Help with trip to St. Louis please

[ccb2004]

We are taking short 3 day trip to St. Louis. Any ideas on fun, inexpensive things to do (we have a 6 year old boy), places to stay, places to eat?? Money is a little tight so Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[CW&M Mom]

What month....

[enginerd]

The zoo is very nice and free. If you get there before 9 a.m., I believe the parking is free. Also if you get there before 9 a.m., the children's zoo is free (small animal building where you can pet the guinea pigs, etc., goat petting area, nice play area with slides). Grant's Farm is also nice - lots of animals (Clydesdales, etc.), also a petting area, a tram ride around and free beer at the end. I think Grant's Farm is free too but maybe there is a fee for parking. My son always loved the Science Center also - free but you pay for extras like the Imax, etc. As far as meals we always liked going to "The Hill" which is near the Science Center for authentic Italian food - our favorite is Cunetto's. Then we would go to Ted Drewes for frozen custard afterward - a St. Louis tradition.

[ccb2004]

those are great ideas-thank you! we are going august 11th, 12th and 13th

[uummm]

MY sister lives in St Louis and we went to visit her last year...We did the science center (which I think was $8 to park) entry is free...and the Zoo was free, there is free parking IF YOU CAN FIND A SPOT there is parking along the curb. My sister was saying that a lot of things are free there, it is just once you get there they like to charge for certian things...I know at the Zoo they had some pay spots for things to do, however there is a ton of stuff to do without paying. We are cheap so we only did the free stuff...my youngest is 10yr old.
Also make sure you get the frozen custard...we went to some place with a gorilla on it, but there are many others. I know where we went it wasn't even that expensive.

[cybilx10]

Oohh, we did this last year. We actually found staying across the bridge in Illinois was cheaper for the hotel and we stayed at a brand new Doubletree. We went to the zoo, the arch and the science museum. We went and saw a Cardinals game while we were there also.
Click this link it will take you to tripadvisor which I found I absolutely love for info. It gives you everything you are able to do in the town and the approx. cost of doing those things.

[ccb2004]

Thank you sooooo much for all the great suggestions!!