Going to St. Louis TODAY (Hannibal, Union: city hall, crime rates, hotel)

[tvdxer]

Hello, in a few hours I'll be packing my car and off to St. Louis.

Is the area around the Union Station hotel bad (in term of crime rates)? Should I really get valet parking
($24 vs $16)?

In what 'hoods can I walk around the DSLR and know that I am decently safe during the day? How about after dark?

How would Six Flags be for the solo traveler?

Any fun things to do downtown? What museums / attractions in town do you recommend?

What are St. Louis's largest immigrant communities? Any restaurants of note in them?

Thank you.

[FrankMiller]

What's DSLR, and why is everyone coming here from Minnesota?

There's plenty to do, I would definitely check out Explore St. Louis and see if any activities strike your fancy. I would not worry about crime around Union Station before dark. After dark you should exercise the same caution you would anywhere else. I don't know why valet parking would be safer than otherwise.

The Art Museum and the Zoo, both in Forest Park, are worth exploring if you are into those things. The City Museum isn't far from Union Station and is a fun adult-friendly mostly-indoor playground of sorts, although it might lose some of its luster solo.

StL's historic ethnic enclave The Hill is the site of many quality Italian joints. There's also a large Bosnian community, but I don't know any restaurants offhand.

[jo_mama]

Originally Posted by tvdxer

Hello, in a few hours I'll be packing my car and off to St. Louis.

Is the area around the Union Station hotel bad (in term of crime rates)? Should I really get valet parking
($24 vs $16)?

In what 'hoods can I walk around the DSLR and know that I am decently safe during the day? How about after dark?

How would Six Flags be for the solo traveler?

Any fun things to do downtown? What museums / attractions in town do you recommend?

What are St. Louis's largest immigrant communities? Any restaurants of note in them?

Thank you.

union station wouldn't be my first pick, but i don't think it's horrible. metrolink stops there, so you can hop on the metro to go to places work spending some time, because i don't know if anything is close enough to walk. i don't know about parking there, but i'm guessing the valet is your best bet.

walking around during the day? i feel safe pretty much everywhere during the day, and i'm a young white female with kids. i don't venture too far into north city/county, but i don't have reason to, either. after dark . . . downtown, forest park, soulard, the landing, tower grove, grand, etc - all fine by me.

six flags is not close to union station, so keep that in mind. i imagine it would be at least an hour from downtown to get to eureka (where six flags is). this time of year it's fairly quiet there, but i think they have some deals for seasons pass people to bring others for free on mother's day, so it might be crazy busy tomorrow. if you like riding by yourself then go for it, but don't expect to make buddies while you're there. i used to work there and i'm not sure i ever saw loners there.

i have no idea what you're interested in, your age, or anything at all really, so i'll go through the st. louis greatest hits for ya. free stuff - st louis art museaum and the st louis zoo are next to each other in forest park. both perfectly awesome solo. there's the science center that is a bit more of a kid thing, but the imax theater is pretty awesome if they have a good show (the movies do cost). city museum is amazing - AMAZING - $12 entry to a place you could easily spend the entire day playing and exploring. grant's farm is great is you like a little history mixed in with your zoo experience. there's a park in creve coure where you can go ziplining? there's a trolley tour out of downtown ( Welcome to St. Louis Fun Trolly Tours, INC. i think) that will take you on a tour of many places and you could decide from there. there's also a downtown trolley that has a hop on/off service for $2 i think and it stops at lots of fun places (city museum is one of them). ballpark village is also hot right now, if you like baseball. i couldn't care less.

immigrant communities? i think st louis is now known as "little bosnia", lol. no, seriously, there are a lot of bosnians here. everyone has their preferences, but i really like grbic (that's how it's spelled) - it's a nicer place with lots of german/bosnian fare. goulash! and you can go to "the hill" to any of the many italian places there and have an amazing meal. we like zia's, but there's a different italian place on every corner around there, so you could just drive to the hill and pick a street.

st louis does have a lot of great restaurants if you like to eat. love a great burger? try bailey's range in downtown. california fusion? 1111 mississippi is great. french? vin de set. our favorite date nght place is copia in downtown - there's nothing there that isn't excellent - and it's pricey.

have fun!

[FrankMiller]

Originally Posted by jo_mama

there's also a downtown trolley that has a hop on/off service for $2 i think and it stops at lots of fun places (city museum is one of them). ballpark village is also hot right now, if you like baseball. i couldn't care less.

Speaking of the Downtown Trolley, there's also a Forest Park Trolley that hits the highlights of Forest Park, and connects to the Forest Park-DeBaliviere MetroLink Station (if you don't want to walk the park).

[tvdxer]

OK, so I'm back now. I also spent some time in Hannibal, Missouri, and the night in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Unfortunately, I did not get down to the boot heel.

St. Louis surprised me with its beauty. Not so much the Arch, but other distinctive architecture, especially downtown. I was also impressed by the first hotel I stayed at (Union Station Hotel...snagged it for $63 / night on Hotwire.com). Here's a sampler of the photos I took:


Union Station Interior, St. Louis, MO por tvdxer, en Flickr


Old St. Louis City Hall por tvdxer, en Flickr


Arch Silhouette por tvdxer, en Flickr


St. Louis New Cathedral 1 por tvdxer, en Flickr


Dred Scott Courthouse por tvdxer, en Flickr


Union Electric Plant, St. Louis por tvdxer, en Flickr


Laclede's Landing, St. Louis por tvdxer, en Flickr

The weather was hot the first few days, then suddenly changed to cool and rainy the rest of my stay.

The people were so nice. Also, it seems like the dialect of St. Louis is definitely influenced by the South.

[asitshouldbe]

What kind of camera do you have? Those pics are beautiful.

[glamatomic]

Beautiful photos! Thank you so much for sharing! ♥

[flynavyj]

Originally Posted by asitshouldbe

What kind of camera do you have? Those pics are beautiful.

Some brand of DSLR...they are wonderful photos.

[zach_33]

Wow - did you take those photos? I have to commend you for your good eye if you did. Glad you enjoyed the visit.

[jo_mama]

lovely photos. glad you enjoyed yourself. that whole "hot then suddenly cold" thing is one of our trademarks.