Saturday, June 21, 2008
WKND INFO TROLL: ADVICE ON ST. LOUIS AND KC
Thanks to one Mr. B. Springsteen, TBF and I are now headed to the Show Me State in August to see the last E Street Band shows of the tour. In desperate need of a vacation, we are going to bookend it with visits to friends, barbeque, Sonic Drive-In, photography, and BASEBALL.
It’s too bad the Mets aren’t in town but we’ll make the best of it. The Braves are playing the Cardinals and the Tigers and the Rangers are playing in KC. There’s a ballpark tour in St. Louis, and we know about the First Pitch Seats already. In KC, well, prices are cheap. We’re straight on geography and hotels.
But… we’ve never been to the parks and would love tips and advice, and especially local tips and advice. Food? Drink? Barbeque advice? Dos and don’ts? Music advice (besides Blueberry Hill)? Throw ‘em out.
Posted by Caryn at 01:14 AM
i suggest going to the negro leagues museum when in KC (http://www.nlbm.com/). i’ve been there a few times and really enjoyed it. plus it’s right down the street from arthur bryant’s barbeque, which is pretty awesome.
thanks, kelsey, for catching the one thing i forgot to mention. how much time should we allow for the museum? is it a go-twice kind of thing? b/c we can go on the way in and on the way out.
it’s the trip we’ve been theoretically planning for a while now. it’s convenient that now we have another reason besides baseball. not sure if it makes us more or less sane. but ain’t anyone else gonna step up and volunteer to cover midwest shows in AUGUST
feh.
depending on how fast you go at museums, i’d leave around two or more hours. it’s not that big so it probably won’t take over four, even if you read every word. i was there last summer and i think it took us around two hours. it’s also right next to/connected with a jazz museum if you’re into that. i didn’t like the jazz museum as much but it was still fairly interesting.
the museum is so inexpensive that if it turns out you’ve run out of time and need to go back, it’s not a big deal. i think it’s like $6 for admission? which is a total bargain.
oh, and a lot of people make fun of kauffman stadium because it’s not fancy, but i liked it. we happened to go on buck night, where you can get hot dogs and drinks for a dollar each. and it’s like, unlimited, which blew my mind, because when they do something similar at coors field, you get a coupon for one cheap hot dog.
but take what i say with a grain of salt, i seem to have some sort of strange obsession with kansas city.
I don’t have any tips, but I have to say I think Kaufmann is beautiful. The people we met there were incredibly friendly. Buy the good seats…I think the top ticket price is $28, but you probably already know that. Will you root for the Royals on my behalf? I always want them to win, as long as they’re not playing the Twins.
I’ve driven by Kaufmann a couple of times, long before I cared about baseball, and it always looked neat. The top ticket price is now $37, but considering that we sit on the mezzanine for that price for some games, it’s delightful.
I believe polite manners would require we root for the home team unless we were allied with the visitors. I don’t know what we’re going to do in STL, though.
I went to undergrad in STL - do you know where you are staying yet? If you are looking for a nice dinner, definitely go to the Hill one night for some italian food (a bit pricey but worth it). Central West End has some good restaurants as well. The downtown area is pretty dead (or was when I was there), aside from a few bars that I would bet would be packed with college kids… there was one jazz bar down there I liked though…
I haven’t been to the new ballpark, but I remember having a horrible time trying to take mass-transportation to get to the old Busch - renting a car is a MUST in that city.
Feel free to email me if you have specific questions and I’ll try to dig up some of the names of places I liked out there…
well, a car is a must for the entire trip so we’ve got that covered. and it’s the midwest. people drive. :)
we have an advantage that we know where to stay b/c we pricelined a hotel there a few years back and ended up at a hotel right near the ballpark.
but i will email you :)
People do drive, but the Metrolink/Light Rail in St. Louis makes a car-free visit very doable. Unlike some light rail systems that have popped up the past few years, their system actually goes places people want to go! AT $4.50 for a day pass, it’s cheap and easy.
(Not in KC. You need a car.)
I’m the type that could spend 2-3 days at Cooperstown, but 90 minutes was about right at the Negro Leagues Museum. Don’t mis Arthur Bryant’s BBQ, just a couple of blocks away.
arthur bryant’s is at the top of the list, so i am happy to hear of its proximity to the negro leagues museum. thank you!
we are flying in and out of KC so we’re stuck with the car. plus we’re stopping in columbia to visit one of my best friends. so, again, car needed.
i suggest going to the negro leagues museum when in KC (http://www.nlbm.com/). i’ve been there a few times and really enjoyed it. plus it’s right down the street from arthur bryant’s barbeque, which is pretty awesome.