If you think St. Louis is just an arch and a pass-through town, you need to revisit! Some unique neighborhoods there make it worth the stop. My husband and I both started new jobs, our daughters have summer internships, so a long family vacation was out of the question. St. Louis rose to the top of the list because it’s only a four-hour drive from Kansas City. So, without further ado, here is hip STL neighborhood number two …
Soulard! This historically rich community dates back to 1840 when Julia Soulard, a wealthy French landowner (I love strong women!), donated part of her land to establish the town. European immigrants poured into the area about that time and many settled in Soulard. You can see their influence in the neighborhood’s narrow European-style lots. For you fellow architectural buffs, the buildings were all constructed from red brick in Federal, Italianite and Second Empire styles. Okay, enough history lesson, let’s go exploring!
First, we stopped for brunch at the Soulard Coffee Garden and Cafe — amazing omelletes, waffles, coffee … We found it using Yelp, our iPad to check out the web site and then the GPS on our iPhones to get us there How’s that for using technology to find breakfast! Using Yelp to find good restaurants seems to be a pretty full proof strategy …
Soulard, a cousin of New Orleans, has some similar architecture and its own Mardi Gras celebration.
A few cute shops …
And oh, the gardens …
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Enjoyed my trip–thanks so much for the invite!
Thanks for sharing the information and photos on this neighborhood in St. Louis. I LOVE New Orleans (have travelled there 4x – twice for Mardi Gras!) and find that this area looks so much like it. I enjoy the laid back, comfortable feel of communities like these. They have their own distinct personality. May have to put this one on my travel list!
Sondra,
This section of St. Louis also has their own Mardi Gras celebration — the largest outside of New Orleans. You can see the French influence in the area’s architecture.