Sister City: St. Louis

A weekend here will have you falling in love with another river town.

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This travelogue requires a disclosure of sorts. I’m a third-generation fan of the St. Louis Cardinals, with a fourth generation (my daughter, Elena) currently a sophomore at Saint Louis University. The fabled Gateway to the West has been a “sister city” of mine since long before I moved to Memphis from New England in 1991. But the connection between “The Lou” and the Bluff City — our mighty Mississippi River — is substantial and, by some measures, eternal. Can St. Louis be captured in a single weekend? Of course not. But it can be embraced enough to form an imprint.

What follows is a weekend on the other side of the river, in the shadow of that magnificent Arch. Use it as a beginner’s guide, or a reminder of what drew you to St. Louis the first time.

As far as 280-mile drives go, the stretch of I-55 from Memphis to St. Louis couldn’t be easier. And you’ll find a jewel along the way — at precisely the midpoint of the trip — in Sikeston, Missouri. Lambert’s Café is renowned for its generous portions of country cooking and sweet tea served in half-gallon mugs. But the restaurant has become a destination in itself for “throwed rolls.” Yes, servers — skilled in both pitching dough and making the requisite eye contact with a customer seated 20 or 30 feet away — sling hot bread. If caught gingerly, the muffin-shaped treasure can then be buttered or layered with sorghum for what amounts to a preliminary meal. Lambert’s makes for a distinctive “halftime” to your drive north (and you’ll eat lightly for dinner). Pro tip: Be prepared for a line, as Lambert’s doesn’t accept reservations.

I generally start a St. Louis weekend downtown at Busch Stadium, home of the Cardinals, the current ballpark having opened in 2006 (just in time for the franchise’s 10th championship season). An entire city block north of the stadium has grown into Ballpark Village, a collection of bars, restaurants, and retail shops that make attending a ballgame far more than peanuts and Cracker Jack. A must-see is the Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum, located on the second floor (above Cardinals Nation Restaurant and Bar). You’ll need a ticket to stroll through the galleries — each of the Cardinals’ 11 World Series champions has a floor-to-ceiling display case — but you can gaze at the plaques of former players inducted into the franchise’s Hall of Fame at no cost.

Should the Cardinals be out of town, or if you visit during the off-season, the statuary just outside the Busch Stadium team store is made for photo-ops. Nine Cardinal Hall of Famers have received the bronze treatment — Stan Musial has two monuments — and you’ll also see a statue of Cool Papa Bell, the Negro Leagues legend who called St. Louis home. (For fall and winter visits, the National Hockey League’s St. Louis Blues play in Enterprise Center, merely a half-mile west of Busch Stadium. The franchise won its first Stanley Cup in 2019.)

So the Cardinals win (of course). How to celebrate into the witching hours? Greater St. Louis has three casinos where the tables and slots never sleep: River City Casino and Lumiere Place downtown, and Hollywood in Maryland Heights, a half-hour west of downtown on I-70.

The Gateway Arch is a fun way to begin a Saturday in St. Louis. Among the most recognized city landmarks in the world, the Arch rises 630 feet above downtown St. Louis, on the banks of the Mississippi River. If you have the stomach for it, you can ride a tram to the top … and admire not only the view for miles, but the engineering marvel that is the Arch. Below “the big wicket” is a museum devoted to American exploration and the profound influence of Native Americans on the Midwest and beyond.

Anheuser-Busch has been brewing and bottling “the King of Beers” for 170 years, and a tour of the plant (just south of downtown St. Louis) is a singular experience, with the free samples to end your tour merely a tasty bonus. Those not yet 21 will still enjoy the sight of a beechwood-aging tank. Chilled and packing more than 3,500 barrels of beer, each tank helps produce “a taste, a smoothness, and a drinkability you will find in no other beer.” Or so they tell me. Best of all, you get to visit actual Clydesdales on the tour. They’re treated like royalty, of course, so look but don’t pet.

