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October 2006
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Guess what's 130 years old? St Louis's own Forest Park! While most people think Forest Park was created for the 1904 World's Fair (officially the Louisiana Purchase Exposition), the Park actually existed long before that.
The original plan for the park was rejected by the voters in St Louis in 1864, but 10 years later, in 1874 legislation was passed to create 3 parks in St Louis - O'Fallon Park, Carondelet Park and Forest Park. It took 2 more years before Forest Park was completed and opened to the public. It hasn't closed since! With lots of water from the River DesPeres, lakes, and streams (both man-made and natural) the park has been a haven for wildlife and plant life along with the citizens of St Louis. The original plans for the park gave it's size as 1,371.75 acres. The park contains a golf course, the St Louis Art Museum (in one of the buildings left from the 1904 World's Fair), sports fields, the Planetarium, the Zoo, the Jewel Box, the Municipal Opera (which has live outside performances during the summer), The History Museum, bandstands, picnic stands, and much much more. The Science Museum (a fabulous hands on, fun place to go) is located outside the park, but is connected via an overpass bridge to the Planetarium inside the park. You'll find our Omnimax theater inside the Science Museum.
Most of the attractions located in the park are free or have a nominal admission charge. This is because the residents of both St Louis City and St Louis County tax themselves to support the Park, along with many volunteer organizations that raise money for it.
Some of the "fun" things about Forest Park include watching for the Planetarium to be wrapped with a huge bow for the winter holidays. Originally done as a college prank, it was such a hit with the citizens that it's been wrapped for the holiday's since. Sledding on the hills inside the park when it snows. The annual hot air balloon races. The outside shakespeare theater in the summer. Boating, golfing, watching the local sports groups. Family reunions abound. Taking the children through the ZOO and riding the railroad train through the ZOO, such fun!
A St Louis tradition is going to Forest Park to watch the submarine races. You didn't know about those?? Well, let me explain. First you need to ask your favorite person out on a date, then you need a nice blanket and a picnic basket full of treats. Next you go to Art Hill and find a great spot overlooking the Grand Basin Lake with the Art Museum behind you, and the Lake in front of you to settle down to watch the races. But wait, when submarines race, they do it under the water so it's a bit difficult to watch! ... What to do?? Hmmm, guess we'll have to find something to do on this wonderful afternoon picnicing in the park with our sweetie while we wait to see who wins the races. I'll let you take it from there.
Seriously, Forest Park is one of the City's greatest treasures. Come visit and plan to spend some time enjoying this great park!
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I had a GREAT time recently at the Butterfly House at Faust Park. They held a reception for people who had donated a paving stone in front of the building. The butterfly house is always a wonderful place to go. This time there seemed to be even more butterflies flittering around then the last time I was there. One particular butterfly was hitching a ride on a gentleman's head. The man had walked all the way through the butterfly house - the butterfly would periodically flit off only to come back right away. The gentleman kept saying that his student's wouldn't believe him when he told them about it on Monday, so I whipped out my camera phone and took several pictures then emailed them to him. That got me started, by the time I was done, I had a camera full of butterfly pictures. When I get a chance I'm going to upload them to my website at www. YourSTLHome.com (it will probably be a week or two before I get that far though).
If you go to the Butterfly House, make sure to wear layered clothing - it's hot and humid in the house, so unless you go on a hot summer day, you will typically need to "shed" some clothes as you walk around.
The butterfly house is located in Faust Park in Chesterfield. The park also holds the home of the 2nd governor of the State of Missouri (Gov Faust for whom the park is named), a historical village where re-enactments take place on Summer weekends, a working antique carousel, concerts in the park in the summer and much more! It's a grand place to visit.
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This picture was taken of the Arch and the St Louis skyline as my wonderful husband, Mike, was driving over the bridge coming back from the Illinois side while I kept taking pictures out the window.
St Louis has many wonderful things to see and do downtown. The Arch, the Cathedral, Busch Stadium, Laclede's Landing, the Old Courthouse, the National Bowling Museum, Soldier's Memorial, the list goes on and on. Things that are great to do, but not located in the downtown area include the Butterfly House, The National Museum of Transportation, our fantastic Zoo, Forest Park, The Museum of History, The Delmar Loop, 6-Flags Amusement Park, and much much more. Check out the possibilities under Community Links at www.YourSTLHome.com for information on all the things to do in St Louis.
If I've missed your favorites, please add them to the blog!
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Here's a tongue in cheek look at driving in St Louis. When you're ready to start looking at homes, give me a call, I know my way around and will be there to help you find the right home in the right area!
A VISITOR'S GUIDE TO DRIVING IN ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI:
The morning rush hour is from 6:00 to 10:00 am. The evening rush hour is from 3:00 to 7:00 PM. Friday's rush hour starts Thursday morning.
