Meet Me In St. Louis

Yesterday, I visited two more "must see" sights in St. Louis. The old Union Station, which is now a Hyatt hotel connected to a massive shopping arcade is quite a sight. The grand hall, very reminiscent of the re-done Grand Central Station in NYC has been beautifully restored and has a sense of grandeur you don't see often in today's architecture.

Later in the morning, I visited St. Louis zoo which is a lot like almost any other zoo except that entry is free. Interestingly, the St. Louis zoo has now overtaken the San Diego zoo in attendance and is now #1 in the U.S.

Despite the rain, another highlight of my visit was the Missouri Botanical Gardens. The gardens cover 79 acres a few minutes drive from downtown. I found their children's garden quite unique and has several themed areas where kids can climb, explore and learn. The place was founded in 1859 and is the oldest continuously operating botanical garden in the world. Apparently the designation of "botanical garden" implies not just horticultural display, but also research and education. Thus, any "botanical garden" will have major research and education initiatives as part of their mission. Visit the garden's famous web site at http://www.mobot.org/ and learn about this place and everything you wanted to know about gardening!

Now that I'm ready to leave, you know what I think is the best part of St. Louis? It's that I know I'll find something great to keep everyone in the family happy. I can entertain the kids at City Museum and the zoo. I know the Botanical Gardens and Union Station will keep my wife happy. And I know I can spend hours walking the shops at The Loop (looked like there were some interesting record and CD stores that are worth a visit) and visiting the art museum and Missouri history museum (and these are free too - great for a cheapskate like me!)

For those of you who remember St. Louis from several years ago, I can assure you that the downtown area is much different than it used to be I walked around at about 10 PM last night and it seemed perfectly safe. So, hopefully we'll see you some time in St. Louis!

A City to Re-Visit - St. Louis

I am in St. Louis on a short visit. Although I've been here before, I realize that the reason I love to travel is that I see (and appreciate) new things each time I am in a town.

Of course, the St. Louis Gateway Arch is just awe-inspiring. When I look up at the thing (or look at it glimmering in the sky from almost any part of town), what I find most inspiring and intriguing is how Eero Saarinen (the architect) even came up with such a bold and daring design. Then, the story of how the engineers developed a structure that would actually be able to stand upright and how the builders were able to erect this incredible piece, are all cause for celebrating the human spirit. Like most of these spectacular innovations, numerous engineering inventions developed for this particular purpose proved to be of value in other building (and non-building) applications. What a story ...

The City Museum which I had never seen before is a marvel in a different way. Someone please tell me how you can combine numerous young kids running around an old factory with thousands of rusted metal structures (which the kids are encouraged to climb), steep slides, dark and convoluted mazes, massive brick or plaster ramparts from old buildings, and other dangerous items without having regular accidents? This place has to be seen to be believed. It looks like SO MUCH fun, but somehow I was not sure I would be brave enough to bring my kids there and let them run loose in this place. Quite amazing.

Then there was the breathtaking Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis. I have always loved cathdrals for their art and architecture. It is amazing what passoin and belief can drive people to do. But this place exceeded my expectations. I have seen some pretty spectacular cathedrals in Europe, but this rivals the best of them. The interior is completely coverd with mosaic representations of biblical events. The mosaics seem to cover the entire church and are beyond simple description. You have to actually see it to realize how awesome it is.

I'm here for one more day. I don't know what's in store for me today. Perhaps I'll add to this post after my visits today. At the moment, this looks like a city well worth visiting (relatively inexpensive hotels and lots to do). The revitalization of downtown is also quite impressive.