St. Louis was recently named the top city for cheapskates. While the list was designed to show where you could live well for cheap, St. Louis is also a great place to vacation for a low price. I showed you how to vacation in STL for $500 but I’m taking it one step further.
Forest Park in St. Louis is almost twice the size of New York’s Central Park. There’s a number of attractions that have free entry daily but in the summer each of these museums take it one step further. Now you can explore the museums at night and enjoy evening activities they’ve planned to keep you busy all week long.
Missouri History Museum
I mentioned in the May events post that the Missouri History Museum has Twilight Tuesdays where you can listen to music on the museum’s front lawn. The museum is open daily from 10 AM to 5 PM but on Tuesdays they stay open till 8 PM. There are still 4 more concerts left this summer.
May 22 U V Hayes and Roland Johnson —Tribute to Oliver Sain (Memphis Blues)
May 29 Griffin and the Gargoyles (70s funk)
June 5 Asia Lynn Bargé — The Diana Ross Experience (Motown)
June 12 Wendell Brown — Tribute to Luther Vandross (soul)
St. Louis Zoo
The St. Louis Zoo has free admission daily. Starting this Friday they’ll be open from 8 AM to 5 PM Monday through Thursday and 8 AM to 7 PM on Friday through Sunday as part of their summer hours. On Fridays the Zoo will be hosting a summer concert series from 5 PM to 8 PM. Not only can you listen to music but you’ll have an extra hour in the zoo. The Jungle Boogie Concert series schedule starts this week.
May 25 Arvell & Co. (80s & beyond)
June 1 Bottoms Up Blues Gang (blues)
June 8 Johnny Henry Band (country/southern rock)
June 15 No concert (A Zoo Ado Fundraiser)
June 22 Funky Butt Brass Band (New Orleans-style brass, jazz and funk)
June 29 Charles Glenn (variety, blues and more)
July 6 SuperJam (70s arena rock)
July 13 Push the Limit (variety/dance)
July 20 Hudson & the Hoo Doo Cats (swing, jump blues)
July 27 Marsha Evans (motown/soul)
August 3 American Idle (country/pop variety)
August 10 Cumberland Gap Band (bluegrass)
August 17 Griffin & the Gargoyles (variety and top 40 hits)
August 24 GalaxyRed (variety/dance)
August 31 Dirty Muggs (pop, rock, funk, soul & more!)
Shakespeare in the Park
As the Zoo closes, the stage will be lighting up over in Shakespeare Glen, just between the Art Museum and the Zoo. Shakespeare in the Park is an annual free event that doesn’t even require a ticket. This year’s show will be Othello. 90 minutes before the show starts you can catch the Green Show, a way to warm up the crowds before the actual show. You can bring coolers, picnic blankets, and chairs to the show and go with friends.
Daily (except Tuesdays) May 25 through June 17 at 8 PM
The Muny
The Muny is an outdoor amphitheater performing high-quality shows in Forest Park. While tickets start at $10 a show (on sale June 2), there are about 1500 free seats in the back 9 rows of the theater reserved on a first come, first served basis. You’ll want to line up early because the gates open at 7 PM for this section. The shows start at 8:15 PM.
June 18-June 24 Thoroughly Modern Millie
June 25-July 1 Chicago
July 5-July 13 Aladdin
July 16-July 22 Dreamgirls
July 23-July 29 Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
July 30-August 5 Pirates! (or Gilbert & Sullivan Plunder’d)
August 6-August 12 The King and I
St. Louis Art Museum
The St. Louis Art Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 AM to 5 PM and Friday till 9 PM. On Fridays you can also visit the museum’s featured exhibits for free. If you plan to take advantage of those extra hours and savings, you’ll want to stop by for the museum’s Outdoor Film Series. At 7 PM food and music start for the crowds who want a good seat and the movies start as the museum closes at 9 PM. Sauce Magazine will be sponsoring food trucks for the crowds.
July 6 Monty Python and the Holy Grail
July 13 The Birds
July 20 A Hard Day’s Night
July 27 Goldfiner
Getting to Forest Park
Photo Credit: Bob Moore, slfp.com
One of the easiest ways to arrive at Forest Park is by Metrolink. The Blue Line and the Red Line both merge at the Forest Park stop. You can also drive to the park and you can park for free along the many winding roads of the park. If you don’t like walking, there is a trolley that circles the park and connects to the Metrolink station. Adults pay only $2 and kids pay only $1 to ride all day. You can also apply Metro tickets, passes, and transfers. The service will last until October 31. View the full route information on the Metro site. If you’re going to the Muny the shuttle will take you round trip from the Metro station to the Muny’s entrance at 20-minute intervals.
