Going to New York and St. Louis in May.

[CycloWizard]

Coming to St. Louis... Don't want to get mugged... Yeah. Don't come to St. Louis. If you have to, stay south of the Loop (Delmar) and west of Skinker (or, if you want to get a little more ballsy, Kingshighway). North St. Louis is worse than East St. Louis.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: CycloWizard
Coming to St. Louis... Don't want to get mugged... Yeah. Don't come to St. Louis. If you have to, stay south of the Loop (Delmar) and west of Skinker (or, if you want to get a little more ballsy, Kingshighway). North St. Louis is worse than East St. Louis.

So it sounds as if there is about a 1 mile radius where I am ok to go. :laugh:

KT

 

[BurnItDwn]

Hmm, last summer when the GF and I went to St Louis we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Cahokia (East side of the river), it was not at all a super dangerous town. That said, I've heard some pretty bad things about East St Louis...


We stayed nearly a week and went to the Arch, 6 Flags, 4th of July fireworks over the river, Brewery, walked around "old St Louis", went to the Science Museum, and we probably killed a whole day just hanging out at the swimming pool at the hotel and then going bowling in town cause the kids wanted to. As a bonus, the hotel rooms were only like $80 a night.

My favorite was probably the brewery tour and the Arch. 6 Flags is always fun, but I think I like the 6 Flags in Gurnee better than the one in St Louis. It was fuggin HOT in St Louis around the 4th of July, even hotter than Chicago. Should hopefully be really nice out around memorial day for you though.


As far as New York goes, I've never been to NYC (just Niagara.) This is just what I've heard. That they have "pizza" but it's about 1/3 as thick as it should be. Lots of people are brainwashed to believe that this "thin crust new york style" pizza is good.
They put sauerkraut on their hot dogs (and they often forget the tomato slice, sport pepper, dill pickle, celery salt, sweet relish, and grilled onions) and I've heard they don't even use a proper poppy seed bun!

I suspect it's the sauerkraut that's brainwashing them into thinking their pizza is good. I mean!

 

[Terabyte]

Stay out of my country!! Just kidding

Visit California

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: BurnItDwn
Hmm, last summer when the GF and I went to St Louis we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Cahokia (East side of the river), it was not at all a super dangerous town. That said, I've heard some pretty bad things about East St Louis...


We stayed nearly a week and went to the Arch, 6 Flags, 4th of July fireworks over the river, Brewery, walked around "old St Louis", went to the Science Museum, and we probably killed a whole day just hanging out at the swimming pool at the hotel and then going bowling in town cause the kids wanted to. As a bonus, the hotel rooms were only like $80 a night.

My favorite was probably the brewery tour and the Arch. 6 Flags is always fun, but I think I like the 6 Flags in Gurnee better than the one in St Louis. It was fuggin HOT in St Louis around the 4th of July, even hotter than Chicago. Should hopefully be really nice out around memorial day for you though.


As far as New York goes, I've never been to NYC (just Niagara.) This is just what I've heard. That they have "pizza" but it's about 1/3 as thick as it should be. Lots of people are brainwashed to believe that this "thin crust new york style" pizza is good.
They put sauerkraut on their hot dogs (and they often forget the tomato slice, sport pepper, dill pickle, celery salt, sweet relish, and grilled onions) and I've heard they don't even use a proper poppy seed bun!

I suspect it's the sauerkraut that's brainwashing them into thinking their pizza is good. I mean!

That's funny stuff! I think I will definitely try and make it to the brewery as everyone seems to have enjoyed it.

KT

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: Terabyte
Stay out of my country!! Just kidding

Visit California

Oh I've visited California many times and I'm sure I'll be back soon; love it there.

KT

 

[IceBergSLiM]

Looks like you won't really be leaving manhattan so your chances of getting mugged are slim to none.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim
Looks like you won't really be leaving manhattan so your chances of getting mugged are slim to none.

Well that's good. Are there any areas we should make sure to avoid?

KT

 

[IceBergSLiM]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim
Looks like you won't really be leaving manhattan so your chances of getting mugged are slim to none.

Well that's good. Are there any areas we should make sure to avoid?

KT

steer clear of south bronx, harlem and south jamaica queens......especially at night.

There is nothing there anyways so I don't know why you would find yourself there.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim
Looks like you won't really be leaving manhattan so your chances of getting mugged are slim to none.

Well that's good. Are there any areas we should make sure to avoid?

KT

steer clear of south bronx, harlem and south jamaica queens......especially at night.

There is nothing there anyways so I don't know why you would find yourself there.

Well better safe than sorry, thanks for the tips! :thumbsup:

KT

 

[Lamont Burns]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: CycloWizard
Coming to St. Louis... Don't want to get mugged... Yeah. Don't come to St. Louis. If you have to, stay south of the Loop (Delmar) and west of Skinker (or, if you want to get a little more ballsy, Kingshighway). North St. Louis is worse than East St. Louis.

