in comparison to the city museum, let me clarify. The Ando museum is awesome. But your awe will not last much more than a half an hour after you start to feel self conscious about fondling walls for so long. The Richard Serra sculpure is definitely cool.
The City Museum you can spend days at. You can lose all sense of time while losing yourself while getting lost. If it is a nice day, you can spend all day on the outside portion alone before capping it off in their little bar which is a bonafide log cabin picked up piece by piece and put back down in a parking lot and turned into a bar.
One thing we love to do is drive up to Grafton, IL on a really nice day. It's a beautiful drive - bald eagle country. The southern leg of the drive through the east side, I would definetly not call beautiful, but it sure is scenic. There's a bar up there (in Grafton) right on Ol' Muddy that people can actually dock their boats, run to the bar, get a sixer, and run back all while barefoot and shirtless. I think it's called the Loading Dock. Order a margerita, close your eyes, imagine everyone speaking spanish and you're there.
But this is the sad truth about St. Louis. You ask about cool places to do and see and the best people can come up with is a yuppie coffee shop and a couple of indie film theatres.
Wow that's long.
well pollen, we'll both have to look closer at the corner of Euclid and McPherson -- when we were by there for a gallery night a few weeks ago (for Adrian Luchini's opening at Atrium no less) it was definately deadsville at what was is or once was Zoe's--dark and locked with not a peep in sight. Always thought it rather a bit TOO fadish anyways.
Iron Barley is good, though I tend to think they use too much salt and could stand a better beer/wine selection. Our current fav is Bastante on Watson -- though not "top notch" in the way others might be, it's plenty comfy and a great couple of things on tap and on the list.
The (other) truth is -- and I am from here and do live here (after living in Chicago and DC) -- is that STL does have a good number of cool things to do and see, it's just that they need to be sought out and aren't easily communicated to someone in a blog such as this. It's not about "going" here or there, but about finding your way about. If you can find your groove, there's lots to get on about -- but really personal in that way.
The City Museum is pretty cool, I'll admit, but if not for my 5-year-old, I probably wouldn't have occassion to keep going back. I find it pretty overdone in an obnoxious way that doesn't appeal to me. Probably my opinion though. Not to mention the outrageous admission price. After all, most other things in this city (zoo, art museum, science center) are free -- maybe I'm spoiled in that way...
As for that southern leg of the drive back from Grafton -- the Lewis+Clark Tower is pretty sweet (pointless as it is).
Anyway Vigggo -- come and have fun.
Also add to your list the Missouri Botanical Garden.
and now I'm going to add to this for future folks:
the Campbell House Museum on Locust simply cannot be beat for 19th Century architecture and life. They have done a VERY fine job of restoring and preserving a great history and resource.
The recent addition of the Maki building to the WashU campus should not be missed. Is it unbelievable to die for architecture? No. But worth seeing and incredibly elegant and competent -- absolutely.
BTW -- for down the road -- Chipperfield's addition to the STL Art Museum seems locked in and scheduled for completion in 2010.
Nov 13, 07 11:01 pm ·
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what to see in St. Louis?
Hello all,
I am going to be travelling to St. Louis over spring break and need some site-seeing recommendations. Of course there is the arch, and the Pulitzer Foundation by Ando. Any other major sites I should know about? Also, any landscape architecture worth checking out?
thanks
is probably better than both of those (not to knock the Ando or Saarinen). The City Museum is just that good. This is one of the few truly great things in St. Louis. What building code inspectors these guys paid off to build this thing will forever remain a mystery.
The Wainwright building.
forest park. its huge and amazing. and the art museum, which is in the park, rocks.
if you're a history dork check out the museum under the arch (its about westward expansion) and the st. louis history museum.
go to the central west end and eat at zoe's pan asian. and get coffee at kaldi's coffeehouse. there are some great modern furniture stores in the cwe too.
isn't that museum by brad cloepfil right near the pulitzer too?
i don't really know, but that's the impression i got. i'll be going to st louis soon, too, i hope, so i'll take notes from this thread.
