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Zoos / Zoo Travel / Nature Travel / Green Travel / St. Louis Travel / Missouri Travel / → All Tags

The St. Louis Zoo is Awash in Cute Baby Animals

The St. Louis Zoo went out of its way to attract park-goers this summer, from opening a new Panda Trek to hosting a summer concert series. As the summer winds down, though, they're shifting to a more basic and straightforward strategy: reminding potential visitors that there are a bunch of cute baby things on exhibit, and that people who come to the zoo can see them.

Just this week the zoo let loose their new baby lion cub "Imani," which drew exactly the kind of press that you'd expect a rambunctious lion cub to draw. She's not technically on exhibit yet—apparently this was just a supervised excursion into her future home in Big Cat Country—but some visitors still managed to catch a glimpse of the cub.

Those who weren't lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time, of course, were still able to see the zoo's Amur Leopard, Amur Tiger, Jaguar, and Snow Leopard, all in nearby exhibits along the trail.

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Videos / Weather / Airport News / STL / Airports / Tornadoes / Southwest Airlines / → All Tags

Watch the F-4 Tornado Hit St. Louis-Lambert International Airport (Videos)

Talk about a tarmac delay. When the F-4 tornado swept through St. Louis, MO late Friday night, its 111-165 mph winds wreaking havoc on Lambert International Airport, there were still three planes full of passengers at their gates. Luckily airplanes are made for such high winds and no one was hurt—although those who experienced it say they were scared at experiencing turbulence while still on the ground.

Meanwhile, in the airport, things got dangerous very quickly. In the videos above and below, you can watch as the storm approaches and travelers gawk at the funnel cloud through the high, floor-to-ceiling airport windows. In the next moment, a mass of the same people are powerwalking away from the windows to talk shelter in baggage claim.

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Missouri Travel / Memorials / Architecture Travel / National Parks / → All Tags

St. Louis' Gateway Arch to Get a 50th Birthday Upgrade

We knew that St. Louis was busy looking for some help giving a facelift to their city’s most famous attraction. However, it now looks like things are getting pretty serious as park officials and organizers have finalized an open call for plans, suggestions, and proposals to improve the Gateway Arch.

Specifically they’re looking to update and upgrade the park that surrounds the monument, the one dedicated to the American dream of heading west. Already there are plenty of naysayers that dislike that the current park, as it and the monument are detached from the rest of downtown and a huge intestate next to the Arch doesn’t really help things either.

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Royal Travel / Celeb Travel / Prince Albert II of Monaco / Monaco Travel / St. Louis Travel / → All Tags

Why is Prince Albert of Monaco Vacationing in Missouri?

What is Prince Albert II of Monaco up to only a month after making one of the biggest announcements in his country's modern history? Well, the Prince is taking a vacation to the Midwest, "the heartland of the USA," as the press keeps calling it.

Back in June, Prince Albert, the son of Prince Rainier III and American actress Grace Kelly, declared that he and his longtime girlfriend Charlene Wittstock, a former Olympic swimmer for South Africa, would be married next year. Monaco had almost given up on seeing another royal wedding, since Albert has always topped lists of the hottest bachelors, but now he will give his country something to celebrate for sure.

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Valet Parking / Cars / Driving / HotelChatter / → All Tags

It's True: Parking Valets Will Beat the Hell Out of Your Car

When I was a college student at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, I worked as a bellman and parking valet at the Omni International Hotel, which is now a Sheraton. It was a fun job, because not only did I enjoy interacting with guests (and getting good tips), I also got a chance to drive some pretty fancy cars. I was kind of a shy kid, so I didn't put the cars through too much abuse, but a video that I discovered today reminds me of just how brazen some of my valet parking colleagues could be with other people's rides.

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Airport News / STL / Airports / St Louis Travel / → All Tags

St. Louis Airport Is Spending A Million Dollars So You Won't Get Lost

Travelers in St. Louis who aren’t the best at directions are getting a holiday present, but they will need to wait until 2010 to open it. The Lambert-St. Louis International Airport is doing a little sign upgrade along with a few other light renovations. The sign situation in St. Louis must be pretty messy since the airport is expecting to spend over $1 million on the new wayfinding project.

The new signs are needed in part because the airport is going to confuse flyers anyways as the names of the terminals are changing. The Main Terminal at the airport will now simply be Terminal 1, and the East Terminal will be switching to Terminal 2. Not too difficult, but when you’re looking for the park and ride at five in the morning all bets are off—we just might need those signs.

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Missouri Travel / Memorials / Architecture Travel / National Parks / → All Tags

St. Louis' Gateway Arch Looking To Have Some Work Done Before Turning Fifty

Now that Southwest Airlines has announced that they are all about St. Louis, the city is eager to get to work on their most famous attraction. After all, with an influx of new visitors thanks to cheap flights, the city needs to show off its offerings. Late last week the National Park Service released an almost 300 page set of plans dealing with the future of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial—that’s the Gateway Arch for those less familiar with its full name.

The park service is looking to preserve and maintain the grand lawn area beneath the Arch and wants to add some snazzy new stuff to the north and south ends of the area. The entire memorial is almost 100 acres large, so they have a lot of room to play with. One of the biggest updates would be to expand the park across the Mississippi River. That would provide East St. Louis with a little Arch love, and would allow the Arch to be better connected to the downtown area. Certain blocks downtown could be cleared to allow for new walkways for pedestrians to check things out.

