Going to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game? Here are 10 fun things to do in St. Louis.

by Aaron Hotfelder on

On Tuesday, July 14, the St. Louis Cardinals and their new ballpark Busch Stadium will host the 2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, with the must-watch Home Run Derby taking place the night before. Thousands of people from around the country will be flocking to St. Louis to see the festivities, but many of them will know the city for only two things, baseball and beer. And really, what else is there?

Well, plenty. Here’s a look at ten fun things to do in St. Louis when you’re not catching Albert Pujols’ home run balls.

10. Imo’s Pizza Serving up thin-crust, St. Louis-style pizza, Imo’s has been the city’s choice for pie for 45 years. Sure, many non-St. Louisans scoff at Imo’s use of provel cheese instead of mozzarella (sample review: “Provel is just wrong and it doesn’t belong anywhere near a pizza crust”), but you haven’t visited St. Louis until you’ve eaten at Imo’s.

9. The St. Louis Art Museum Located in the heart of Forest Park, the St. Louis Art Museum is home to one of the nation’s most underrated collections of art, with works by the likes of Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet, and Gauguin. The best part? Admission is free.


8. The Missouri Botanical Garden The oldest botanical garden in the United States and a National Historic Landmark, the Missouri Botanical Garden is a relaxing, beautiful oasis located in south St. Louis. Don’t miss the Butterfly House, the Japanese walking garden called Seiwa-en, and the Climatron, which simulates the climate of a tropical rainforest.

7. The Gateway Arch Like a Parisian who makes a point to avoid the Eiffel Tower, I’ve been a St. Louis resident most of my life yet I’ve never been to the top of the Arch. The most well-known feature of the St. Louis skyline, the Arch was completed in 1965 to celebrate St. Louis’ status as a “Gateway to the West,” and it stands 630 feet tall and 630 feet wide. The trip to the top is (supposedly) not for the claustrophobic, but it no doubt affords a great view of the city and its surroundings.

6. Anheuser-Busch Brewery Take a free tour of the Anheuser-Busch brewery and you’ll be able to check out the world-famous Budweiser Clydesdales, learn more than you ever wanted to know about hops and beechwood aging, and sample a glass or two of the product. Located in the historic Soulard neighborhood downtown.

5. Laclede’s Landing Cobblestone streets and converted warehouses give this riverfront food, drink, and entertainment district a truly unique feel. The St. Louis Fish Market is the place to go in St. Louis for seafood, The Big Bang is a spirited piano bar, and Morgan Street Brewery is a college hangout with great microbrews. Laclede’s Landing is within walking distance of Busch Stadium and the Arch.

4. Ted Drewes’ Frozen Custard Don’t let the long lines deter you: They move quickly and they’re a small price to pay for St. Louis’ most well-known custard stand, notoriously packed after every Cardinals home game. Allow me to recommend the Cardinal Sin, a “sinfully” good cherry-chocolate-and-custard treat, or a Concrete, made of frozen custard so thick you could pave a driveway with it. Go here for locations.

3. St. Louis Zoo Dating all the way back to the 1904 World’s Fair, the St. Louis Zoo is one of the best free zoos in the country. You can get up close and personal with penguins and puffins, see elephants and cheetahs at the River’s Edge, and take a ride aboard the Zooline Railroad. A great, affordable destination for the whole family.

2. Fast Eddie’s Bon Air Just a 30-minute drive from downtown St. Louis, Fast Eddie’s of Alton, Illinois, proudly proclaims itself “the best bar in the Midwest, maybe even the world.” An exaggeration? Sure, but not by much. Cheap beer, 99-cent half-pound burgers, 29-cent peel-and-eat shrimp, and a huge new outdoor patio make Fast Eddie’s the place to go in the St. Louis area if you want to kick back for some cold suds and good grub.

Be sure to check out the pair of shoes once worn by the late Robert Wadlow, the 8’11” Alton native who is still known as the tallest man ever to live. (Note: You must be 21 or over to enter Fast Eddie’s.)

1. The City Museum The 600,000 square-foot museum is an “eclectic mixture of children’s playground, funhouse, surrealistic pavilion, and architectural marvel made out of unique, found objects.” It’s what Willy Wonka would have built if he hadn’t been so obsessed with candy.

You can crawl through an airplane fuselage in the playground, create your own art in Art City, and take a ride on one of several massive slides. One TripAdvisor reviewer sums the place up best: “Unsafe? Perhaps. Fun? Most Definitely.”

