St. Louis: The Gateway to the West

Gateway Arch National Park is the centerpiece of St. Louis — the 630-foot stainless-steel catenary arch at 11 North 4th Street on the west bank of the Mississippi River, designed by Eero Saarinen and completed in 1965 as a monument to westward expansion. The tram ride to the top — small egg-shaped pods that tilt to maintain horizontal as they ascend the curved legs — takes about four minutes up and carries five people per pod to an observation window 630 feet above the river. The museum beneath the Arch (free) covers the history of westward expansion from the Louisiana Purchase through the completion of the transcontinental railroad. The Old Courthouse (included in the park, free) is where Dred and Harriet Scott filed their freedom suits in 1846. Tram rides: approximately $15 for adults; book in advance at gatewayarch.com as they sell out.

Forest Park is one of the finest urban parks in the United States — 1,371 acres (larger than Central Park) in the western portion of St. Louis, originally cleared for the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition (World's Fair), where 20 million people visited between April and December 1904. The park contains four world-class institutions all free to enter: the Saint Louis Zoo (3 million annual visitors, 14,000 animals, open since 1916 at no charge), the Saint Louis Art Museum (on Art Hill overlooking the Grand Basin — fine art from ancient to contemporary, free), the Missouri History Museum (Louisiana Purchase and Lewis & Clark history, free), and the Science Center (free general admission, IMAX extra). The park's Grand Basin, Kennedy Forest, and the Jewel Box conservatory are additional free outdoor highlights.

The City Museum is the most singular attraction in St. Louis and one of the most unusual museums in the United States — a 10-story former shoe factory at 750 N 16th Street converted by artist Bob Cassilly into an immersive environmental art experience, with outdoor architectural salvage playground (an 18-story spiral slide, airplanes and school buses perched on the roof), a cave system, a circus arts school, and an aquarium — all made primarily from repurposed industrial materials from St. Louis's manufacturing past. It defies categorization. Adults are as entertained as children. It is open late on weekends. Entry approximately $20.

St. Louis has two uniquely specific food contributions. Toasted ravioli (pasta stuffed with meat, breaded and deep-fried, served with marinara sauce for dipping) was invented on The Hill (the Italian-American neighborhood in southwest St. Louis) at Charlie Gitto's in the 1940s — the story goes that a clumsy cook accidentally dropped ravioli into the fry oil and the result was judged delicious. It is now available at every Italian restaurant in the city and at Cardinals baseball games. St. Louis-style barbecue (spare ribs trimmed into the 'St. Louis cut,' slow-smoked with a sweet tomato-based sauce applied during cooking) at Pappy's Smokehouse and Salt + Smoke is the serious barbecue alternative.

The Central West End neighborhood has the finest concentration of restaurants in St. Louis — Vicia (James Beard-nominated, vegetable-forward, the most acclaimed current restaurant), Bar Vicia (cocktails, adjacent), and the Kingside Diner (breakfast/brunch) are among the best. The Cherokee Street neighborhood (south St. Louis) has the most diverse and affordable restaurant scene, including excellent Mexican food from the city's large Mexican-American community.

Gooey Butter Cake is the St. Louis-specific pastry — a coffee cake variant made by adding cream cheese, butter, and eggs to the yeast dough in such excess that the center remains soft, gooey, and almost custardy while the edges firm up. Available at every St. Louis bakery, most famously at Park Avenue Coffee. It is not a sensible food. It is extraordinary.