I could write fifty pages or a novel about MoKaBe’s and its bizarre fairy-tale-esque quality that sometimes brings to the life of Midwestern queers. It’s Missouri! Neon lettering on the menus, a cigarette machine across from the bathroom, people doing crosswords at a long counter while chatting with baristas, potentially some blaring Alanis Morisette, and LESBIANS. Picture The Planet, and then take everything away, including the people, and replace it with everything that is the opposite of that.
![gay bars st louis gay bars st louis](https://media2.fdncms.com/riverfronttimes/imager/u/slideshow/2594700/st_louis_bdsm_cages.jpg)
When I could stop brooding and painting with watercolors long enough to leave my apartment, I would go to (what I considered) the epicenter of STL girlqueerness - MoKaBe’s Coffee House (3606 Arsenal Street) And I got thirsty for a brand new part of the St. Of course, there came a time when I’d transformed into a sort of Ani-wannabe, cargo-short-wearing, nose-ringed queer. With its all night availability, Coffee Cartel was a venue for both my end-of-college course load and babygayness. Coffee Cartel (2 Maryland Plaza) is a gay-friendly coffee shop that’s open twenty-four hours. Euclid), is a gay bar with omni-popular Show Tunes Tuesdays. Though it is a thoroughfare for the frat-esque, it has a couple of gay-friendly places. The Central West End is also close to some of the Universities of the city. The surrounding neighborhoods like Clayton, Richmond Heights, and even The Loop didn’t seem to have a vibrant or visible population of gay people. In college at Wash U, I didn’t see many queer people or know where they may be lurking. It is probably the most “historic” attraction in the Loop, and a great place to pass through when visiting.įorest Park and The Delmar Loop surround the Washington University Campus, and are also close to nearly-neighboring institutions like Fontbonne and St. While I imagine that once The Loop was the place for a twenty-something person to really let go and exist, the collision of the yuppie parents and increasingly violent crime can make it less-than-pleasurable.īlueberry Hill (6504 Delmar), bragging to be “The Home of Chuck Berry and Rock N’ Roll” is a fun time capsule of a bar and restaurant with frequent not-to-be-missed shows. It is a busy district with shops from the wacky to chic, restaurants from the diner to the slightly-better-diner and a great coffee shop, Meshuggah (6269 Delmar). Swarming with Washington University students, The Loop holds roughly six blocks of varied (and sometimes touristy) attractions. As a college student (as well as for many others of all kinds/ages), it was a constant place of wonder. Admission to those attractions are all FREE. Regardless of its rank, it lays claim to a jaw-dropping Art Museum, History Museum, Science Center, and Zoo. It is locally rumored to be the largest urban park in the country. Eat Ted Drewes Frozen Custard after that.Īnd then there is Forest Park. Louis, the City Museum is truly the actual Number One must-see. Outside, you can climb up a net to a gutted airplane (and fully panic,if you’re afraid of heights). It has a multitude of slides, some circus acts, a chamber of skate ramps, and a shoelace display. It is an epic five-story playground (formerly a shoe factory) made out of recycled junk. The City Museum is a wonderland for grown-ups, teenagers, and kids.
#GAY BARS ST LOUIS SERIES#
Kids can swim and play in a series of fountains and pools, there is plenty of green space for running around, and it’s an oddly artsy-hip retreat. In the summer, City Garden is alive with families.
![gay bars st louis gay bars st louis](https://s3-media1.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/f1m5qoKXKEIPJfHz0unCCg/ls.jpg)
With the advent of the City Museum and City Garden (and general re-building efforts), a diverse population has begun to creep into the downtown streets.
![gay bars st louis gay bars st louis](https://media1.fdncms.com/riverfronttimes/imager/u/slideshow/2355470/5537714.0.jpg)
+ Parks, Museums and Other Places for EveryoneĬity Garden - Yes, that girl's head is coming out of a vagina
![gay bars st louis gay bars st louis](https://gaycities-listing-images-production.imgix.net/originals/bathhouses-190047--0e68a.jpg)
Finally, a porthole to another world spontaneously opened: The Actual City Of St. What I really dug came at the end of my college experience. I sung the angsty-teen refrain of “I have to get out of this town.” But I didn’t do that. I went to college roughly four miles from my childhood home and stayed in a dormitory roughly two fire hydrants away from my elementary school. The East held gang violence and puddles with needles, and the West was a Shirley Temple at the racquet club and an outing on horseback. Louis was the greatest schism imaginable. Buildings were abandoned, I was told it was unsafe, and I didn’t know anyone who actually lived there.
#GAY BARS ST LOUIS FULL#
In my youth, it seemed dangerous and full of broken metal things. I graduated in a wedding dress, attended debutante balls, and had a near-constant Frappuccino as part of my polo-khaki-skirt uniform.Īnd then there is the city itself. There was the nook of the county where I went to prep school. Louis, Missouri hides in a three-state-sized cornfield.ĭemographically, it is preposterously uneven.