Cheapskates' Paradise, part deux!

You might recall a few weeks ago I wrote about how Kiplinger's website named my own St. Louis #1 in their list of the 10 best cities for cheapskates.

At the time I waxed on about how awesome it was growing up in St Louis, where you don't have to have a lot of money to enjoy culture, science and the arts.  But due to my perhaps overzealous enthusiasm for the subject, I only managed to give details on the fabulous, free St Louis Zoo before my post got out of hand.  So I thought maybe it would be worth revisiting the issue to tell you all about other great things you can do in St. Louis on the cheap.  So since I started with the Zoo, there's no point going farther than right up the hill, still in Forest Park.  Folks, I give you the St. Louis Art Museum:

Picture courtesy of ArtKnowledgeNews.com

As you can read in the caption included in the above picture, we are once again in 1904 World's Fair territory with this building.  An altered photo, but a better view of the architecture, by Bill Haack at flickrhivemind.net:

See Saint Louis (Louis IX of France) on his trusty steed guarding the entrance there?  Good man!

A new addition to the museum, designed by David Chipperfield, is almost finished (on the outside.  Interior work is still to come), and is scheduled to open next year:

Artistic rendering courtesy of  e-architect.co.uk.

This new addition will allow the museum to keep more of its well over 30,000 works of art on display.  That figure includes everything from ancient Greek, Egyptian, and Byzantine pieces to  precolumbian Native American art to the Americana of George Caleb Bingham to the best collection of 20th century German artist Max Beckmann's work anywhere, to brilliant contemporary artists, photography, design and decorative arts.  I believe I shared with you here about one of my favorite pieces already, 17th century Spanish painter Francisco de Zurbarán's St Francis Contemplating a Skull:

A few other of my favorites on display at the St. Louis Art Museum:

Sadak in Search of the Waters of Oblivion, John Martin, 1812

One of Degas' "Little Dancer" bronzes

Van Gogh's beautiful "Stairway at Auvers".

 I love Van Gogh.  Partially because of the color and texture and intense life of his work, partially because of the heartbreaking story of his life and art and death, partly because of his self portraits with his gentle, sad eyes and partly, I fully admit, because of Richard Curtis, Tony Curran and Bill Nighy and the beautifully touching job that Doctor Who did with him in "Vincent and the Doctor".  

The above painting dates to July, 1890.  His tragic, still debated death came that same month, which makes it extra poignant.

You can see all of this and so, so much more at the St. Louis Art Museum, and you can see it for free!  That's right, like the St. Louis Zoo, the Art Museum is part of the Metropolitan Zoological Park and Museum District, a tax district which provides subsidies to help keep certain cultural institutions available to all, regardless of their financial status.  In fact, above the entrance is the inscription "Dedicated to Art, and Free to All", a motto that was emblazoned on a t-shirt I got my senior year in high school when I got a museum membership as a gift.  I stopped wearing it in college after meeting a guy named Art I wasn't particularly fond of.  Not sure what happened to it after that!

Anyway, with the World's Fair-built building being nearly as beautiful as it's varied contents, the warren of galleries can be fun to wander without direction, allowing for a surprise around every corner.  That in and of itself can provide hours of completely free fun (donations accepted), but wait, there's more!  The museum is situated in Forest Park, atop what's known as "Art Hill", a fairly steep hill leading from the museum down to a reflecting pool with fountains, providing gorgeous views and plenty of lawn for your picnic.  If you feel like spending a little money, rowboats and paddle boats can be rented at the nearby Boat House, where there is also a lovely restaurant alternative to your picnic.  In the winter, bring your own sled and more hours of free entertainment can be had.  Sledding on Art Hill is as much an institution as the museum itself, and most of the population of the city can tell you stories of fun times had speeding down that hill.

Didja hear about the 'Lou?

St. Louis is my home.  My hometown, and the place that keeps pulling me back no matter how far I roam.  There are a few things you might know about St Louis, even if you've never been here before: 

The Cardinals - 11 World Series wins!

