What to do/see in St Louis during weekdays for someone with no travel companion? (University City: loft, hotel)

[heathenmd]

Hi all,

I'm interviewing at Wash U for residency and will be staying at hotel next to the county jail . I'm from the southeast and really wanted to get as good a feel of STL as possible so I can make a more informed decision when the time comes. I'll be there for day and a half, but would love to get out and see as much as possible to get a good idea of the city. Thanks

[DespicableMe]

St Louis county jail implies Clayton if I'm not wrong. That's actually a great place to get a good feel of what you want to see in St louis. You'll be a block away from a lot of great restaurants like Barcelona, Cafe Napoli.

If you don't have a car for the trip, you're still a couple of blocks away from the metrolink. You could get down at central west end and visit the area close to wash U med school and BJC. That's another great spot.

If you need any recommendations on restaurants, bars, nightlife etc feel free to ask since most here have a good idea of the place.

[billiken]

I'm going to assume this means you're staying at the Crowne Plaza, which is in the business district of Clayton. Nothing to worry about there--Clayton is one of the most desirable places in the Metro. You can walk down pretty much any street headed east from Clayton to WashU and see some beautiful homes.

I would just hop on the MetroLink and check out different areas. Head downtown, see the arch, CityGarden, Busch Stadium, walk to the loft district.
Take the MetroLink to the Central West End--many med students live here (and go out here), it's one of the more vibrant areas of St Louis.
Hop on the MetroLink again to DeBaliviere--south of here is Forest Park (hard to appreciate in the winter, but wonderful the rest of the year. You could still check out the free history museum, art museum, zoo, etc). Lots of WashU grad students live just north of Forest Park since it's so convenient to the school, the park, the Central West End. It's also reasonable rent-wise.
Ride the MetroLink to Delmar and walk west to see the University City Loop--lots of bars/restaurants here as well.

Just by riding the MetroLink for a few stops, you'll be able to check out some of the more popular areas to live/go out in St Louis.

[heathenmd]

Thanks guys for your recommendation. I'm actually staying at the Sheraton at Clayton. So, it's great to know I'll be at good part of the town where I can easily access the Metro. One of the St Louis grads I met at one of the other interviews told me not to ever take the Metro, as it's "shady as hell". Do you guys think it's OK to take the Metro later in the night, after 11 for example?

Also, please recommend some specific bar, nightlife and other STL attractions than the ones you kindly mentioned already. Cheers

[DespicableMe]

Metro is pretty much fine at least till central west end. Grand is a little sketchy after dark and I've mostly encountered pan handlers up there but on the odd occasion was offered weed by a kid.

From a 25 year old's point of view, there's Mandarin lounge, sol lounge at central west end, Pepper lounge on locust which are the night clubs I'd go to.

For bars if you go downtown onto Wash Ave, there's a ton of places but if I had to choose a couple I'd go to Lucas Park Grille, Dubliner or Flannery's. In central west end there's sub zero vodka bar that I like, bar louie which is kind of common to any city.

I don't think you could access the delmar loop with metrolink train otherwise that's a recommendable area.

[Smtchll]

^ there's a Delmar Loop stop on the red line. It's on the easternmost part of the Loop, so it might be a little sketchy at night, but fine during the day

[flynavyj]

I'm pretty sure there's also a metro stop at the corner of Skinker and Forrest Park Parkway (between Washington University and the Loop). From there you could walk the half mile to mile to the Loop, wouldn't be terribly out of the way, and i would consider the area south of Delmar safer than the area further North or even On Delmar going East...

[BoomBoxing]

Props OP because "heathenmd" is one of the best handles I've seen on here. The metro is not "shady as hell". These comments come from people who may have taken it once from the airport. I use it regularly as do pretty much everyone I work with and have never heard of any problems.

There is a metrostop on the Delmar loop and it's generally very well populated so I wouldn't worry. I would get off here and check out Vintage Vinyl (if you are into music) then maybe dinner at Blueberry Hill (burger) or Ciceros (pizza). It's a great area to walk around in. From there I would head east to the Central West End stop and walk around there. My favorite bar in the CWE especially in winter is Dressels on Euclid. I would also recommend checking out Brennans on Maryland.

If you have time head downtown and get off at the convention center stop by Washington Avenue. Some great bars down here too, specifically Dubliner and Over/Under.

Non-bar related activities to recommend: City Museum and the Arch (Downtown), Forest Park (zoo/science center/art museum/tons of other stuff), and if you don't mind taking the bus to connect, the Botantical Gardens.

[aragx6]

I would have no concerns about metro -- anyone who says its "sketchy as hell" simply hasn't ridden it very often. Most stops are well lit and I regularly see cops patrolling.

That said, everyone's tolerence is different and if you have any concerns, I would just take the metro to whereever you're going and then simply cab it home once it's late. If you are anywhere from downtown to U City it won't be more than a $12-15 cab ride.

Everyone's suggestions for activities are great ones, but let us know if you have any specific questions about what to see and do.

And best of luck on your residency interview! Definitely a tough program to get into, but as good as they come!

[moorlander]

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