Part 16 - St Louis

Part 16 - St. Louis

About a block from our RV park. A reminder of the St Louis Riots from just a few years back.  

Childhood memory: Any time Dad had to haul the camper through St Louis, he would create a book of new cuss words that would make Webster jealous.  I was not looking forward to towing our camper anywhere near that tangled mess of interstates either. 

Before we had even left Peoria, Jenny had gotten a job offer at the STL Zoo!!! We did a little homework and found out that my hospital and the Zoo were both very close to each other. Better still, we found a campground that was only a 12 minute drive from my hospital. The bad news was that it looked to be right downtown, about 2 miles from the Gateway Arch and the Mississippi River. This was going to be a change from our desert oasis in Tucson. 

Who puts a campground in the middle of the city? 

It was a short drive from Peoria to Saint Louis, in fact, we almost made it on one full tank of gas. I had called ahead and got directions from the campground, and it turns out, I didn't have to drive through all those interchanges I was worried about. We did have to drive through a really run down part of town, where housing projects and corner stores were about the only thing in sight.  

What's with the upside down crosses on this building???

The GPS said we were close, but all we could see was abandoned buildings and broken sidewalks. Then we saw a tall chain link fence surrounding an entire block. The sign said STL RV Park. I guess this was it. School on one side. Police Station on another. Warehouses on the other two...and a corner store right at the stoplights on Jefferson and MLK. We were home. Yikes!!!

Here is the customary link to our RV Park's website:

Website: Saint Louis RV Park

The number ONE reason we decided to stay at STL RV Park.  

Pros: We chose this park mainly because of its location, but also because it had a nice-looking pool. We could ride our bikes to the Arch or the City museum. Forest Park and the Zoo were also very close. One good thing I noticed right away was that there were no meters for electric. You KNOW we ran that electric fireplace on cold nights. LOL! There were also basic amenities like showers, laundry, a gym, and a small store at the office. Being able to walk over to the corner for frozen pizza and drinks was nice.  

Cons: The park was pricey for basically just an empty lot, full of gravel, with hookups for every site. The traffic noise from Jefferson Ave was almost non-stop, and the marching bands that practice outside at the School were just icing on the cake...not to mention the random gunshots that could be heard nightly.

Walking the dogs outside of the park for them to go to the bathroom sucked, especially with all the gunshots.  However, unlike Illinois...Open carry and concealed carry are legal in Missouri for anyone 19 years or older who can legally purchase a firearm, with or without a concealed carry permit. So, taking our pistols made us feel a little better about wandering the streets at night. Our dogs effectively had an armed escort to go on a potty-walk. 

Unfortunately, gunshots weren't the only danger. The corner store sold fried chicken. Allow me to elaborate.  Broken glass bottles were already covering the streets, so why not just throw your chicken bones in the road too!!! There was so much garbage, and potentially dangerous things for dogs to eat, that we really had to keep a tight leash on them. Not to mention that, for some reason, the locals seem to be scared of dogs. We had several instances where other pedestrians would risk getting hit by traffic crossing the street so they wouldn't have to walk by our dogs. Oh Saint Louis!

The worst part of the whole experience was dealing with the owner's husband's bipolar disorder. He knocked on our bedroom door early one Saturday (and woke us up)...just to tell us our totes under the camper were a fire hazard. WTH!!! This was not the only time he made a scene about something, but sometimes he would be friendly and try joking with you. Stay on your med's buddy!!! He made it very uncomfortable for us to stay there, and I would recommend finding somewhere else if you can. 

Really nice community garden at the school just North of the RV park. Free veggies!!!

Sunflowers at our community garden. 

We had to stop and visit the hospital I would be working at so I could find parking. The lab was its own separate building and the campus was huge, so we walked around until I felt like I knew where everything was. 

The micro lab where I would be working was on the 4th floor of this building. 

The instrument that I worked on all day sat right next to this window. Pretty amazing view.

Over on Euclid by my hospital, we found what would become our favorite Mexican place in Saint Louis.  El Burro Loco!

Best Mexican food in town...according to us. 

Jenny had her birthday dinner here. I swear I had nothing to do with the sombrero and/or the song. 

One of our favorite ways to explore town was on our bicycles. If you dodged the broken glass and the gangs of ATV riders in the streets...it wasn't that bad. Here are some pictures from our late night bike rides downtown. 

There are many sculptures in the parks just West of the Arch. This one is my favorite. 

Probably the best picture of the arch that I got. 

Giant white rabbits. A light sculpture of people walking. Colored fountains. What does it all mean???

In the video below, you can see the white rabbits in the background. I wish I knew the name of this park...it was really unique to say the least. 

One of Saint Louis' most well know natives is Mr Chuck Berry of Rock and Roll fame. He used to own a restaurant/bar in an area of St Louis know as the Delmar Loop. There are a few memorials to Chuck here and this is the reason I wanted to go. 

It turns out that the Delmar Loop is rated one of the 10 best streets in the USA, and I can understand why. There is so much to do in just a small area. The Pageant theater brings in big name acts and there are great venues like Blueberry Hill (Chuck Berry's old place) that cater to local acts as well as national touring bands. The food here is amazing. St Louis is a food town, and Delmar Loop has many cultures represented in the culinary fare it offers. Fitz's Rootbeer is brewed and bottled here and they also have a decent food menu. We ate at Salt & Smoke BBQ and would recommend it.

We laughed at this place every time we drove by, but we never ate there.

Delmar Loop had some strange restaurant names. 

There were several Mediterranean places here we wanted to try, but we were busy exploring other parts of the city. We will just have to come back...we hope you come back too and keep up with us during our travels.

Our next article can be found here:

Part 17 - City Museum.

Until then, here is a link to our previous entry:

Part 15 - River Running