So it sounds as if there is about a 1 mile radius where I am ok to go. :laugh:

KT

Basically anything that says go West is good, and South is decent. Anything associated with East or North is ALERT ALERT DANGER WILL ROBINSON DO NOT PROCEED.

Even going to the Zoo in Forest Park(compromise of East/West) can be an event in the summer. Prepare to put your windows up and lock your doors until you park and get in the zoo, b/c the BBQ folk in the park carry video cameras and love to harass/yell at you while you wait in traffic.

 

[Damn Dirty Ape]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: Damn Dirty Ape
I'll toss in Six Flags about 20 miles from downtown on I-44 in Eureka, MO. We went yesterday (Saturday) for their opening day. It's really not on the same level as Great Adventure in NJ or Great America in Chicago.


If you are into it, don't miss Bass Pro Shops in St Charles or Cabelas in the St Louis Mills mall in Hazelwood.

Grants Farm if it is open on Gravois Blvd.

Just some thoughts.

Good stuff, thanks. We may have my little cousin with me for a day or so, so Six Flags might be a good idea. :thumbsup:

KT

Not that you can tour it any longer, but on I-44 out by Fenton there is a Chrysler assembly plant, they put together Ram trucks and Minivans. It's quite impressive in size to drive by.

Oh I almost forgot -- Like nature? You MUST hit Lone Elk Park out on I-44 just past the Chrysler plant -- They have several thousand acres enclosed and free roaming ELK and BISON. It's a free admission (donation asked though) park in the foothills of the Ozarks. Long history to the park. It is run by St Louis county park department.

You drive along and many times there will be bison and elk just grazing right next to the road without a care in the world.

Awesome. Plan about an hour for the drivethough. We usually end up going around a 2nd time.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: Lamont Burns

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: CycloWizard
Coming to St. Louis... Don't want to get mugged... Yeah. Don't come to St. Louis. If you have to, stay south of the Loop (Delmar) and west of Skinker (or, if you want to get a little more ballsy, Kingshighway). North St. Louis is worse than East St. Louis.

So it sounds as if there is about a 1 mile radius where I am ok to go. :laugh:

KT

Basically anything that says go West is good, and South is decent. Anything associated with East or North is ALERT ALERT DANGER WILL ROBINSON DO NOT PROCEED.

Even going to the Zoo in Forest Park(compromise of East/West) can be an event in the summer. Prepare to put your windows up and lock your doors until you park and get in the zoo, b/c the BBQ folk in the park carry video cameras and love to harass/yell at you while you wait in traffic.

LMAO it sure sounds like an adventure and here I was concerned about walking around NYC.

KT

 

[IceBergSLiM]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim
Looks like you won't really be leaving manhattan so your chances of getting mugged are slim to none.

Well that's good. Are there any areas we should make sure to avoid?

KT

steer clear of south bronx, harlem and south jamaica queens......especially at night.

There is nothing there anyways so I don't know why you would find yourself there.

Well better safe than sorry, thanks for the tips! :thumbsup:

KT

I almost learned the hard way. Last weekend i was in Manhattan for a seminar and I took the train in. My friends were there also but they stayed over night in a hotel in queens and said they would give me a ride back after the seminar.

So the seminar gets out at like 10 and we take the subway to where there car is parked....they didn't mention they parked in south jamaica queens. We got off the subway its like 11 p.m. on a sunday night.....I was with my two friends we are both big and I was still scared. I was shocked that the car was still there and no one had broken into it. My opinion was that we were so obviously out of place they made us for cops. Needless to say I spent 20 minutes yelling at my friend once we were in the car about how fucking stupid he was.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: Damn Dirty Ape

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: Damn Dirty Ape
I'll toss in Six Flags about 20 miles from downtown on I-44 in Eureka, MO. We went yesterday (Saturday) for their opening day. It's really not on the same level as Great Adventure in NJ or Great America in Chicago.


If you are into it, don't miss Bass Pro Shops in St Charles or Cabelas in the St Louis Mills mall in Hazelwood.

Grants Farm if it is open on Gravois Blvd.

Just some thoughts.

Good stuff, thanks. We may have my little cousin with me for a day or so, so Six Flags might be a good idea. :thumbsup:

KT

Not that you can tour it any longer, but on I-44 out by Fenton there is a Chrysler assembly plant, they put together Ram trucks and Minivans. It's quite impressive in size to drive by.

Oh I almost forgot -- Like nature? You MUST hit Lone Elk Park out on I-44 just past the Chrysler plant -- They have several thousand acres enclosed and free roaming ELK and BISON. It's a free admission (donation asked though) park in the foothills of the Ozarks. Long history to the park. It is run by St Louis county park department.

