St. Louis

August 31-September 4, 2018

TL;DR: Our wonderful friends Megan and Franco met us in St. Louis for the weekend and we really painted the town red. There was no stone or Bloody Mary left unturned. And there were lots and lots of dominos.

The sights

SqWires

Home to a DIY Bloody Mary bar with all the accoutrements you could ever want. Bacon was plentiful. We were pretty hot by the time we got here, so doubly thankful for both the air-conditioned bar seats and the drinks.

4 Hands Brewery Co.

This two-story brewery is huge, and was bustling when we arrived. We ended up getting a good table, so stuck around for a while. They have quite a few dark beers (including both a chocolate milk and peanut butter chocolate one), and good snacks.

City Museum

This 600,000 square-foot space is… overwhelming. But awesome. Be warned: There are a ton of kids. And no clear path or route. It’s a free-for-all and not suited to the claustrophobic or crowd-averse. There’s a ferris wheel on top and slides everywhere, including a 10-story number with a long line. We stood in line only to be directed to the adjacent, shorter four-story slide, and were very disappointed.

We preferred a cool bar area with fun mirrors and giant underwear. Trippy lighting and music.

We were particularly drawn to dreidel chairs. (They’re huge dreidels with scooped seats that spin gloriously when one sits inside and moves ever so slightly.)

Straub’s

At over 100 years old, Straub’s is a St. Louis favorite for groceries. It’s sort of like a Whole Foods meets Trader Joe’s. Well organized and with all the food and drink you could want for a picnic in Forest Park, just about three minutes away. There’s also a convenient bathroom should you want to go before lounging on the grass for the rest of the day (highly recommend).

Forest Park

This 1,300-acre urban park has 45,000 trees. It was surprisingly empty of picnic-ers when we went, but lots of folks on bikes and scooters zipping in and out. It’s host to 13 million annual visitors, has 3 museums, the St. Louis Science Center, and the Zoo.

We happily settled on the grass and played dominos for the afternoon, admiring the border of old school mansions that surrounds the park.

Muddy Blues Festival

Tons of great music. We also made friends with our Lyft driver, Jasmine, who was a total gem and ended up coming to the festival with us.

Bri and Franco did some axe throwing. Jess and Megan did lots of dancing.

The Arch

The 630-foot Arch is certainly iconic for a reason, and the park it’s surrounded by is gorgeous and well-maintained. There are tons of spots for picnics and relaxing under the trees. There’s even a little man-made lake.

There are also scooters all around St. Louis, which we tried for the first time and they were… awesome. We didn’t want to like them but they are so easy to ride, and if you can find enough of them, super convenient.

Milo’s

Tried to go here on Memorial Day, but apparently everything is closed on Memorial Day here. Have heard good things.

Urban Chestnut

This place saved the day for us when everything was closed on Memorial Day. From the outside it looks pretty commercial, but when you head inside there are tons of long tables, good beer, and a little spot where you can order the most delicious food. We got an amazing pretzel plate with this salty whipped butter that belongs on everything.

Details, details, details

Our RV park was in a pretty strange, quiet, and “sketchy” (per Lyft drivers) neighborhood, but we felt safe enough.

One of the greatest things about this weekend was that Franco and Bri were wearing matching crawfish shirts that Megan and Jess got them during Megan’s bachelorette weekend in New Orleans. Got lots of stares and questions, and they gave different answers each time (“we’re twins,” “our mom gave us these shirts,” “we work for a Louisiana crawfish company”).

Also, food delivery to Layla is the best. Especially when you’re a little hungover.

And then this happened…

After partying all night at the Muddy Blues fest with Jasmine, we’ve confirmed Lyft drivers are the best. #notanad

Now we know

Apparently command strips need to be stuck to something stronger than the craft paper glued to the back of our photos. When we put the slides back, we found this scene.

So I peeled off the craft paper on back and stuck the strips right on the wood. Has worked much better and not come off yet!

RV parks with pools that stay open all night are A+.

Layla’s pretty insulated for late-night dance parties (Bri made Jess double check).

Road food

Oh my gosh. Butter. Waffles Fried chicken. Heaven. Jess did not write this, but please go.

Where we stayed

Nights one, two, three and four: St. Louis RV Park

OK so when we arrived on Friday before Megan and Franco got there, we were enthusiastically met by Steve and his wife. They sent us to our spot, and we were getting set up just fine—but our power didn’t work. So in drove Steve, who was the man. He scooped Brian up in his golf cart and moved us to a spot normally reserved for a full-timer who was gone for the weekend.