Posted: Sunday, September 28, 2008 12:00 am
McClatchy Newspapers
ST. LOUIS - The South comes north here - rolling up the muddy waters of the Mississippi River, bringing a dollop of its easy lifestyle to soften the sterner Midwestern mien. Here, the mellow blues of the Delta region mate with energetic rock 'n' roll, producing an invigorating offspring, rhythm and blues.
Likewise, East and West hook up here - the love of gracious living characteristic of the former, tempered by a quasi-pioneer spirit common to the latter. In short, St. Louis is an enigma - Southern in its gentility; Northern in its industriousness (ranking among the nation's top locations for corporate headquarters); Eastern in its passion for fine art, music and architecture; and Western in its adventurous, kick-up-your-heels approach to life.
St. Louis also is a crossroads and has been since its founding in 1764 by a pair of French fur traders, Pierre Laclede and Auguste Chouteau. Strategically situated at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, the city has historically been the starting point for most of the great expeditions west.
Whatever else it might be or has been, St. Louis today is first and foremost a city of neighborhoods, as colorful and distinct as those of San Francisco, New York or Miami. There's historical Soulard, a red-brick enclave on the south side that is the city's oldest neighborhood, dating from the mid-1800s. Named for a Frenchman who surveyed the area for the King of Spain, Soulard is anchored by a historical farmers' market, one of the oldest public markets in the country still in use. The area also is home to Cherokee Street, lined with 40 antique shops and often referred to as "St. Louis' attic."
If Soulard is Gaelic in feel, the area known simply as The Hill is pure Italian, down to the fire hydrants painted the red, white and green of the Italian flag. Settled in the early 1900s by Italian immigrants, it is still a place where you can drink Chianti and watch a fiercely contested game of bocce (Italian lawn bowling) at Milo's before wandering over to Rigazzi's, where the beer is served in signature "frozen fish bowls:" aquarium-size mugs.
If you're a trendsetter, head off to the Central West End, a frothy mix of Paris' Montmartre and New York's West Village. Sidewalk cafes and trendy boutiques abound in this neighborhood on the edge of Forest Park, and Euclid Avenue is the perfect place for browsing antiquarian book stores and art galleries.
If you are more funky than trendy, University City is the neighborhood for you. Ethnic restaurants, a revival movie theater and the St. Louis Walk of Fame are the principal attractions along Delmar Boulevard.
Don't leave without stopping for brunch at Blueberry Hill, which boasts an extensive collection of 1950s and '60s memorabilia (busts of Elvis and Howdy Doody sit side by side), as well as what Cashbox magazine called "the world's best jukebox."
Some cities have a signature landmark so recognizable as to be synonymous with the city itself. New York has the Statue of Liberty; Philadelphia the Liberty Bell; San Francisco the Golden Gate Bridge and St. Louis the Gateway Arch. At 630 feet high, the arch soars above the city's skyline, framing it like a photograph. Designed by noted Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen, it is 75 feet taller than the Washington Monument and twice as tall as Lady Liberty. It celebrates the vision of Thomas Jefferson, who extended America's boundaries beyond the Mississippi by obtaining half a continent from Napoleon Bonaparte.
Although the Gateway Arch defines St. Louis, it is only one of at least 80 attractions that the city offers.
A good place to begin is Forest Park. At 1,293 acres, the grassy oasis is larger than Manhattan's Central Park, and it is the location of four of the city's main draws - its world-class zoo; the Missouri Historical Society's History Museum; the Jewel Box, a unique floral conservatory and what many consider the park's real jewel box, the St. Louis Museum of Art. Admission to both the art museum and the history museum is free.
Not quite free, but still affordable, is the Missouri Botanical Garden ($8). The Botanical Garden, frequently lauded as one of the world's top three, has both wild (the Woodland Garden) and manicured (Elizabethan Hedge Maze) versions, and it is the site of the largest traditional Japanese garden in North America.
As the northern terminus of America's Music Corridor - which follows the Mississippi down to Memphis and New Orleans - St. Louis has jazz, blues, R&B and rock 'n' roll. The Soulard district is to St. Louis what Beale Street is to Memphis and Bourbon Street is to New Orleans.