You drive along and many times there will be bison and elk just grazing right next to the road without a care in the world.

Awesome. Plan about an hour for the drivethough. We usually end up going around a 2nd time.

Cool, thanks! I love animals, so that sounds awesome!

KT

 

[LordMorpheus]

If you have kids you almost have to go to the city museum in Saint Louis. It's probably the coolest place on the entire planet - some crazy artist bought a warehouse and turned it basically into a giant 3d maze using recycled objects (such as the odd learjet or two). I love going to it with friends and running around and I'm 22. As a kid it was completely awesome. http://www.citymuseum.org/

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: LordMorpheus
If you have kids you almost have to go to the city museum in Saint Louis. It's probably the coolest place on the entire planet - some crazy artist bought a warehouse and turned it basically into a giant 3d maze using recycled objects (such as the odd learjet or two). I love going to it with friends and running around and I'm 22. As a kid it was completely awesome. http://www.citymuseum.org/

No kids, unless my little cousin is tagging along. If he is I will definitely keep this place in mind, thanks!

KT

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Originally posted by: vi edit

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: vi edit
STL - stay on the WEST side of the river.

Haha, ok, will try to do that. Is the East side dangerous or something?

KT

Crime
East Saint Louis National Average
Murder 63.4 6.9
Rape 342.4 32.2
Robbery 954.3 195.4
Assault 6,489.8 340.1
Burglary 2,520.4 814.5
Automobile Theft 2,000.5 526.5

double you tee eff?
:Q

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim
Looks like you won't really be leaving manhattan so your chances of getting mugged are slim to none.

Well that's good. Are there any areas we should make sure to avoid?

KT

steer clear of south bronx, harlem and south jamaica queens......especially at night.

There is nothing there anyways so I don't know why you would find yourself there.

Well better safe than sorry, thanks for the tips! :thumbsup:

KT

I almost learned the hard way. Last weekend i was in Manhattan for a seminar and I took the train in. My friends were there also but they stayed over night in a hotel in queens and said they would give me a ride back after the seminar.

So the seminar gets out at like 10 and we take the subway to where there car is parked....they didn't mention they parked in south jamaica queens. We got off the subway its like 11 p.m. on a sunday night.....I was with my two friends we are both big and I was still scared. I was shocked that the car was still there and no one had broken into it. My opinion was that we were so obviously out of place they made us for cops. Needless to say I spent 20 minutes yelling at my friend once we were in the car about how fucking stupid he was.

I'm happy that there are very few scary places like that where I live.

KT

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim
Looks like you won't really be leaving manhattan so your chances of getting mugged are slim to none.

Well that's good. Are there any areas we should make sure to avoid?

KT

steer clear of south bronx, harlem and south jamaica queens......especially at night.

There is nothing there anyways so I don't know why you would find yourself there.

if you don't see at least a couple of white folk around, turn around.
if you're in manhattan, don't cross any bridges or tunnels, and stay under 125th st.
follow those rules, and you can walk around town any time of the day or night.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim
Looks like you won't really be leaving manhattan so your chances of getting mugged are slim to none.

Well that's good. Are there any areas we should make sure to avoid?

KT

steer clear of south bronx, harlem and south jamaica queens......especially at night.

There is nothing there anyways so I don't know why you would find yourself there.

if you don't see at least a couple of white folk around, turn around.
if you're in manhattan, don't cross any bridges or tunnels, and stay under 125th st.
follow those rules, and you can walk around town any time of the day or night.

Noted, thanks. I do tend to get off the beaten path now and then when I travel, but I don't want to end up anywhere dangerous.

KT

 

[troytime]

for NYC

things to see:
ground zero (take the subway all the way there and just view from the center of the 'whole'. then go up the stairs to see the memorial.)
FAO Schwarz
central park (just walk through part of it)
rockefeller center
times square
grand central station (you can usually find some good music and/or breakdancers)
broadway musical (i saw little mermaid last time i was there, it was fantastic - but i hear that lion king is better)

things to eat:
Mesa Grill - owned by Bobby Flay. Food is fantastic! Saw a few celebs here last time i was there too.
pizza from Bleecker St Pizza - best NY pizza you'll find (rays is good too though) - http://bleeckerstreetpizza.com/
cheesecake from Roxy's (time square)
halal platter from the little vendor at the corner of 53rd and 6th.
it doesn't open up until 7:30 or so, so don't go early. Its on the Hilton side of 6th, but on the other side of 53rd. If there's no line, you're not at the right place Get the chicken or lamb platter (or combo it). Sit down in the seats nearby and enjoy! (watch the hot sauce though)

if you like indian food, there's a couple awesome places near the original Bloomingdales called Chola - http://www.fineindiandining.com/cholany.htm

if you like asian, there's an amazing buffet called East Buffet. The food is REALLY great, but the service isn't so hot. Still worth it though

