Explore St. Louis

Fall is here and that means it’s hayride season in St. Louis. Discover fabulous fall foliage and enjoy the crisp autumn air on leisurely hay-cushioned rambles throughout the region.

The Wilderness Wagon ambles through the gorgeous Shaw Nature Reserve each Saturday and Sunday through October 30. Rides cost only $1 and depart from the visitor center at 1, 2 and 3 p.m. each day. A nature reserve guide narrates during the three-mile journey through the lush Missouri countryside, pointing out the best color, the tall grass prairie, a pine forest and the creatures that live in the wetlands and throughout the 2,500-acre nature reserve. Located in Grey Summit, Missouri near the Meramec River, the site is operated by the Missouri Botanical Garden.

If you dare, hop aboard the Haunted Hayride that departs from Eckert’s Country Store & Farms in the nearby Illinois towns of Millstadt and Grafton. The kid-friendly, goblinly fun happens Friday and Saturday nights through October 29. The hair-raising trips through Eckert’s Haunted Orchards are a treat for everyone in the family. Note: September 23 and 24 hayrides are available at the Millstadt Farm only. No rides on September 30.

Gather a big group and have a hayloft of a lot of fun by reserving a 20-person wagon for a
Forest Park Hayride. Reservations are required for the popular Friday and Saturday night 45-minute excursion throughout fabulous Forest Park. BYO hot dogs and marshmallows to roast at the roaring bonfire that awaits at the end of the ride. Wagons leave each evening at 7, 7:05, 7:10, 7:15, 7:20, 8, 8:05, 8:10, 8:15 and 8:20 p.m. through December 20. There are no hayrides during Thanksgiving weekend. Cost: $100.00 per 20-person wagon; reservations required. For more information call: (314) 289-5330, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m., Mon. - Fri.

Ready for some football? Step out to the Edward Jones Dome on Saturday, September 24 to see the annual Gateway Classic as the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff takes on Tuskegee University.

A star-studded weekend of events surrounds the game with entertainers, sports figures, comedians and much, much more for the region’s hottest two-day party. And don't forget the Battle of the Bands -- a halftime show that's not to be missed.

Saturday's events kick off with the Hardee’s Parade at 9 a.m. on Saturday, beginning at Tucker & Market streets Downtown.

The St. Louis Gateway Football Classic, sponsored by American Family Insurance, begins at 4 p.m. at the Edward Jones Dome. The U.S. ARMY BATTLE OF THE BANDS, featuring Tuskegee University and UAPB marching bands and a special half time performance by Doug E. Fresh sponsored by the Black Family Channel, marks half time during the game.

Tickets are available at the Dome box office, through www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 314-621-1994.

Looking for something to do tonight? Check out the intersection of Art and Life in the Grand Center arts and entertainment district of St. Louis.

Join the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts and the Contemporary Art Museum for an open house and reception from 5:00-7:00 pm., Friday, September 23. Refreshments and wine by Chaumette Vineyards and Winery will be served in the connecting courtyard. This will be one of the first opportunities to view the Contemporary's newly opened exhibitions, Girls' Night Out and Cindy Sherman: Working Girl, and the second to last day that Brancusi and Serra in Dialogue will be on view at the Pulitzer. This installation is a rare opportunity to see works by these two major artists in juxtaposition with each other and the Ando-designed architecture of the Pulitzer.

Tonight is also a great time to explore the rest of Grand Center as a destination for the arts in St. Louis. The Sheldon Art Galleries is opening three new exhibitions with a public reception from 5-7 p.m., and, the following Grand Center institutions will have extended hours: the Historic Samuel Cupples House; the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art; the Saint Louis University Museum of Art; the Vaughn Cultural Center; and the EarthWays Home -- all remaining open until 7 p.m. The Portfolio Gallery will also have extended hours from 7-8:30p.m. and the Centene Center for the Arts will be providing tours until 7:30pm.

The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra is performing tonight and through the weekend at Powell Symphony Hall. Maestro Robertson, soprano Dawn Upshaw and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chorus present Bach/Stravinsky’s “Chorale Variations, Vom Himmel hoch,” Mozart’s “Bella mia fiamma, K. 582,” Vivier’s “Lonely Child,” and John Adams’ “Harmonielehre.”

"Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" continues at the Fabulous Fox Theatre through Sunday.

