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Activities for kids in St. Louis?

Travel Info
We'll be playing tourist in St. Louis for a couple of days in late May with a three-year old boy. I've done some checking online and decided that the Zoo and Science Center sound like good bets. Also doing the Arch and hope to do the 1-hour river cruise thing.

Any other ideas? I'm also thinking it would be nice to stay in a hotel near the zoo/science center. Any recommendations on that? Also, good eateries near the arch or the zoo? We're supposed to do barbecue in St. Louis, right?

Travel Tips

The Zoo, the Science Center, the Arch and a riverboat cruise are great for kids. Also, the City Museum, Purina Farms, Grant's Farm, Six Flags, The Magic House...

check out this link, too,

http://www.explorestlouis.com/sightseein...

Others
Stay in a downtown hotel and you can utilize the metro link to the Forest Park stop. From there you can use the Forest Park shuttle to get to zoo and science center. City Museum and Botanical Gardens are also suggestion. I am reluctant to suggest the art museum, might not be for a 3yo. If you want to rent a car, Six Flags is about 30 min drive. For Barbecue, Super smokers is the way to go. I am not sure which location reopen so you may want to do a web search. We also have so very good Italian restaurants. We have a few Cajun style restaurants in the Soulard area. Ted Drews frozen custard is an St. Louis must. The below link will help you find restaurants by cuisine and location.
http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/di...
Great hotel would be the Hampton Inn and Suites at Forest Park. Brand new, gorgeous, and near all those attractions you mentioned. If you need some help getting a reservation, or have questions, please e-mail me at STLDR_Hampton@hilton.com. I don't work at that particular Hampton, but I work at another in the area, and I can help you with the research and info if you need. I do know from looking in the system that they have some great St. Louis attraction packages.
I believe Grants Farm is open in may, they have some monkeys, elephants, birds of prey, "worlds famous Clydesdale horses" goats the kids can feed, some animal shows, and adults get to sample some Anheuser-Busch beer (AB owns it) the cost is $8.00 per car to park.

There are too many things in the "Lou" (and the metro area) to list so here is a link that has stuff you can do, a lot of it is free, or you just pay to park like the zoo, and Grants Farm.

http://www.explorestlouis.com/attraction...

Dont overlook the parks some of them have some good fun stuff in them.

http://www.stlouisco.com/parks/tourist.h...

http://stlouis.missouri.org/citygov/park...

http://www.mostateparks.com/stlouisregio...

There is a Red Roof Inn, and Holiday Inn off Hampton Street very close to Forest Park where the zoo/science center is.

There is a BBQ place on Hampton called Smoking Als, but you dont have to do BBQ here, this is where the pork steak comes from, and where the national rib cook off is, but KC, and Memphis are better known for their BBQ, we do have an Italian neighborhood near Forest Park called "The Hill" with lots of Italian restaurants, and Delis where you can get some St Louis style pizza, and toasted ravioli, there is a street that runs into Hampton called Watson that have some more sit down type eateries most of the other places other than "A Taste Of India" and Courtesy Diner that are close by on/off Hampton are fast food such as Mc Donalds, Hardee's, Steak N Shake, Burger King, Long Johns, ect. Hope this helps.
I forgot about Hampton Inns also near the park
There is a Best Western by Forest Park. It is nice and cozy only like 40 rooms. I would also go to the Boat house in Forest Park and rent a paddle boat to take out on the lake. Just like you were in the 1904 Worlds Fair! There is also the City Museum downtown it is very fun and kids are allowed to run and play (they have a website). There are caves to play in lots of slides, an outdoor play area. They also a small train that the kids can ride all of this is included in your admission. I recommend the aquarium there you can feed sting rays and crawl through a shark tank. Ted Drews is always good for Frozen custard. The Courtsey Diner (right by the zoo) has great burgers and fries. Good kids food and a wonderful breakfast selection, be sure to bring cash that is all they take! If you get time you should go to a baseball game that is always fun and the new stadium is great. The butterfly house is also a neat place, they fly around and land on you. Have a good vacation!