Things You Remember About St. Louis (Clayton, Crestwood: appointed, amusement park, house)

[Bobster]

Recently another poster here, Anduanto, posted about a bar that he remembered that reminded him of partying at somebody's home.

In the comments section I asked if anybody remembered the tamale man and his cart or the snow cone shacks that used to pop up during the summer. This got me to thinking that this might be a good thing to post about. A regular trip down memory lane!

[MOD CUT]

Why? Because these are the sorts of things that make a city a community. Our shared memories of the tamale cart or of the 24 hour barbecue stand that used to be down on Broardway near Gasconade Street are part of what binds us together as St. Louisians.

People who are considering relocating here are just starting their journey towards becoming part of us and reading about Rossinio's restaurant or getting drunk as a teenager at Popia's Riverfront Underground (I'm sure that I'm misspelling that) will help them assimilate better.

[MOD CUT]

So, what say you? What do you remember about St. Louis that might strike a cord with somebody? I'll start....(as if I hadn't already)

Does anybody remember the Downtown 905 liquor store? "The Party Starts at 905!"

[kshe95girl]

oh, man...... Mississippi Nights, cruising in south STL with the top down, blasting KSHE...... the Veiled Prophet Fair, Elton John headlining, the mud was ankle deep that 4th of July.......Superjam...... the Barn, Kiel, and all the great concerts I saw at both those great places....... I could go on and on.....STL was a lotta fun in the '70's.......

[STLCardsBlues1989]

Cardinal games, the Zoo, the City Museum

[Northwoods Voyager]

Sportsman's Park, Regal Sandwich System at Broadway and Pine downtown, Christmas window displays at all of the department stores: Scruggs Vandervort & Barney, Stix, Baer & Fuller, Famous-Barr. Night time Veiled Prophet parades. Forest Park Highlands. Chain of Rocks Amusement Park. Goody-Goodys. Walsh Stadium (where I used to race stock cars). The big world globe at the Navy Station at Lambert Field. about 12--15 feet tall.

Street cars that you could ride to the 'end of the line' on a Sunday afternoon for fun! The many, many theatres on Grand Avenue, Fox, Schubert, Missouri, St. Louis, Lowes Orpheum and others. DeBaleviere Strip south of Delmar. Wellston Shopping Center. Katz Drug Stores. and I could go on and on....Oh the memories of what made 'my' St. Louis so very special. Of course now many of the replacements have their own charm and fascination.

Going down the cobble stone street to the Admiral on a sunny day and cruising down the Mississippi with family and or friends and just having the best time of your life. Must find my pictures of those treasures and memories. Have them here somewhere. Oh, yes and playing in the many small pools in Forest Park and being run out of them by a Park guard. Now that was fun.

[LindaGrace]

"The Party Starts at 905!"

Ha! Yes, I remember that. Our sorority house meetings started at 9:05 p.m. because of that ad!

I moved to San Antonio from St. Louis 11 years ago in June and I miss it. Not the winter weather so much, but a lot of other stuff. I especially miss KSHE. There are NO decent radio stations down here.

[RickMG]

So, is this the official 'OLD FART' thread?

How about Holiday Hill? The Highlands? Airway & Holiday Drive-Ins? The original Fitz's Root Beer stand at Clayton & Brentwood Blvds? I ate lunch there everyday when I went to McMorrow School just behind it. Ninos Pizza on Olive? Ranaldi's in the loop? The Varsity Theater in the loop? Stix, Baer & Fuller at Westroads? (Now Dillards, and now The Galleria). St. Louis Hawks? Nelson Burton, Sr., Dick Weber and their bowling alleys? Mr. Softee?

Man I'm old.

[Fasolt]

I didn't move to St Louis until the early 1970's - I was a teenager then.

Yeah, I remember 905, not just downtown - there was another big one on Gravois. It's a bicycle shop now. There were several smaller locations too.

Yes, I remember the Galleria when it was Westroads, and both Crestwood Plaza and Northwest Plaza when they were open-air shopping centers.

I also remember a whole bunch of movie theaters, all gone now: The Ambassador and Lowe's State downtown, and a lot of smaller neighborhood theaters.

Does anybody remember live Burlesque theaters downtown? I wasn't old enough to go in, but they were still around in the early '70s - I think there was one called the Stardust somewhere near the old downtown Greyhound station on Delmar (now Convention Plaza).

[timelesschild]

Blueberry Hill!

And Talayna's Restaurant at Skinker and Forest Park Parkway... I loved that place...

[breer23]

Originally Posted by timelesschild

And Talayna's Restaurant at Skinker and Forest Park Parkway... I loved that place...

It's still there, and it's still really good food (at least the pizza is, anyway)! The service is so-so, but we usually get take-out.

[breer23]

Originally Posted by kshe95girl

oh, man...... Mississippi Nights

I had been coming to STL each summer since I was a kid/teenager (mostly for Cards-Cubs games), and finally relished when I turned 21 and could enjoy an evening at MS Nights. Was so disappointed when we finally moved here last summer to find it had been torn down for re-development. Still love an afternoon at Sundecker's, though, especially after a Cards-Cubs game.