The Sheldon Special Concerts presents Guitarist Bill Frisell who recreates his hip album, "Unspeakable," along with bassist Tony Scherr, drummer Kenny Wolleson, the 858 Strings and album producer Hal Willum who spins the turntables. Guitarist Corey Christiansen will open the show at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

The John Pizzarelli Trio performs at Jazz at the Bistro with sets at 8:30 p.m. & 10:15 p.m.

Faust Historical Village comes alive during the annual Faust Folk Festival at the eponymous St. Louis County Park. On Saturday and Sunday, September 24 and 25, reenactors in period costume give interpretations of life during the 19th century. The setting is perfect. The village consists of 19th century buildings—all authentic to the area and period—including a carriage house, a typical form of German construction from around 1880, two barns, a blacksmith shop, two smokehouses and a log cabin with two log-box rooms connected by a breezeway.

Tours of the village focus on the restoration process, the cultural heritage of various types of construction and the lifestyles of the families who lived and worked there. You’ll see demonstrations of blacksmithing, metalwork, rail splitting, wheat weaving, and craft making including cornhusk dolls, wood carving and silhouette cutting. Live period music sets the tone for this annual family event. Hours are 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. daily.

During your visit, don't miss Faust Park's other delights. The beautiful St. Louis County Park is home to the Butterfly House, the historic Thornhill estate and the festive St. Louis Carousel.

Be sure to wear bright clothing to attract plenty of ‘butterfly kisses’ when you visit St. Louis’ popular Butterfly House attraction. A three-story crystal palace filled with tropical foliage houses up to 2,000 of the beautiful winged creatures in free flight. You’ll also be able to watch the creatures transform from chrysalis stage to take wing in their new home. A film about the life cycle of the insect, a soon-to-be-complete outdoor butterfly garden and a fun gift shop named – what else? – Madame Butterfly’s round out the experience.

Become a kid again and experience a magical ride aboard the St. Louis Carousel. Made by the Dentzel Co. of Philadelphia circa 1920, this phenomenal carousel has more than 60 hand-carved horses, deer and chariots and will charm you with its gentle entertainment. Open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in a climate-controlled facility within Faust Park, you can experience a ride that will transport you back to simpler times.

Thornhill, the 1819 estate of Missouri’s second governorFrederick Bates also is located in Faust Park. The site includes eight buildings--the house, two barns, a summer kitchen, a smoke house, a distillery, an ice house and a granary. Some of the buildings were built in the early 1800s while others were built in the 1900s. Also on the grounds is the cemetery where the former governor and his family are buried.

Mark your calendar for October 21 and 22. That's when Thornhill takes on an eerie glow during the candlelight Faust Historical Haunting, a Halloween-inspired event. The estate of Frederick Bates provides the setting and prompts the question, "Is Thornhill haunted?" Storytellers share the spooky tale of resident ghosts during tours of the mansion and family cemetery. Learn fascinating facts about memorial and burial practices of the early 1800s and more during this spooktacular annual happening.

Are you a house voyeur? Take a self-guided tour and peek into beautiful loft homes of downtown St. Louis residents during the National City Fall Downtown Living Tour, Saturday and Sunday, September 17th & 18th from noon to 5:00 pm.

In addition to real folks’ real homes, the tour will showcase new developments and available properties including lofts, condos and apartments. Developer properties on the tour are: The Annex Lofts, Adler Lofts, The Ventana, The Bogen, Windows Lofts, The Meridian, Paul Brown Loft Apts., The Alexander Lofts, The Marquette Condominiums. Properties that will feature private resident’s homes are: Terra Cotta Lofts, Printers Lofts, Lofts at 2020, Railway Lofts, Louderman Lofts, 10th Street Lofts, Lofts on Old Post Office Square, Roberts Lofts on the Plaza, McGowan Lofts.

Tickets are $10 and are available in advance through Metrotix or on the day of the event at the registration area at 16th & Washington where participants will also receive their tour booklet/map. A complimentary shuttle bus runs throughout the neighborhood.

More than a thousand new lofts have opened in St. Louis' historic buildings. More than 1,500 additional lofts are under construction for opening in 2006.

Hot air balloons and hot theatrical performances are among the cool things to do in The Lou.

The Great Forest Park Balloon Race takes to the skies on Saturday, September 17. The annual hair and hound balloons launch at 4:30 p.m. from Central Field (between the Jewel Box and Steinberg Rink).