Gravois Road can only be pronounced by a native. Ditto for Spoede and Chouteau.
Construction on Highways 40, 64, 70, 255, 270, 44, 55 and I-170 is a way of life, and a permanent form of entertainment.
The Page Avenue extension and Airport expansion projects took over 20 years to get approved and St Louisan's lost track of how many political figures claimed them as their own ideas.
A St. Louisan from South County has never been to North County and visa versa. West County has everything delivered.
St Louisan's were aghast when the federal government required them to redo the highway signs to indicate that the federal highway went to cities in other states instead of local municipalities.
If someone actually has their turn signal on, it
is probably a factory defect, or has been on for the last 17 miles.
There are 2 exits on Highway 40 for Clayton Road and 2 for Big Bend.
All old ladies with blue hair in Cadillacs (driving on Olive west of 270) have the right of way.
Laclede Station Road mysteriously changes names as you cross intersections. As do McCausland, Lindbergh, Watson, Reavis
Barracks, Fee Fee, McKnight, Airport Road, Midland, Olive and Clarkson.
Drivers are starting to cut their OWN plates
rather than go through the Mo. Vehicle Dept. to get new tags. You can purchase tags from
dealers behind QuiK Shops in the city. They are cheaper, the clerks are nicer, and the service is faster.
You can go all four directions on Highway 270: North and South in West County, East and West in South County, and East and West in North County.
Confused? So are the St. Louis drivers.
There are 54 school districts on the Missouri side alone - each of which has their own school bus system and scheduled times to block traffic.
There are 75 "official neighborhoods" in the City of St Louis. St. Louisans commonly give directions (especially for restaurants) to strangers based on these neighborhoods which aren't marked on any maps that are handed out by the tourist board, the AAA or Mapquest.
There are 91 official municipalities in St Louis County. Each municipality has it's own rules, regulations, and often their own police departments. More importantly, most have their own snow removal contracts so it's not uncommon to drive down a road in winter and have one block plowed, the next salted, the next piled with snow and the last partially cleared by residents wanting to get out of their driveways.
No native St. Louisan knows that Lindbergh runs from South County to North County. And, if you tell them, they will not believe you.
Lindbergh belongs to every neighborhood except Kirkwood, who had the nerve to creatively change the name to "Kirkwood Road".
Any car parked longer than 4 hours in the city, is considered a parts store.
Highway 270 is our daily version of the NASCAR circuit.
YIELD signs are for decoration only. No native
St. Louisan will ever grasp the concept.
Lambert Field and St Louis International Airport really are the same place. The East Terminal however is a different place.
Never ever try to cross a bridge in St Louis during rush hour unless you have a port-a-potty in the car.
The outer belt is Highway 270 which turns into Highway 255 in South County. The inner belt is Highway 170 and if it's a 3XX number it's an outer outer belt.
Highway 40 is the same as Interstate 64 through the middle of St Louis.
If you need directions to O'Fallon, make sure to specify Illinois or Missouri.
The City of Ballwin actually proposed that drivers use connecting strip mall parking lots to get from place to place rather than drive on Manchester Road to cut the traffic on Manchester.
Remember, if you need help finding your way around when you first get to St Louis and start house hunting, give me a call. I'll demystify our road system for you! 314-660-4803 or Dale@YourSTLHome.com! |
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Welcome to St Louis! While we're noted for being a metropolitan area, with all the amenities and tourist attractions of a major metropolitan area, St Louis is noted for it's friendly, welcoming smile.
Many years ago, the City of St Louis decided that the County growing up around it was going to be a drain on it's financial resources. As a result, the City literally divorced itself from the county. The City of St Louis lost when it did that because the City then became land and river locked and couldn't grow. The County proceeded to grow and expand, gradually pulling the wealthier sections of the population with it. Today we have St Louis City which is it's own county, and St Louis County as 2 seperate entities, tied together through their mutual need for each other.
The City has 79 Distinct neighborhoods, while the County has over 90 different municipalities, ranging from some that are literally a city block big (but have their own government!) and those with over 100,000 people living in them. Driving down some of our streets in the winter can be a challenge when different municipalities have different snow removal priorities and equipment!
As the metropolitan area has continued to expand, the Counties of Jefferson, St Charles, and Franklin on the Missouri side are considered part of the "metro" St Louis area. On the Illinois side, the metro area encompasses a large area as well.
St Louis boasts a Major League Baseball Team (the Cardinals), a ProFootball Team (the Rams) and a ProHockey Team (the Blues). We have the National Bowling Museum and National Transportation Museum, along with our St Louis Art Museum, Zoo, The Missouri History Museum, and much much more. Tune in later to learn more about St Louis.
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