I second the suggestion for Forest Park, especially for the beauty of the pastoral landscape architecture. Also check out the natural history museum in Forest Park. HOK designed an addition to it a few years ago that harmoniously integrates with the original structure but uses modern materials.
it is a little drive (15 to 20 minutes) from downtown, but laumeier sculpture park is a good way to spend a day. there is also a cemetery (can't remember the name) on the north side of town that has some tombs designed by sullivan. the maki building at wash u is under construction. oh shit, go to east st. louis and visit the oz. i think it stays open until 5 so it is a good place to go once you get kicked out of every other place.
Awesome, thank you all for your replies. Ive started a nice little list of sites to see...
first some clarifications: while the city museum is good, to say it is way better than the arch or the pulitzer is overstating a bit. also, sorry 8888, but zoe's closed. The cemetery on the north side is Calvary/Bellfontaine.
definately second getting out to Laumeier and swinging by WashU to check out the new Maki building going up.
my addition to all of these would be to check out Lafayette Square and Tower Grove Park, as well as the South Grand neighborhood adjacent to the latter.
The Anheuser-Busch tour can't be beat for the die-hard tourist in you. The brewery complex is a city unto itself, and the samples at the end (crap-beer nonetheless) are free. Then head to the Schlafly Tap Room for some real beer and fish+chips.
zoe's closed? that's sad. but the anheuser-busch tour is so cool. you get to see the clydesdales.
The Arch....but that is obvious...It is cool though to walk around it take the elevator to the top, which by the way follows the curve of the arch. See all the great photos...and it isn't but a hop skip and jump to old towne...or what ever they call it.
Oh ya there is also the Train Station turned Mall/Hotel.....check out the check in at the Hotel. I was actually able to spend a night there
for $10.00 more than staying at a moldy old road side hotel just east of Saint Louis.
1) Catch a movie at the Tivoli. Or the Hi-Pointe.
2) McGurk's in Soulard is a homey Irish pub with brick arches inside, and a cozy courtyard out back.
3) Kaldi's, absolutely.
4) Laumeier Park, also absolutely.
The russuel kraus house by frank lloyd wright
http://www.ebsworthpark.org/
one question.
Why in the world would you come to St. Louis for springbreak?
is going to a new city not reason enough for a visit?
and besides, I have good accomodations out there, and what if i came from a smaller shittier city? (that remains to be seen, of course) Wouldnt St. Louis look good in that respect?
And according to everyone else in this thread, it seems there are some good things to see.
your right,
im biased, because im from st. louis and i take my home town for granted.
You also, might wanted to check out an architect by the name of William bernoudy.
If you have any interest in stadiums, the Cardinals' new stadium (named what else but Busch Stadium) opens up in April, so it should be nearing completion...well, at least for the first phase.
You may want to discriminate some of these. I don't know how many of these people live here or have visited here or what. I have lived here for years and am not from here. So that's where I'm coming from.
First of all Zoe's is not closed. I walked by there last weekend and a guy was placing napkins. Unless it changed restaurants - I didn't look up at the sign. Even if it were open, I would not call it a must visit anyway.
The absolute best restaurant in St. Louis is the Iron Barley. No one has even heard of it but it has something like 3 dishes on Gourmet Magazine's list of 100 best dishes in the COUNTRY. I don't know if Tony's can even boast that. The head chef and owner (with his wife) is this hard core biker dude who used to be head chef at Frazers Brown Bag who I guess got fed up with the (typical) upper class restaurant world and opened his own place. Very affordable too.
As far as modern furniture stores in the CWE, I can think of maybe one.
The history museum is a joke. Sure that addition is nice, but as far as a museum goes, if you're not 5 years old, it's pretty lame. And you'll see 1000s of HOK buildings in your lifetime let alone additions. Spend this time on other things.
Kaldi's is good, but I would advise going elsewhere if you plan on going on a weekend afternoon.
Forest Park is great if your into landscapes. Our favorite part is the far eastern end near the ice rink. It was created to be this natural Missouri prarie landscape with some little footbridges here and there. It's very authentic (or atleast believable) and takes you very far from the city.
