Going to New York and St. Louis in May.

[thesurge]

There are a coupla places that you probably don't want to be in the middle of the night.

There are only a couple places in Manhattan you'd actually have trouble with. Maybe Harlem, washington heights.

In Brooklyn, stay out of Brownsville, east bed-stuy, maybe crown heights, east flatbrush.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: thesurge
There are a coupla places that you probably don't want to be in the middle of the night.

There are only a couple places in Manhattan you'd actually have trouble with. Maybe Harlem, washington heights.

In Brooklyn, stay out of Brownsville, east bed-stuy, maybe crown heights, east flatbrush.

Noted, thank you very much.

KT

 

[NTB]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
Awesome post, thanks so much! I am still trying to figure out exactly how much free time we are going to have in St. Louis, but all of those recs will certainly help no matter what.

As for restaurants, we will probably need at least one to hit, but is there a local specialty in St. Louis? I've been to KC before and I know they are all about the BBQ, so I was just wondering if that holds true in STL as well.

That story about your friend is hilarious. :laugh:

<shameless plug>

I grew up and went to school with a kid whose family owned (and still does) a local pizza place called Pizza-A-Go-Go. He and I were best friends all through school, and his uncle owned and ran the pizza place.

These days he (the uncle) does a lot of supervising, and my friend's younger brother and sister care of a good share of the actual day-to-day business, with some help from a few other people. I know the sister has her heart set on being a veterinarian once she finishes school, but I think the brother wants to take the place over when his uncle finally does retire. I'll be happy to give you directions if you're interested; just let me know where you'll be coming from.

< / shameless plug >

As for BBQ, St. Louis does it's fair share, too. I'm afraid I can't give you any specific names, though - I grew up in St. Louis, but my family made BBQ so often at home that we never really bothered to *go* somewhere for it.

Oh, and Mauls >>>> KC Masterpiece

Originally posted by: NTB
*snip*
catch a race (stock-car or drag) at Gateway International Raceway

That sounds cool, is it easy to get tickets and are races held in May?

Honestly, I'm not sure. My little brother is the car nut; not me . take a look here, if you're curious. I *can* tell you though that they do a lot of ameteur drag races throughout the summer, and the price is minimal. Might even be free if you're just there to watch, and you should be able to go down to the track and check out the cars.

Nathan

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: NTB

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
Awesome post, thanks so much! I am still trying to figure out exactly how much free time we are going to have in St. Louis, but all of those recs will certainly help no matter what.

As for restaurants, we will probably need at least one to hit, but is there a local specialty in St. Louis? I've been to KC before and I know they are all about the BBQ, so I was just wondering if that holds true in STL as well.

That story about your friend is hilarious. :laugh:

<shameless plug>

I grew up and went to school with a kid whose family owned (and still does) a local pizza place called Pizza-A-Go-Go. He and I were best friends all through school, and his uncle owned and ran the pizza place.

These days he (the uncle) does a lot of supervising, and my friend's younger brother and sister care of a good share of the actual day-to-day business, with some help from a few other people. I know the sister has her heart set on being a veterinarian once she finishes school, but I think the brother wants to take the place over when his uncle finally does retire. I'll be happy to give you directions if you're interested; just let me know where you'll be coming from.

< / shameless plug >

As for BBQ, St. Louis does it's fair share, too. I'm afraid I can't give you any specific names, though - I grew up in St. Louis, but my family made BBQ so often at home that we never really bothered to *go* somewhere for it.

Oh, and Mauls >>>> KC Masterpiece

Originally posted by: NTB
*snip*
catch a race (stock-car or drag) at Gateway International Raceway

That sounds cool, is it easy to get tickets and are races held in May?

Honestly, I'm not sure. My little brother is the car nut; not me . take a look here, if you're curious. I *can* tell you though that they do a lot of ameteur drag races throughout the summer, and the price is minimal. Might even be free if you're just there to watch, and you should be able to go down to the track and check out the cars.

Nathan

This is great, thanks Nathan, not sure what Mauls is though, I assume a BBQ sauce of some kind?

My other cousin is on leave to come to the wedding and I know he is a bit of a car nut, so there's a good chance he'd like to hit the races. I'll PM you about the pizza place once I know exactly where I will be coming from; it never hurts to have something like that in your back pocket in an unfamiliar city.

Cheers. :beer:

KT

 

[troytime]

also, if you go to the met, you don't HAVE to pay the $20 per person admission.

they "suggest" 20, but you can give anything and they will give you a button

i didn't believe it when i first heard, but i gave a fiver and there was no issue

 

[TechBoyJK]

born and raised on the "east side"

after you drive through east st. louis, you'll find belleville, the heart of what is considered "Metro East St. Louis"

Metro eStl is basically "belleville, east st.louis, collinsville, and cahokia"

Only the actual city "east st. louis" is bad, it looks like warntorn iraq in much of the area.

but once you get through it, and head "up the hill" you'll find belleville, which is actually fairly nice, and its about 2x's as big as East St. Louis.

Belleville was on 60 minutes for being the most "racist town in america" which is pretty much due to the fact that a wealthy german community settled up the hill from East St. Louis. Belleville had a gate on one of their main roads leading out of East St. louis that said "no blacks / stay out"

East st. louis is 99% black, and Belleville, especially the part right fucking next to this crime ridden ghetto, has million dollar homes, etc.. Imagine sticking the nicest parts of St. Louis next to the worst parts.. with about 3 blocks between them...

However, many of the belleville's wealthiest have migrated farther east of the river, into smaller belleville suburbs like O'fallon, and Shiloh.

Its all once big massive clusterfuck of towns though, which is why the call it Metro East St. Louis more than "Belleville, Estl, collinsville, Ofallon, Shiloh, etc".

And its quicker to get to Belleville from downtown STL than it is to get to much of St. Louis county from downtown STL.

 

[TechBoyJK]

st louis also just had the "Lumiere Place Casino" open on the riverfront, and its massive. Has like 8 restaraunts, several clubs, etc.. It also has a really cool lighting display that raps around its 14story hotel that changes colors like a big neon sign. crazy to see at night and completely lights up the riverfront with cool colors.

 

[Winchester]

^

 

[KeithTalent]

Thanks troytime, good tip.

TechBoyJK: that's interesting history on E. STL. I was just on that casino's website and it looks pretty darn nice!

KT

 

[NTB]

Just sent KT a note with directions to the pizza place, and I figured I'd post them here if anybody else is curious:

Well, I can give you more specific directions to the pizza place later if need be, but basically, if you can get to highway 44, you're in good shape: General Area

The place itself is on the corner of Ivanhoe & Scanlan. If you're coming West on 44 (from downtown St. Louis), get off at the Arsenal Street exit (284B), make a left on Arsenal to go back over the highway, then make a right onto Ivanhoe and follow it South.

If you're heading East on 44 (into downtown), take the Jammieson Avenue exit (284A) and go *across* Jamieson to Bradley - stay to your left when the exit-ramp splits into left- and right-hand turn lanes. Follow Bradley to Ivanhoe, and make a left there.

Which ever way you take, your destination is the little gas station looking building on the north-west corner of the intersection. The owner drives an old (but fairly well-kept) red Fiero; if you see that sitting out front, you know they're open.

Nathan