Things To Do
Saint Louis Zoo
While we look forward to celebrating at the zoo on Saturday evening, come by before 4pm to see the nation's largest free zoo and one of the best animal and plant conservation centers in the country. Parking in the lots is paid during the day, but street parking is free throughout Forest Park.
Saint Louis Art Museum
Also in Forest Park, the Saint Louis Art Museum stands at the top of Art Hill overlooking the Grand Basin. Enjoy the free museum, especially the celebrated Monet paintings. Be sure to check out the statue out front of Saint Louis himself (King Louis IX of France). He's also the namesake of Collin's alma mater, Saint Louis University.
Gateway Arch National Park
'The Gateway to the West': St. Louis stands at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and near the Ohio river, which has encouraged settlement for at least two millennia. After the Louisiana purchase brought French settlements into the young USA, St. Louis found itself at the edge of a new frontier of westward expansion. The Gateway Arch was completed in 1965 to memorialize that expansion, with a riverfront park and underground museum. The brave among you can ride up the arch in small egg-shaped elevator cars to look out over the river and city. It's silly to have elevated this monument to be a National Park, but remains a lasting symbol for the city and nation.
City Museum
While the name might suggest that this is a history museum, the City Museum is anything but. This incredibly unique space is effectively a jungle gym the size of a warehouse. Built in an abandoned brick shoe factory and filled with rescued architectural details from demolition sites, the City Museum allows people of all ages to climb, crawl, slide, and run through four floors of unique rooms ranging from a retired business jet to treehouses to a skatepark. It is entirely unique.
Basilica of Saint Louis, King of France
Up the street from the Central West End neighborhood. The mosaic ceiling is not to be missed.
