"The Midwest + The South" Saint Louis by bocmaxima

Saint Louis is an interesting city. There's the more Southern-esque Missouri element prevalent in the suburban areas, but also very much in the city, but then there's a very Midwestern, almost Chicago feel to the place and to the people. To me, Saint Louis looks like a lot like Chicago, and its checkerboard of outlying suburban municipalities only strengthens that impression. But the architecture, the layout and the attitude seem very Chicago to me.
Just like Chicago, people here are pretty friendly. Or, at the least, they're friendly to me.

Lymbyc Systym performing at the Luminary Center

This was my first trip to St. Louis, when I came as part of a larger trip, starting in Minneapolis, looping south via Bloomington, IL, then driving the Mississippi back up-river. I came to St. Louis specifically to both see the city and to see a show: The Books & The Lymbyc Systym at the Luminary Center for the Arts. Sounds like a good show, huh? And it was totally worth the drive.
I stayed at the Days Inn on Lindbergh Blvd. just outside of the city. What a weird hotel. It looked like an old Holidome Holiday Inn (if anyone remembers those) with international flags hung from the ceiling, the pool inside the lobby (no wall separating it, just a little fence) and a horrible breakfast room that looked like it was designed to resemble a 1980's hospital cafeteria. But it was a good stay.
I did _the_ tourist thing, go to the Arch, as soon as I came in to town. I had a national parks pass that year, and it turns out you get like $3 off the admission with it. I also hit a couple of brewpubs and drove around the city a bit.
The show ended up being just as fantastic as I imagined it would be.

Hot. Crazy hot. I picked a day when it hit about 100 to spend sans car, walking and taking the city's light rail, the MetroLink. I deliberately stayed out by the airport so I could take the hotel's free shuttle to the station, go into the city on the train, drink much of the day and enjoy myself without worrying about parking and DUI. But it was unbelievably hot. When I got to a brewpub (Buffalo) late in the afternoon, the bartender told me that he thought I was going to pass out because I was sweating so much. I ended up staying there until it got dark, drinking what ended up being some pretty damn good beer, eating dinner and talking with the staff, who, like I said before about Saint Louisians (?), nice people.