Cricket-less in the Lou

We love camping and love camping with the kids. Sometimes circumstances arise where we want to get away for a quick weekend for activities that the kids aren't able to join. This was one of those weekends. ​

Several months ago, we bought two VIP suite tickets to a Cardinals game. This happened to be the same weekend that a family friend was in a performance at The Muny. We decided to book a room at The Cheshire Inn to take advantage of both and have a St Louis date weekend. 
After a ritual stop for brisket at Sugarfire and excessive spending at REI, we checked in to The Cheshire Inn, a boutique hotel, less than a block from Forest Park. The Cheshire is an old English-themed hotel, with each room named after an English author. They have a courtyard pool that looks like a scene from a Vegas hotel more so than a traditional hotel pool. The pool bar was open and there was a party going on around the pool. The hotel also has a Starbucks, two restaurants, and a pub. 
We decided to spend the afternoon enjoying the property. We started with an afternoon pick me up at Starbucks. Next we climbed down the spiral staircase into Basso, a trendy Italian resteraunt that was hip and busy for a Saturday afternoon. We enjoyed a couple appetizers and cocktails and would recommend Basso even if you aren't staying at the property. We checked out the English pub, Fox and Hounds, which again was much more enjoyable than we'd expected a hotel bar to be. 
We had tickets to see Newies at The Muny, the final show of the 99th season. The Muny is the oldest and largest outdoor musical theatre, an 11,000 seat Amphitheater in St Louis' Forest Park boasting both multi-generational season ticket holders as well as 1500 free seats to every show - and us somewhere in between. Newies was a great show and we really enjoy our evening at The Muny. The hotel offered a shuttle to the show, which is great. Parking and traffic before and after the show is a mess. We enjoyed sitting on a shuttle while the driver navigated the challenges. 
Sunday morning we'd planned to be lazy. We sat outside for breakfast and discovered the weather was again good too comfortable for August. We noticed the hotel had rental bikes, so we decided to peddle Forest Park. Forest Park is over 1300 acres and has hosted both the 1904 World's Fair and 1904 Summer Olympics. Today it is home to the St Louis Zoo, St Louis Art Musuem, Missouri History Musuem, The Muny, St Louis Science Center, plus tons of recreation opportunities including miles of trails. We rode the rental bikes all the way around the park and then across the park, about ten miles. We are spoiled by our own bikes. These bikes were fine but they were single speed, foot-braked bikes, so the ride felt challenging. But the trails and scenes of the park are beautiful - we can't wait to take the kids on these trails.
Our last attraction was a game at Busch Stadium. We've become spoiled with the tickets we seem to end up getting to see the Redbirds play; these was no exception. We went through three ticket checkpoints and got armbands before arriving at our suite, the VIP Suite. With drinks and food provided, we could sit inside or outside in the shade with a great view along the first base line. The results of the game were disappointing as the Cardinals lost after an eight game winning streak. But the suite was a winner. 
As usual, we spent our down time this weekend planning family camping trips. We have good adventures coming up this fall. We certainly enjoyed our date weekend, but can't wait to get the kids back out Cricket Camping.