Even if you put in two hours on the brewery tour, you should have enough Saturday left to visit the St. Louis Art Museum in Forest Park (seven miles west of the river). Overlooking the gorgeous Grand Basin (a manmade body of water with fountains) the museum is home to an astounding 34,000 objects and covers more than 5,000 years of history. Whether it’s sculpture from the Italian Renaissance or African-American paintings from the twentieth century, the museum gently takes your breath away in expansive galleries. Around one corner, Mary Cassatt. Down another hallway, Vincent van Gogh. It’s high-culture candy.

For dinner in St. Louis, visitors can choose from a menu of eclectic eating districts. I like Saturday night on The Hill, the Italian neighborhood a couple of miles south of Forest Park. Again, expect some wait time — Italian food, you see, is popular worldwide — but a stroll around the homes and dining establishments is the right kind of time-killer. You can find Yogi Berra’s childhood home at 5447 Elizabeth Avenue. The legendary New York Yankee surely uttered his first nonsensical quip on these streets. (“Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.”) The home’s current occupants seem receptive to cars slowing down, and pedestrians stopping for a smile and wave.

Choices are abundant on The Hill, but I’ve developed an attachment to Mama’s (2132 Edwards). You’ll dine in a small house that feels like a café in rural Italy, with a wine list so deep the menu helps you select a pairing for your meal. My most recent indulgence: the baked lasagna … “countless layers of noodles, ‘Hill’ Italian sausage, four varieties of cheese, and Mama’s marinara sauce.” Oh, and it pairs well with Ruffino Ducale.

Let Sunday be for the kids (or the kid in you). The Cardinals typically play a matinee to end the weekend, so if you didn’t attend the game Friday night (as I always do), head to Busch Stadium and watch baseball the way it was meant to be played, with natural shadows.

There’s a jewel of a neighborhood — Lafayette Square — southwest of downtown, centered by Lafayette Park (said to be the oldest park west of the Mississippi River). It’s the perfect place for a Sunday morning stroll among Victorian townhouses, a stroll that could (no, should) lead you to Polite Society (1923 Park Avenue) for brunch. Hockey royalty — Wayne Gretzky — has been spotted there, perhaps in search of the shrimp and grits. Honestly, you can’t go wrong in this charming gathering place, and that goes for lunch and dinner, too.

If not baseball, the challenge of your Sunday afternoon in St. Louis will be deciding what can wait until the next visit. For kids under the age of 10, the Magic House (516 S. Kirkwood) is as colorful and fun as it sounds. Classified as a children’s museum, it’s really a multi-floor playhouse, packed with interactive exhibits to spark a child’s curiosity and creativity. Why, exactly, can we see ourselves in a mirror? That’s right … it’s a kind of magic.

The City Museum (750 N. 16th Street) takes the adventuring up a notch. Housed in a century-old warehouse and built with repurposed steel, wood, and concrete, you can climb, tunnel, slide, and leap to your heart’s content. This place has a school bus on its roof. Not unlike that trip up and into the Arch, one marvels at the engineers behind such an elaborate-yet-safe discovery zone.

If the weather’s nice, you could flip a coin between a visit to Grant’s Farm and the St. Louis Zoo. The former was originally occupied by Ulysses S. Grant but has long been the property of the Busch family. Home to buffalo, peacocks, and hungry little goats, the farm offers a variety of tours (on foot or via bus). It’s also home to the Budweiser Clydesdales, at least those not currently on duty at the brewery on the other side of town. The zoo offers a larger variety of animals (500 species) and, in case your weekend budget tightens, charges no admission fee.

You’ll find the St. Louis Aquarium and a massive Ferris wheel at Union Station. But please leave time before you hit the highway south for a stop at Ted Drewes Frozen Custard (open seasonally). The specialty is a “concrete,” a shake mixed so thickly that it’s served upside down. And get this: They have a flavor called Cardinal Sin (tart cherries and hot fudge). You’ll be well south of the city before your travel companions finish these treats.

Upon your return to Memphis, you’re bound to feel an inversion of homesickness. Let’s call it “birdsickness.” Not to worry. The Cardinals’ top minor-league affiliate, the Memphis Redbirds, have played in Downtown’s AutoZone Park for more than two decades. So get back to the ballpark. The game’s just as lovely on this side of the Mighty Miss.