The race is the finale for a multi-day event that starts on Friday, September 16 with a “Balloon Glow.” The colorful aircraft are lit from within to make a dazzling scene near the park’s World’s Fair Pavilion. Race day festivities begin at noon with parachute exhibitions, kids’ entertainment areas, food and music.

St. Louis’-own Tennessee Williams’ classic tale of a dysfunctional Southern family, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” sizzles on the stage of the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis through October 7. Who knew a full-slip could be so, well, hot? The Rep also presents one of Broadway’s hottest shows, “Take Me Out” at the Grandel Theatre, September 21 through October 9. The Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play follows a professional baseball team as they adjust to a star player’s revelation that he’s gay.

Speaking of baseball, no team is hotter than the St. Louis Cardinals who host their last regular season home stands at Busch Stadium September 27, 28 and 30 and October 1 and 2. “New” Busch Stadium opens in April 2006. Go Cards!

St. Louis shares a dynamic musical heritage with our sister Mississippi River city of New Orleans. And, some of the great musicians who created signature sounds in
St. Louis,including Ike Turner and the late, great Little Milton and Oliver Sain, are natives of Mississippi and the Gulf Coast.

To honor this shared roots music heritage and to raise money to help, Jazz at the Bistro, one of St. Louis’ premiere music venues, presents a Katrina Relief Benefit Concert for the Tipitina’s Foundation on Sunday, September 18 from 2 to 6 p.m. The foundation, named for one of the Big Easy’s great music venues, is helping displaced and out-of-work musicians from New Orleans’ vast entertainment community.

Taking the stage at the popular jazz club are noted St. Louis jazz artists including Erin Bode, Dave Venn, Montez Coleman, Mardra and Reggie Thomas, Willie Akins and Gene Dobbs Bradford. Jazz at the Bistro is located at 3536 Washington Avenue in St. Louis’ Grand Center arts and entertainment district. For details, click on www.jatb.org.

The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) will perform a free concert on Sunday, September 18, 3:00 p.m. at Powell Symphony Hall to benefit victims of the Katrina disaster. Donations will be accepted from patrons attending the concert with all the proceeds going directly to the Red Cross and a special musicians fund to aid displaced musicians from the Gulf Coast.

New SLSO Music Director David Robertson, his wife, pianist Orli Shaham, the SLSO Chorus and the In Unison Chorus will join the Orchestra on the program. The complete program includes Brahms, Piano Trio No. 1 in B major, Op. 8 with David Halen, Daniel Lee & Orli Shaham, Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio espagnol, “Lift Every Voice” and “When the Saints Go Marching In.”

Grand Center has agreed to provide complimentary parking in the lots adjacent to Powell Hall for patrons attending the concert. No reservations or tickets are needed, seating is open and on a first come,first serve basis.

St. Louis area restaurants have joined forces to create a way for St. Louis area residents and visitors help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. A portion of restaurant sales receipts at participating restaurants and retailers on Thursday, September 8 and Friday, September 9 will be donated to hurricane relief organizations. Monies collected will be divided equally between the Salvation Army and the Marshall Faulk Foundation’s Katrina Relief Fund. Marshall Faulk, St. Louis Rams star runningback, is a New Orleans native.

The effort is being coordinated by Sauce Magazine, a St. Louis-area publication that features stories on St. Louis restaurants, wineries and culinary-related establishments and events. An ever-growing list of participants can be found at http://www.stlkatrinarelief.com.

Something big is happening in St. Louis this Labor Day weekend. Something very big. Sumo wrestling is a new attraction at this weekend’s Japanese Festival at the Missouri Botanical Garden. The much-anticipated annual event, slated for September 3 –5, celebrates the history, culture and people of Japan.

Sumo, Japan’s national sport, originated as religious performances for the Shinto gods. Each day during the festival, Sumo authority Lynn Matsuoka will give an audiovisual presentation about Sumo. Following the explanatory show, two former professional Sumo will demonstrate the sport. The Sumo schedule is:
Saturday, September 3 at 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, September 4 and Monday, September 5 at noon – 1:00 p.m.; 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 – 5:00 p.m.

In addition to Sumo, visitors can enjoy bonsai and ikebana displays, Japanese cooking and ice sculpture demonstrations, kimono fashion shows, taiko drum performances, martial arts activities, hands-on origami and screenings of the anime film Metropolis. Tours of Seiwa En, the largest authentic Japanese garden in North America and traditional tea ceremonies also are on the agenda.