Union Station (or the "Train station turned Mall/Hotel") is an absolute tourist nightmare. I would not advise going there unless you love eating at Houlihan's.
McGurks is good. It's best on a weekday night. They fly in bands from Ireland and put them up in their apartment above the bar in exchange for playing music pretty much every night for like a month. Then they fly in a different band.
I haven't been to the Arch, but I'm sure it's cool. I've heard good things. Same goes for Laumeier (sp?) Sculpture Park.
What I said about the Arch and Pulitzer in comparison to the city museum, let me clarify. The Ando museum is awesome. But your awe will not last much more than a half an hour after you start to feel self conscious about fondling walls for so long. The Richard Serra sculpure is definitely cool.
The City Museum you can spend days at. You can lose all sense of time while losing yourself while getting lost. If it is a nice day, you can spend all day on the outside portion alone before capping it off in their little bar which is a bonafide log cabin picked up piece by piece and put back down in a parking lot and turned into a bar.
One thing we love to do is drive up to Grafton, IL on a really nice day. It's a beautiful drive - bald eagle country. The southern leg of the drive through the east side, I would definetly not call beautiful, but it sure is scenic. There's a bar up there (in Grafton) right on Ol' Muddy that people can actually dock their boats, run to the bar, get a sixer, and run back all while barefoot and shirtless. I think it's called the Loading Dock. Order a margerita, close your eyes, imagine everyone speaking spanish and you're there.
But this is the sad truth about St. Louis. You ask about cool places to do and see and the best people can come up with is a yuppie coffee shop and a couple of indie film theatres.
Wow that's long.
well pollen, we'll both have to look closer at the corner of Euclid and McPherson -- when we were by there for a gallery night a few weeks ago (for Adrian Luchini's opening at Atrium no less) it was definately deadsville at what was is or once was Zoe's--dark and locked with not a peep in sight. Always thought it rather a bit TOO fadish anyways.
Iron Barley is good, though I tend to think they use too much salt and could stand a better beer/wine selection. Our current fav is Bastante on Watson -- though not "top notch" in the way others might be, it's plenty comfy and a great couple of things on tap and on the list.
The (other) truth is -- and I am from here and do live here (after living in Chicago and DC) -- is that STL does have a good number of cool things to do and see, it's just that they need to be sought out and aren't easily communicated to someone in a blog such as this. It's not about "going" here or there, but about finding your way about. If you can find your groove, there's lots to get on about -- but really personal in that way.
The City Museum is pretty cool, I'll admit, but if not for my 5-year-old, I probably wouldn't have occassion to keep going back. I find it pretty overdone in an obnoxious way that doesn't appeal to me. Probably my opinion though. Not to mention the outrageous admission price. After all, most other things in this city (zoo, art museum, science center) are free -- maybe I'm spoiled in that way...
As for that southern leg of the drive back from Grafton -- the Lewis+Clark Tower is pretty sweet (pointless as it is).
Anyway Vigggo -- come and have fun.
Also add to your list the Missouri Botanical Garden.
and you've lived here for years and never been to the Arch or Laumeier -- ??? --- !!!
Is db still around? I'm in St. Louis right now at a coffee shop called Mangia worried my car will get broken into. The reason I'm here and motive for an email?
Sneak Preview... although Paul's gonna kill me for letting the hat outta the bag to the archinect community two weeks early..... I'll be in St. Lo till tomorrow and would enjoy a brief meetup with an archinector for the sake of the project.
Marlin@archinect.com
marlin -- I'm here and just sent you an email.
and now I'm going to add to this for future folks:
the Campbell House Museum on Locust simply cannot be beat for 19th Century architecture and life. They have done a VERY fine job of restoring and preserving a great history and resource.
The recent addition of the Maki building to the WashU campus should not be missed. Is it unbelievable to die for architecture? No. But worth seeing and incredibly elegant and competent -- absolutely.
BTW -- for down the road -- Chipperfield's addition to the STL Art Museum seems locked in and scheduled for completion in 2010.
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