HISTORY AND ART
St. Louis has numerous historical buildings to discover, from
the beautiful Saint Louis Art Museum, housed in the massive
neoclassical Palace of Fine Arts, to the Missouri History
Museum. Both are part of Forest Park, a 1,371-acre natural and
cultural oasis heart of the city that also includes the Saint Louis
Zoo, the MUNY outdoor amphitheatre, and Saint Louis Science
Center; they are all free to visit, apart from MUNY shows.
Then there’s the Lafayette Square neighborhood, with its
gorgeous “painted ladies” — beautifully restored Victorian
homes painted with contrasting colors. Federalist and French
Second Empire architecture styles surround Lafayette Park, a
landscaped 30-acre green space complete with a lake stocked
for fishing. Grab a honey lavender, salted cracked caramel, or
tequila chocolate mole ice cream cone at nearby Clementine’s
Creamery before your stroll, and a Tuscan-California dinner at
Eleven Eleven Mississippi after.
Saint Louis Zoo
Credit: Explore St. Louis/Ray Weibaum
THE ULTIMATE KIDS’ MUSEUM
If traveling with kids, take them to City Museum to blow their
minds (and yours, too). This wild and wacky multi-story place
encourages children to go slightly crazy, with everything
from squirm-through caves to huge rooftop slides, to mazes,
a mini-train, aquarium and more. Kids also love the famed
Gateway Arch, particularly the heady tram trip to the very top
observation deck.
BLUES AND BBQ
St. Louis was one of the original places where the blues
flourished, spawning musical legends like Chuck Berry and Tina
Turner. That’s why the fascinating National Blues Museum is
located right in the downtown, with wonderful exhibits and live
blues shows every week. Also find live blues nearby at BB’s Jazz,
Blues and Soups and Hammerstone’s in Soulard neighborhood;
Cajun-spiced Evangeline’s has live music near Forest Park.
Right next door is one of the city’s terrific BBQ spots, Sugarfire
Smokehouse, which not only does the classics, but adds BBQ
Andouille sausage and Portobello mushrooms to their ‘cue
mix. A “spiked” shake of vanilla, caramel, and bourbon makes
it all go down extra special. BBQ lovers need to put Pappy’s
Smokehouse on the list, too, for melt-in-your-mouth pulled
pork and dry rub smoked ribs.
Lafayette Square
Credit: Jane Linders
“G. SMIRG,” watercolor and collage on sandpaper, László
Moholy-Nagy, Saint Louis Art Museum
GETTING THERE
United Airlines flies direct to St. Louis Lambert International
Airport (STL) from Dulles International Airport (IAD) daily,
while American Airlines and Southwest depart Reagan
National Airport daily for STL. The flight takes just over two
hours one way.
AUTUMN 2019 33 FLYWASHINGTON.COM