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: troytime
for NYC

things to see:
ground zero (take the subway all the way there and just view from the center of the 'whole'. then go up the stairs to see the memorial.)
FAO Schwarz
central park (just walk through part of it)
rockefeller center
times square
grand central station (you can usually find some good music and/or breakdancers)
broadway musical (i saw little mermaid last time i was there, it was fantastic - but i hear that lion king is better)

things to eat:
Mesa Grill - owned by Bobby Flay. Food is fantastic! Saw a few celebs here last time i was there too.
pizza from Bleecker St Pizza - best NY pizza you'll find (rays is good too though) - http://bleeckerstreetpizza.com/
cheesecake from Roxy's (time square)
halal platter from the little vendor at the corner of 53rd and 6th.
it doesn't open up until 7:30 or so, so don't go early. Its on the Hilton side of 6th, but on the other side of 53rd. If there's no line, you're not at the right place Get the chicken or lamb platter (or combo it). Sit down in the seats nearby and enjoy! (watch the hot sauce though)

if you like indian food, there's a couple awesome places near the original Bloomingdales called Chola - http://www.fineindiandining.com/cholany.htm

if you like asian, there's an amazing buffet called East Buffet. The food is REALLY great, but the service isn't so hot. Still worth it though

I was wondering whether to go to Ground Zero or not, seems kind of depressing, but I guess it may be worth seeing.

I hate musicals so I hopefully will not have to do the whole Broadway musical thing. The other suggestions sound great.

Thanks for the food recs, that's the kind of stuff I'm looking for. The only thing is I will never support any Flay endeavour because I think he is a tool, aside from that looks great.

KT

 

[cherrytwist]

Other fun - the new Cardinals ballpark is very nice, lots of good music on weekend nights (and some during the week) great food in several neighborhoods, a couple not-terrible casinos. A world-class botanical garden if you have day hours free, a small but decent art museum, an excellent Zoo (that's free to boot!).

+1

Don't forget the City Museum, the Arch (and Jefferson Memorial Expansion park)...and Laumeir Sculpture Park.

 

[Ilmater]

OK, I grew up near STL, and I live in KC, and lots of people here come to me asking for things to do, so I have all kinds of things to offer:

Do you have kids? If so, the City Museum is incredible. As soon as you arrive and see the 4-story jungle-gym-type metal structure out front, you already know your kids are going to love it. I'd say that any kids aged 5 - 12 will love it, and possibly even older if there are younger ones to hang out with. Also, the extra $6 for the aquarium part is definitely worth it. It's my understanding that you can even pet stingrays and such.

The Zoo is one of the biggest and best in the country, and it's free, making it a must-see when you're in town.

The Arch is neat, but unless you're there when there's no line, DON'T go up in it... the lines are huge, and it's just not worth the wait. The stuff below the arch is pretty cool.

The Botanical Garden is cool, but I haven't been in years. Grant's Farm is also awesome - especially for kids as they can feed animals and such.

The Science Center is awesome, and if you have an inner kid in you at all, you don't need kids to join you to have fun there.

I only recently took the Brewery tour, and it was great. Here in KC we have the Boulevard Brewery, and it's a REALLY cool tour, but A-B has a lot more history, and it is simply MASSIVE. IMO, you can appreciate it even more if you go to a smaller brewer BEFORE you visit there, but it's not necessary. It's just incredible to see the difference in size of the two.

The casinos around STL are pretty good, but I'm not a gambler.

The Delmar Loop or U(niversity)-City Loop is a good place to visit for a couple of hours to eat and hang around in, but won't keep you occupied for too long.

If you want to see a Cardinals game (if they're in town when you're there), you definitely should. I got to see the opening day game on the first day, and having grown up with the old stadium, I completely forgot about it from day one. The new stadium is just incredible, and gives a great view of downtown.

The city is as safe as any other major city, no worries. OF COURSE you'll want to stay away from the East Side, unless you want to see the strip clubs, and contrary to what some said earlier, PT's Sports Cabaret is a pretty good one. My "east side" story is that I have a friend that works in the STL area for an environmental company of sorts. He frequently has to go to sewers to look around for things. He went over there and was getting ready to head into the sewers, and some "gentlemen" on a porch started berating him for having a job. "Oh, look at your punk a$$. All proud cause you got a job. You're the man now, huh?" Of course his response was, "I'M GOING INTO THE FVCKING SEWER!" When he got out, they had stripped the tires off his truck and taken a lot of the tools. Luckily it was a company truck, and even more luckily, he had his cel phone on him to call someone to get the fvck out before it got dark.

If you need any more suggestions, as I've said, I've become a bit of an expert on STL travel tips, so just ask in here or PM me. I specialize in restaurant suggestions.