St. Louis, Missouri Capitol Building
By Angie Becker
When you think about a romantic Valentine’s Day getaway, Rome or Paris comes to mind. For my husband and me, these were not our options.
We are living just out of St. Louis and neither my husband nor I had seen the city, so we decided to plan an urban weekend adventure.
We started off a great weekend at the St. Louis Art Museum. The museum is not only free, but also boasts a beautiful collection from many genres and cultures.
Our favorites were: Keith by Chuck Close and The Mother by Pablo Picasso. We also saw a Jackson Pollock, but weren’t crazy about that one.
We ate at a number of great restaurants:
At Thai Café, we enjoyed some of the best Thai food we have ever had…try their red and green curry if you go.
Sweetie Pies is a southern café offering great soul food at great prices. We recommend their chickpeas, okra, sweet potatoes and corn bread!
At Arcellia’s Mexicana restaurant where we stopped for brunch my husband Ryan (who lived for two years in Mexico) was super impressed. We tried the Sunday specials, which were great.
Arcellia’s is 2 miles away from the St. Louis Gateway Arch and well worth the walk or drive. The waitresses, chefs (and many of the customers) all looked authentically Hispanic. (It’s always a good sign when the costumers are speaking Spanish.)
The Arch was $10/ person and it took us about 1 hour at midday to go to the top, so skip the lines and go early. There is also a great museum in the base which talks about the history of migration to the West. We learned a lot.
St. Louis is an old city, but has beautiful architecture and delicious food. I recommend 2-3 days if you like museums and food. Remember that meter parking is free after 6 and on weekends and holidays.
Angie Becker is a pediatric nurse from Salt Lake City currently spending time in Missouri to support her husband Ryan who is attending Officer Basic School at Fort Leonard Wood. Angie and Ryan are the proud parents of Jaxon, who is seven months old.
May 18, 2009 at 1:27 pm
This is NOT the Missouri Capitol, it is the old courthouse. The Capitol is located in Jefferson City
May 18, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Thank you for the clarification.