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.]]> Omri 2011-10-07T14:03:33-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/4/24/21423/1680

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.]]> JetSetCD 2011-04-25T11:47:05-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/8/25/71534/2477

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. ]]> kjb 2010-08-25T09:16:14-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/8/5/112733/3053

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. ]]> JetSetCD 2010-08-05T13:36:17-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/12/19/135441/32

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. ]]> Victor Ozols 2009-12-19T13:54:41-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/12/9/8957/43399

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. ]]> kjb 2009-12-09T08:41:38-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/28/82332/762

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. ]]> kjb 2009-10-28T16:09:18-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/