Droning America: St. Louis, MO

On this episode of Droning America host Angie Avestruz and the team head to the "Gateway to the West" to meet up with journalist Kim Hudson of FOX 2 News. Where's the "Gateway to the West?" St. Louis, Missouri! They kick things off at the home of the 1904 World's Fair, Forest Park, a park so huge Kim says she still sometimes gets lost there! They take an aerial tour of the Saint Louis Zoo and The Muny, a community amphitheater where Kim say's there's not a bad seat in the house. Next up, Delmar Loop in University City, home of musical legend Chuck Berry's Blueberry Hill and the St. Louis Walk of Fame. See the famous Gateway Arch from every angle and Anheuser-Busch Brewery! We'll also see inside the home of the St. Louis Cardinals, Busch Stadium, from a birds-eye view. If you've never taken an aerial tour of this beautiful, historic city here's your chance! Check out all of the views we've captured of cities around the country on Droning America by visiting AirVuz.com READ THE FULL VIDEO TRANSCRIPT HERE: Angie: Hey everyone, welcome to Droning America. I'm your host, Angie Avestruz. Today we're in the River City. It's the gateway to the west and it's a place where beer and baseball go hand in hand. Welcome to St. Louis, Missouri. We don't have to travel far to meet up with our celebrity guest. She's meeting us just across the park. Well, to show us around St. Louis, we're hanging out [00:00:30] with Kim Hudson from Fox 2 News 11. Kim, thanks so much for showing us around your city. Kim: Honestly, I can't believe you guys came here. Welcome, welcome, welcome to AirVuz. Angie: We are in this beautiful Forest Park in front of the World's Fair Pavilion. Kim: Yes, yes. This is a huge site of a lot of history here in St. Louis. The World's Fair was here in 1904. The funds from that helped to actually pay for this pavilion. They actually rent this space out, and it's one of the most breathtaking [00:01:00] locales here in the city. My understanding is this park is already bigger than New York's Central Park. Angie: I've heard 50% larger than Central Park. Kim: It's huge. Honestly, I've lived here my whole life and I still get ... I lost today, okay? I honestly get lost every time I come here, but I've also seen it change just magnificently. Angie: I've heard the 1904 World's Fair was also the reason the zoo is now here. Kim: That's right. That's right. The zoo, it's absolutely free, and the bottom line is a lot of zoos in the country just aren't. Angie: [00:01:30] You mentioned it's free. Another free place in Forest Park is the Muny, which is an amphitheater. Kim: It is an amphitheater. The Muny has a row of, actually they're in the nosebleeds, but still, the way the Muny is built, there isn't a bad seat in the house. You have several rows all across the Muny that are free. Angie: Next, we're heading just outside St. Louis to visit what has been referred to as one of the 10 great streets in America. Kim, we've traveled to University City to Delmar Loop, [00:02:00] the entertainment and restaurant district, and now we're hanging out with Chuck Berry. Kim: That's right. I remember the morning that this statue was dedicated back in 2011. A lot of people may not know, Chuck Berry is still alive and he's still kicking and he has performed just across the street at Blueberry Hill. Now, that is a bar on its face, but it's got two other rooms inside. One is the Elvis Room and one is the Duck Room. If you end up in the Duck Room, that's when you know you're pulling in some people. Angie: Chuck Berry, definitely a pioneer for rock and roll [00:02:30] music, legendary musician. He has the first star here on the St. Louis Walk of Fame. Who are some other notable names on the Walk of Fame? Kim: Oh, man. There's another one, which is Fontella Bass. The reason why I remember her is she had this song called "Rescue Me". Angie: So many other notable residents here from St. Louis. There's TS Eliot, Bob Costas, Ulysses S. Grant, Maya Angelou, just to name a few. Kim: There's a lot of history up and down these streets here, just up and down [00:03:00] Delmar, the Delmar Loop. You'll know you're in the Delmar Loop when you see those stars. Angie: Now we're out to downtown St. Louis to see the tallest manmade monument in the US, 630 feet of stainless steel that commemorates Thomas Jefferson's westward expansion. Kim, we've made it the famous Gateway Arch. Kim: That's right, right here in the base of the Mississippi River. Angie: People actually ride a little elevator up into the observation deck. Kim: Yes. It's called a tram, and so it does take a few minutes in order to get up each leg of the arch, but if you see those little tiny [00:03:30] windows right up there, you could actually see all of St. Louis. On one side, you can actually see it's east St. Louis, which is Illinois on the other side of the Mississippi River. It's really awesome. Angie: It's called the gateway to the west because of its significance with Lewis and Clark? Kim: That's right, and actually, the designer way back in 1933, he thought that this area needed something that really marks this being the gateway to the west, the place that Lewis and Clark came to start expanding America's reach into the western part of what is now known as the United States. Angie: [00:04:00] Now, a few blocks away from here is home of Anheuser Busch, one of America's favorite beers. Kim: Absolutely. Angie: Does everyone hear drink Budweiser? Kim: Just about, okay? I'm telling you, just about, some Budweiser product. Back in 1852 is when it got started. It's been going the whole time. Angie: Anheuser Busch is the reason Busch Stadium where your Cardinals play got their name. A lot of Cards fans here, some of the best fans in the world. Kim: That's right, and it's technically considered Busch 3, and recently we just opened Ball Park Village. You can [00:04:30] go over to Ball Park Village, even if you don't have a ticket to the game. You can watch the game, have a drink. You can even maybe go up into one of the restaurants and if you get just the right seats, you can watch the game all the way from Ball Park Village. It's awesome. Angie: That's a local tip right there. Kim: Yes. Angie: Another place downtown, City Garden. I've heard a lot about it, especially on a hot day like this. I'm sure the kids like to go play in some of those water fountains. Kim: Yes. We don't really have a place for a pool down here in downtown St. Louis, but they have lots and lots of really cool fountains. Kids and families, they just suit [00:05:00] up in their swimsuits, go down there. They run through the fountain, and they can do it all the way up until 10:00 at night. Angie: Across the street is the historic courthouse? Kim: That's right, the historic old courthouse. That was where Dred Scott sued for his freedom for him and his wife. He was a slave, and this case went all the way to the Supreme Court. Unfortunately, he lost, but it really paved the way for equal rights for African Americans in this country. Angie: Gosh, going to have to check that out. Kim, you have been so much fun to hang out with. [00:05:30] Thank you so much for showing us around your city. So much history here. It's been a lot of fun. Kim: Well, welcome to St. Louis. Hope you guys come back really soon. Angie: Finally, we're going southwest of the city to check out Laumeier Sculpture Park, an open air museum scattered with contemporary art, such as Alexander Liberman's The Way. That's a wrap for us here in St. Louis. Hope you've enjoyed the city as much as we have. If you think we should stop in your city next, make sure to tweet us @DroningAmerica and let us know why. Until next time, bye everyone.