Saint Louis: The City That Keeps Surprising

St. Louis sits at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers in the middle of the country, 380 km south of Chicago and 950 km north of New Orleans. It was the staging point for the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1804 and the westernmost city of consequence in the US for several decades afterward - the “Gateway to the West” label comes from this period, not from the arch, which was built in 1965. The city has had a rough run since mid-century deindustrialisation, but it retains legitimate cultural assets and a cost of living that makes visitors from coastal cities feel like something is miscalculated.

The Gateway Arch

The Gateway Arch is the tallest national monument in the United States at 192 metres. Eero Saarinen designed it in 1947 and it was completed in 1965. The arch is a catenary curve - the geometric shape that a hanging chain takes under gravity - made from stainless steel sections, and its elegance holds up: this is one of the genuinely beautiful pieces of mid-century architecture in America.

The tram rides inside the arch legs to the observation room at the top are the main attraction for visitors. The trams are small wedge-shaped pods that tilt as they climb the curved interior; each pod holds five people. The total ride takes four minutes each way. The observation windows at the top are small, but the view on a clear day extends 30 miles in all directions. Tickets: $15 adults for the tram, available at the base or online (gatewayarch.com); the museum at the base, covering westward expansion history, is included with tram tickets. The museum is better than expected - well-designed, with serious content about the Indigenous peoples of the region as well as the settler narratives.

The arch sits in Gateway Arch National Park, a long thin strip of riverfront parkland. The grounds are free to enter.

The City Museum

The City Museum at 750 N 16th Street is genuinely difficult to describe. It was created by artist Bob Cassilly starting in 1997 from a 10-story warehouse and surrounding space, using salvaged industrial materials - drain pipes, bridge sections, old school buses, mining equipment - to create an interactive architectural environment that functions as a playground for all ages. There are tunnels, slides, a 10-story spiral slide, a rooftop ferris wheel, caves to crawl through, and multiple floors of constructed environments. There is no equivalent anywhere else.

It is completely appropriate for children but has a cult following among adults who come without children. Admission $16 adults; open from noon on weekdays, 09:00 on weekends. The facility allows drinks, and the bar operates in the evening (late-night hours on Fridays and Saturdays when the nature of the place shifts considerably toward adult crowds).

Cahokia Mounds

Cross the Mississippi into Illinois (15 minutes from downtown by car) to reach Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site. Cahokia was the largest pre-Columbian city north of Mexico - at its peak around 1050-1200 AD, the population was approximately 10,000-20,000, larger than London at the same period. The city was built and occupied by the Mississippian culture and its origin and decline remain incompletely understood.

The site has 80 surviving mounds. Monks Mound is the largest earthwork in North America north of Mexico: 30 metres high, 291 metres by 236 metres at the base, built in stages over 250 years. The view from the top of Monks Mound across the flat Illinois floodplain to the St. Louis skyline and the Arch is excellent. Free entry to the site; the interpretive centre charges a small admission. Allow 2-3 hours.

Food and Drink

St. Louis has developed a serious food culture in the last decade, concentrated in neighbourhoods including the Grove, Benton Park, and the Hill (the Italian-American neighbourhood where Yogi Berra and Joe Garagiola grew up).

Pappy’s Smokehouse on Euclid Avenue applies dry-rub Memphis-style smoking to ribs, brisket, and pulled pork. The ribs are consistently ranked among the best in the Midwest. Gets busy quickly after opening; arrive at 11:00 when it opens or expect a queue by noon. Open until sold out, which is typically around 16:00. Cash and card accepted.

Niche in Benton Park (tasting menu, approximately $85-95) is the standard-bearer for ambitious cooking in the city - chef Gerard Craft has been running it since 2006 with a focus on Midwestern ingredients prepared with genuine technique. Reserve ahead.

For the St. Louis-specific food curiosity: Imo’s Pizza serves St. Louis-style thin-crust pizza cut in squares (“party cut”) with Provel cheese - a processed three-cheese blend developed specifically for this style. It is genuinely different from any other pizza style in America and either very good or very wrong depending on your expectations. Order it once to form an opinion.

Blueberry Hill on Delmar Boulevard in University City (the Loop district) is the bar where Chuck Berry played monthly until his death in 2017 at age 90. A very decent burger, a large Chuck Berry memorabilia collection, and a historical claim that few venues in America can match.

Where to Stay

The Moonrise Hotel in the Loop district on Delmar Boulevard is independently owned, art-forward, and in a walkable neighbourhood near Washington University. Doubles from around $180-240. The rooftop bar is good.

Hotel Ignacio at 101 South 20th Street is a newer boutique option near the Gateway Arch, from around $160-220. Well-positioned for the Arch and downtown museums.

Anheuser-Busch’s Park Avenue Hotel and the major chain hotels cluster in the downtown area; the downtown grid is well-lit and walkable for most purposes.

Free Attractions

St. Louis operates several major institutions with free admission, which is unusual for a city of its size. The Saint Louis Art Museum (one of the top art museums in the US, free permanent collection) in Forest Park has Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works, a strong pre-Columbian collection, and one of the better Asian art departments in the Midwest. The Saint Louis Zoo in Forest Park is consistently rated one of the best zoos in the country - free general admission, with charges for some special exhibits. Forest Park itself is larger than Central Park in New York and has a free outdoor amphitheatre, boat rentals, and miles of running paths.

The Missouri History Museum (free) covers the Louisiana Purchase, the 1904 World’s Fair (held in St. Louis and which introduced the ice cream cone and hot dog to mass American consumption, among other claims), and Lewis and Clark with good exhibits and genuine artifacts.