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Obama-Around-The-World / Presidential Travel / Barack Obama / Baseball / → All Tags

Buy Obama Some Peanuts And Crackerjacks In St. Louis

Whether or not you're planning one of those tour-the-USA's-major-league-ballparks vacations, perhaps you'll want to add St. Louis' Busch Stadium onto your Midwest road-trip now that President Obama has taken the mound.

That's right, last night during the All-Star game, Barack dressed down in jeans and a Chicago White Sox jackets—yay for repping his home team—and threw the ceremonial first pitch to Albert Pujols of the Cardinals. Although he had warmed up on the White House lawn this weekend and was accompanied to St. Louis on Air Force One with Willie Mays, Obama said of his pitch: "Now, there was no clock on it, I don't know how fast it went - but if it exceeded 30 miles per hour, I'd be surprised, but it did clear the plate."

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Beer Festivals / Beer / Summer Festivals / Missouri Travel / → All Tags

No Busch Light At The St. Louis Brewers Heritage Fest

It’s pretty clear that the folks in St. Louis take their beer pretty seriously. After all, this is the proud home of Budweiser, as long as you just forget about that whole InBev buyout thing. That’s why it’s a pretty safe bet to predict that the 2009 St. Louis Brewers Heritage Festival is one of the must-do drinking fests of the year.

There’s three different schedules over the weekend of June 5 and 6 that all take place within Forest Park, but unless you’re hardcore we’d only recommend throwing down for one of them. Tickets start at $30 and cost $35 on the day of the event. It’s a pretty good deal as it grants you access to unlimited sampling of over 60 different beer styles, live music, and a commemorative glass.

Brewmasters will be on hand from some of the nation’s most well known breweries, as well as some smaller ones. We’d head straight to the Trailhead Brewing Company booth, in hopes of downing a few samples of a hoppy ale. Just remember to bring a couple bucks in case you get the beer munchies, as there’ll be quite an assortment of food vendors as well.

Related Stories:
·St. Louis Brewery Heritage Festival [Official Site]
·Beer coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Official Site]

Rental Cars / Enterprise / Green Travel / → All Tags

Enterprise Adding 5000 Hybrids, But Would You Rent?

Is going green good business? Amid an industry-wide slowdown on car rentals, Enterprise announced it was adding 5000 vehicles to its fleet -- specifically, hybrids.

The company also announced they would create 80 "hybrid locations" or rental desks with a better than usual selection of hybrid cars in highly-trafficked areas. They're not the only company buying (Dollar just announced it signed a deal with troubled manufacturer Ford), but Enterprise is effectively betting that gas prices will rise again -- and their fleet will be uniquely protected from those potential fluctuations.

We think some hybrids like the Prius, above, are pretty cute. But choosing to rent a hybrid drastically limits the pool of cars you could get at any given location -- and what if you get an ugly one? Still, the gas savings could make your trip a much more cost-effective one. Have you rented a hybrid on a trip?

Related Stories:
· Rental car slowdown hurts automakers [AP via San-Jose Mercury News]
· Enterprise Adds 5000 Hybrids To Its Fleet Of Fuel-Efficient Cars[Sustainablog]
· Five Humiliating Rental Cars To Ruin Your Vacation [Jaunted]
· Enterprise's Sweet Weekend Rental Deal [Jaunted]
· Rental Cars coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: geognerd]

George Clooney's Mustache / George Clooney / Movie Travel / STL / → All Tags

The Soup Strainer Jets To St. Louis

George Clooney has booked Lambert-St. Louis International for his latest project, "Up in the Air," now that filming has wrapped on "Men Who Stare at Goats." The former home of TWA, the airport's now probably best known for its haunting ghost terminal.

While production crews are still figuring out where exactly they'll shoot inside STL, Clooney says the whole city could star in the movie, the story of a corporate downsizer on a mission to bank 1 million frequent flier miles. Jason Reitman of "Juno" fame is directing.

While the city is thrilled to have the production coming to town, Lambert's hosted movie stars before: Matt Damon visited the airport in May for work on Steven Soderbergh's newest, "The Informant."

Related Stories:
· Clooney to Film Movie in St. Louis [AP, via IHT]
· Jaunted on Location coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: The Insider]

Possible Presidents / Barack Obama / Political Travel / Google Maps / → All Tags

Where Was Obama's 100,000 Person Rally?

Possible president Barack Obama drew 100,000 people to downtown St. Louis today, which doesn't prove he's going to win on November 4 but certainly shows there isn't much else going on in the city. (At least today!)

The rally was held at the Gateway Arch, which is officially part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, a national park created in 1935 by Franklin Roosevelt.

Seen in the background of this stunning AP photo is another part of the park that doesn't get nearly as much press as Eero Saarinen's gleaming arch. The Old Courthouse was home to two decisions that precipitated Dred Scott v. Sanford, an important decision on women's suffrage that led to Minor v. Happersett and it's the place that Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis was admitted to the bar.

Related Stories:
· Possible Presidents Map [Jaunted]