Five ways to enjoy Antigua

by Tom Johansmeyer on

When you travel to an upscale resort, it’s pretty hard to leave the property. It’s not like you’re held captive, of course. I had no problem actually leaving Curtain Bluff physically, but it was hard to get motivated enough to leave. This is where the accusations of snobbery enter the picture. The elite prefer to stay within the sheltered walls of the property. For some, this is true, though the judgment is often hasty. High-end resorts are designed to make you as happy as possible. Everything is supposed to be perfect … and why would you leave perfect?

Regardless of how amazing your resort is, there is plenty to see outside the gates. Even if you take just one day of your vacation to roam this small island (Antigua occupies only 108 square miles), you’ll walk away without regret.

So, you’re outside the gates in Antigua … now what? After the jump, check out five recommendations to get you started.

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1. Nelson’s Dockyard
This national park boasts buildings several hundred years old and has a small museum chronicling the island’s maritime history. Be careful around the sick-house: once upon a time, there was only one cure for every ailment – rum.

2. Mix with the locals
Every Sunday evening, there’s a part at Shirley Heights. It’ll only cost you around $8 to get in, and the barbeque never disappoints.

3. Open an offshore bank account [Just kidding!]

3. Check out the cricket stadium
Even if Sir Vivian Richards Stadium is empty, reflect on the fact that it accommodates 20,000 people … on an island of only 85,000 (as of a year ago).

4. Hang out with Sir Allen Stanford [It turns out he’s busy right now, and probably won’t be coming back to Antigua for a very long time.]

4. Ascend Mount Obama
Right now, the highest point on Antigua is Buggy Point. In October, the mountain will still bear this distinction, but it will have a new name: Mount Obama. Antigua is an island of Obamaniacs, with cab drivers celebrating the U.S. president on their dashboards and signs scattered across the country.

5. Tempt Fate at the Devil’s Bridge
This small strip of rock was carved by a brutal ocean current. It’s slippery, and even when the waves around it look tame, you’re gambling with your life. One false move, and you could walk be carried away from Devil’s Bridge like one German tourist – with three broken ribs and two broken arms.

To learn more the other reason why Devil’s Bridge is famous, watch the video below.

Disclosure: Curtain Bluff did pick up the tab for this trip. Honestly, a prolie blogger like me wouldn’t be able to cover this destination without support from the resort. That said, my opinions are my own. Worried that my experience was positive? Blame the resort staff for doing a kickass job. I could lie and say it all sucked, but that would come at the expense of my editorial integrity.

Amster-done? Visit a castle

by Sean McLachlan on

In my last Amster-done? post I talked about taking a day trip to the beautiful city of Delft. Today I’m featuring two medieval castles far from the noise and pungent smells of Amsterdam, but still less than an hour away by public transport.

Muider Castle, known to the locals as Muiderslot, is a twenty minute bus ride from Amsterdam’s Amstel station. Get off at the stop for Muiden and take a short walk through a park, then the village of Muiden, and along a harbor where you’ll see the castle in the distance.

It’s a pretty sight. This castle was founded around the year 1285 to protect Muiden harbor. It was expanded over the years and now appears much as it did when major building was completed in 1450. There’s a peaceful garden off to one side, and an open area where falconry demonstrations are held. If you’ve never seen a falcon doing its stuff, this alone is enough to make you glad you came. These regal birds are amazingly quick and well-trained, and can pluck a bit of meat out of their trainer’s hand while swooping past at blinding speed.

The interior of the castle is made up like it was in the olden days, with chambers for the lord and lady, an armoury for the soldiers, a creepy dungeon for people who use their cell phones in restaurants, and even some primitive privies. The privies are noticeably lacking in the dungeon. Serves them right.

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The Castle de Haar (Kasteel de Haar in Dutch) is another fine relic of the bad old days. If you don’t have a car, the easiest way to get there is to take a train or bus to Utrecht Centraal Station and then take bus 127 in the direction of Breukelen/Kockengen to the “Brink” stop at Haarzuilens. It’s only a 15 minute walk at that point.

This is one of the most attractive castles I’ve seen in Europe. It was built sometime before 1391 and expanded in the following century before falling into disrepair. A massive restoration project of the castle and nearby town brought it back to its former glory. Around the castle is a large baroque garden filled with flowers and dotted with ponds, perfect for snuggling with that special travel companion.

