Fantasy Booking Our Day Out

Sal and I have been fantasy booking our day out when this finally passes. I'm starting to ask more and more people what their day out looks like. It starts to show you what sort of people your friends are. For instance, my buddy Cory, wants White Castle when he gets out, so he's pretty much trash.

So I've been thinking about my day out as a section of the city. When I can go out, I'm staying out. Lunch, drinks, and dinner. Money means nothing. I'll take out a bank loan to fund it.

This map below is all of my favorite places in St. Louis. I want to go to them all, but there is only so much time and my liver will only hold on for so long.



Gravois Triangle

1. Start by splitting a bottle of wine at Novella on the patio. 
2. Wander over to Onesto for some pasta and garlic knots. 
3. Stop by for a drink at Lemmons. 
4. Heavy Anchor for a City Wide. 
5. Then Silverballroom for a game of pinball. 
6. Dinner at Mariachis 2, finish the night with a margarita. 

Total Stops: 6

Total Distance: 4.2 miles

Morganford Crawl

1. Start for a draft beer at the Civil Life. Sit in the beer garden allowing the sun to warm out faces. 
2. We started too classy, so we'll stop by Tower Pub on the way home. The beers are cheap, it has a vaguely stale smell, and I wouldn't want to see it in full light, but it's one of our old haunts. 
3. This next part is hard, because there's a lot of good food on this stretch. We start at 3 Monkeys for some Jungle Nachoes. 
4. We move across the street to City Park Grille, order some wings, enjoy the breeze coming in through the open garage door. 
5. Then we order some fries and sauces from the Dam, wander next door to the Amsterdam, anticipate our burgers and chat up the owner. 
6. We stop at Stella Blues only because we've been promising to give them another shot, and drink a beer to the memory of Colorado Bob's Ship of Fools which has been shuttered for months now.

Total Stops: 7
Total Distance: 2.9 miles

Cherokee Street

The problem with Cherokee street is at one end it has some of my favorite Mexican food. At the other end, some of the best burgers in St. Louis. And sandwiched in between is some of the best friend chicken. How do you deal with that? Gluttony, that's how.

1. Start by getting a burger at Mac's Local Eats. You need to get there immediately when the open otherwise there's a 45 minute wait. Gotta also get the Red Hot Riplet fries. 
2. Stop in at the Hop Shop for a quick beer. 
3. If I can manage to stuff more food in me, wander over to Byrd and Barrel for some chicken strips. 
4. Stop by one of my favorite bars in the city, Fortune Teller, get Tarot Cards read, take in the vibe.
5. Stop by one of my other favorites bars, the Whiskey Ring. Sit under the Macho Man painting and drink an Angel's Envy whiskey, neat. 
6. Stop in to Earthbound brewing, comment on how cool the spot is but comment on how even though the beers are getting better, they aren't there yet. It's tradition to do this. 
7. Finish the night at Tower Taco. I will have a margarita and burrito and regret my dinner decision. 

Total Stops: 7
Total Distance: 1.1 miles

Midtown Beer Crawl

Midtown is a bit more walkable than it used to be and is sort of a hidden area of the city most people don't think to spend a day wandering around. That's going to change when the soccer stadium is built.

1. Lay a good base at Southern with some fried chicken. 
2. Go next door to Center Ice Brewing, drink a beer while leaning against the hockey boards. 
3. Wander a couple blocks down to Wellspent brewing. Haven't had a chance to go since it reopened. 
4. Up the street to Urban Chestnut. Sit in the beer garden, pet some dogs, sunlight. 
5. Hit up Smallbatch for one whiskey, something more top shelf, like Whistle Pig. 
6. Over to Schlafly, drink all of their current Hop Trial flavors. Eat falafel and an order of pretzels. 

Total Stops: 6
Total Distance: 1.7 miles

The Grove


Ohhh, the Grove is one of those places that has transformed over the past decade and is quickly becoming one of my favorite places. Artists and the gay community of St. Louis has transformed the area into a hotspot.

1. Burger and beer at Rockwell. It's the second best burger in town and there's always dogs to pet. 
2. Next to the Atomic Cowboy. If the weather is nice, I sit under a tree on their patio. If I'm extra lucky, there's a band playing. 
3. Handelbar for a quiet drink in a dark space. 
4. Parlor for a City Wide and a game of Ninja Turtles.
5. Gezellig for a quiet drink in a bright space. Maybe we stay long enough to play a board game. 
6. Urban Chestnut because it's by and far the most impressive building in the Grove. 
7. Back to Grace Meats, get some spicy fried chicken, a 4 Hands IPA, and go to bed early to digest

Total Stops: 7

Total Distance: 1.1 miles

Central West End

The Central West End has long been a nightlife place. It's where the elite of St. Louis live and complain about the nightlife all around them. 

1. Brunch and a Bloody Mary at Retreat. It cannot be understated how good the food is here.
2. Quick cocktail at Juniper. Let the sun pour through the windows and warm my skin. 
3. Beer at iTap. We sit at the bar and chat up whoever is around. 
4. Specialty margarita at Mission Taco. 
5. Drink at Up-down, take out $10 in quarters, and play whatever is open.
6. Drink at Gamlin Whiskey House with a giant and expensive steak. 

Total Stops: 6

Total Distance: 1.9 miles

I hope we're only weeks from being able to do some of this. With all the "open America" protests going on though, I think there's enough people not taking this seriously to where it will probably last into the fall. 

The places above are many of my favorites. I didn't even include parts of town like Maplewood or Dogtown. My fear is some of my places won't survive this. For now though, they all live in my mind, perfectly clean, filled with cold drinks, awaiting my arrival.