restaurants/foods

• Lion's Choice: roast beef sandwich fast food chain native to the STL area
• toasted ravioli: I always just get it from the frozen food section of grocery stores. never get toasted rav anywhere but st louis it will be disgusting
• Ted Drewes: the most popular frozen custard ("concretes") in stl/I mix strawberry & peach for a treat
• Imo's Pizza: St. Louis style thin crust with provel cheese
• the piasa monster on Great River Road
• House of Chen, in Breckenridge Hills: the best crab rangoons + jasmine tea + hot & sour soup (call at the beginning to make sure they aren't on vacation for a portion of your trip!)
• Whisk ice pops: also found at their location on Grand (in addition to the Tower Grove Farmer's Market)
• White Castle sliders: if you've never tried WC, then this is as good a place as any
• boozy ice cream at Clementine's
• excellent sandwiches @ Gramophone including: Mississippi Night Club, You're My Boy Bleu, Delcortivo, Italian Yardbird
• more excellent sandwiches from the Penn Station chain
• Broadway Oyster Bar dang good cookin'
• great burgers @ Stacked in Carondolet
• Five Star Burgers , a burger chain
• massive BLTs @ Crown Candy
• Everest Café anytime but particularly for the lunch buffet. closed T.

donuts

• best cake donuts @ cash only World's Fair Donuts
• funky donuts at Strange Donuts

misc

• if you happen to be trick-or-treating in St. Louis, make sure you're prepared with a joke, as you'll need one to get candy at most houses
• the Appia: the unofficial name for a great running spot along Adie Road in St. Ann
• Tower Grove Farmer's Market: has a big fountain which people play in + be sure to check out Whisk & our fruit-farming relatives
• the Mariachi Men, the strangest lawn ornament in St. Louis, found on Ridgecrest Ave in St. Ann
• Left Bank Books & Subterranean Books & most especially _The Book House : what bookstores should be
• Central Branch : what libraries should be
• watch home movies with Mom
• the graffiti wall + great views of the river
• secret beach I near Sister Marie Charles & Bellerive Parks
• secret beach II near the old Laclede bldg/Rootwad Park + the Old Cotton Belt bldg
• Forest Park Balloon Race
• drive along the Great River Road anytime of year, but especially in the fall
• Easy St is in St. Ann, MO

shopping

• STL Art Supply has knowledgeable staff and a great selection of pens and notebooks
• Civil Alchemy is a modern general store with a very nice selection in Webster Groves

coffee

• Northwest Coffee Roasters: a coffee shop in a garage in the Central West End
• Crêpes etc. i mean, they have really good crepes, but I come for the espresso (now defunct)

museums/places

• Cahokia Mounds: ancient locals made these large mounds all across the river valley around St. Louis
• check out the prairie dogs & insectarium at the St Louis Zoo
• sketch at the St Louis Art Museum & check out the Matisse, also check on the current rotating exhibit
• Mildred Kemper Lane Art Museum

bars

• the Royale has great cocktails and food (try the Boozy Q)
• want to try: the Silver Ballroom for pinball & beer,

active

• outdoor ice skating at Steinberg's in forest park
• the City Museum is a playground for humanity made of glorified trash
• roll down a grassy hill at Forest Park or my backyard or Pere Marquette
• swing on the swings at Tiemeyer Park

outdoors

• good birding @ Riverlands in West Alton
• easy but sometimes muddy hiking @ Bangert Island in near St Charles
• Bell Mountain great camping up top, good café in Caledonia nearby for breakfast
• Pickle Springs near Farmington, about 1.5 hr drive, 2 mi loop with rock formations and a spring
• Hawn SP long trail, but worthwhile
• Don Robinson SP about 1 hr drive out to Cedar Hill, 3 - 4.5 mi loop depending on connecting trails, near Dar-E-Kreme

neighborhoods

• Central West End for a nice house-watching walk
• Alton for caves & mummies

family

• play blokus or Yahtzee
• watch home videos
• drink beers with Mom & watch home videos
• make a seasonal meal

seasons

• fall: drink Ringhausen apple cider from the farmer's market
• winter: make gingerbread, go bald eagle searching,
• spring: swing on the Tiemeyer swings

to explore

• Bellefontaine Cemetery
• karaoke @ Mangia Italiano
• Cementland
• Bus Loop Burgers
• bike the Greenway
• Old Mountain Gear Exchange
• Full moon @ Compton Heights Water Tower
• Bonne Terre Mines tour
• Elephant Rocks SP
• Blues City Deli
• albino squirrels of Olney, IL
• Perennial
• Best of Missouri Market in October
• BB's Jazz Blues & Soups
• the Venice Cafe
• Union Loafers
• Margs @ Canyon Cafe in Frontenac
• Little Saigon in CWE
• Happy Hour @ Cantina Laredo
• Cocktails @ Taste in CWE
• Mango