Both of these castles make for a fun, easy day trip from Amsterdam, and their close enough that you can be back in time for the nightlife.

Do you have a favorite day trip from Amsterdam? Post a comment!

Rainforest Alliance announces second annual “sustainability” photo contest

by Kraig Becker on

“Sustainability” has been quite the buzzword over the past few years and has been interpreted in many ways across a number of different industries. Now, the Rainforest Alliance wants to see what your interpretation of the word is in the form of a photo, as they launch their second “Photo Sustainability” contest.

The contest is co-sponsored with Fujifilm and is open to U.S. residents only, but offers up some great prizes, including a Grand Prize of a five day trip for two to Costa Rica that includes a stay at the Pacuare Jungle Lodge and a whitewater rafting expedition. The winner will also be awarded a new digital camera from Fujifilm.

In addition to the Grand Prize winner, four other winners will be named in the following categories:

  • Wildlife on farms, forests or other natural habitats
  • Landscapes (forests, waterways, flowers and plants, beaches, wetlands)
  • Sustainable tourism (hiking, bird watching, mountain biking, and other land-based nature activities; surfing, scuba, kayaking, snorkeling and other coastal or marine activities; other ecotourism-related subjects)
  • Conservation (people working to protect natural resources, including water, flora and fauna)

Each individual winner will also receive a new Fujifilm digitial camera as well as an honorary one-year membership to the Rainforest Alliance.

Up to five submissions in each category will be selected by Rainforest Alliance staff, who will then post them on their website where the public will be able to vote on them, helping to determine the category winners. The Grand Prize will be awarded by noted outdoor photographer Art Woolfe, who will be looking for “overall composition, creativity, artistic merit and relevance to the Rainforest Alliance mission.”

All submissions will be added to the Alliance’s library of photographs to be used on their website and other publications as they pursue their goal of raising awareness about conservation issues and the general theme of sustainability. To enter the contest go to RAPhotocontest.org between now and November 1st. Register online and upload your best photos. Winners will be announced on the Rainforest Alliance website on December 15, 2009.

Good luck everyone!

Great American Road Trip 2009: The fly and drive combo New Mexico to Montana and back

by Jamie Rhein on

For the past seven summers, ever since we moved back from India, we’ve embarked on a Great American Road Trip. The first was the mega version that put 10,000 miles on a new Ford Taurus station wagon in three months. Mind you, this was in 2003 with a 10 year-old and a 1 ½ year old-and without video games, computers or a DVD player.

This year’s version is a fly drive combo. Three months for tootling around between the Atlantic and Pacific is harder to come by-three weeks, doable. Without a burning desire to drive through the Midwest to get to Montana from Ohio like last year when I waxed poetic about Wisconsin’s cheese curds, we flew on Northwest Airlines (aka Delta) over those endless corn and soybean fields to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Sure Albuquerque is no where near Montana, our main destination, but there’s a reason for the detour.

I used to live in Albuquerque. So did my husband. Between us, we have loads of friends we haven’t seen since that first road trip. Besides, Albuquerque is a budget destination with cheap flights to get there and inexpensive car rentals for heading out on the open road IF you rent away from the airport (more on that later).

When planning a Great American Road Trip, I highly recommend the fly then drive option. One year we flew to Denver and drove to Montana. Another year we flew to Seattle. With a limited time frame, the flight cuts out the parts you don’t necessarily want to see and provides the time to see those places that you do. If you’re going to be renting a car when you reach your main destination, why not head a few states away for the opportunity to explore the bounties in between?

For us the bounties might be a national park, the largest metal sculptures in the world, a mom and pop restaurant with regional food, or a town that a highway bypassed. Sometimes we know where we’ll stop before we head out, or one of us notices a point on a map and says, “Let’s stop here.”

In the next few weeks, as we’re traveling in a Toyota Sienna van through New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Montana, where the landscape and people have a flavor so unique I could return again and again, I’ll fill you in on the places we’ve stopped and give some Great American Road Trip how-to suggestions.

We passed by Arches National Park a week ago. It’s been a busy week. Stay tuned. Ghost towns, neon and great eats on the way.

[The first photo was taken two years ago at the parade at Flint Creek Valley Days in Philipsburg, Montana where I am now. The second photo was taken last year at the pheasant family sculpture, part of the Enchanted Highway, on the way to Regent, North Dakota.]