The 1904 Worlds Fair, setting
For Meet Me in St Louis

Anheuser-Busch brewery

The Arch - Gateway to the West/
symbol of the Louisiana Purchase

If you're a foodie, or know a St. Louisan at all (we all brag these little fun-facts eventually), you may also know that we claim credit for the following:

-Hot dog buns, ice cream cones, iced tea, hamburger eaten as a sandwich, and cotton candy are all traceable to the 1904 World's Fair.

-Toasted Ravioli  (invented in St Louis's Italian-American neighborhood known as The Hill).

-Peanut Butter (or so I've heard).

-Whistle and 7-up sodas.

-Crab Rangoon.

-Pork steaks.

-Gooey butter cake.

And you can all thank St Louis favorite son Ted Drewes for the invention of the Concrete.  Some of you poor souls out there have only ever experienced the DQ Blizzard or the McDonalds McFlurry, but long before those behemoths started their poor copies, the original (made with real frozen custard, not soft serve) was invented right here.

If you're more of a newshound, you may know St Louis for less tasty reasons.  Like the fact that St. Louis is frequently listed as one of the most dangerous cities in the country, and holds the dubious honor of being named the third most dangerous city in the world for 2011.  I could explain how the data used to give us such a frightening distinction is misleading and in several ways inaccurate, but it's true that there is  a significant amount of violent crime, and, as in any urban area, you should exercise caution.

But what you still don't know based on all the blathering I've done so far, is what on earth any of this has to do with thrifting, vintage, or anything else you might have come to this blog to read about.  So allow me to (finally) inform you!  Aside from being a haven for lovers of artery-cloggingly delicious foods and a center of criminal activity, St. Louis recently earned the top spot in business and finance magazine Kiplinger's online review of the 10 Best Cities for Cheapskates!

According to the article, Kipplinger figured in obvious things like average income and cost-of-living, as well as (click the link and see for yourself - I swear I'm not making this up) the number of Dollar General stores within a 30 mile radius.  I would of course have preferred they count thrift stores per capita instead - then the list would double as a guide to road-trip destinations for yours cheaply!  From the article:

Like most people, cheapskates enjoy getting out.  They just don't want to pay a lot for the privilege.  All the picks on our list boast large numbers of public libraries and museums per capita, ensuring affordable access to culture.

So the number of public libraries and museums per capita was the other major metric for determining the cheapskate honorees.  What the article specifically tells you about St Louis' ranking in this category is pretty darn cool:

St. Louis isn't a huge city, but if we're counting per capita, it boasts more museums and libraries than any city on our list (and it beats New York and Washington, D.C., by a factor of 25).

Now that's something even I didn't know.  I assumed D.C., home of the Smithsonian in all its permutations, would have pretty much everyone beat in terms of museums per capita.  What I knew they couldn't beat us at was affordability.

Did you know that you have to pay money to get into most museums and zoos and musical theater venues?  I didn't.  Until I went off to college and was asked to pay a ridiculous sum of money to visit a puny little zoo, I had no idea how lucky I was to have grown up in this cheapskates' paradise.  Here in St. Louis, the world class zoo (listed as 3rd best zoo in the country for kids by Parents Magazine) boasts fantastic exhibits of all the usual suspects in gorgeous and historical setting.  In fact, if you go, you can visit the Flight Cage my great grandfather helped build for the 1904 World's Fair, and then visit Penguin and Puffin Coast, and soon the new Sharks and Stingrays exhibit.  There's a reptile house, there's Big Cat Country, there's The River's Edge, and there's my favorite thing in the entire zoo:  the prairie dogs.  Or as I like to call them, the 'Praise Jesus Prairie Dogs'.  Stop by some time, hang out and watch them for awhile, and see if you can tell why I call them that.  You can spend the whole day at the St Louis Zoo and never spend a dime.  That's right, folks, the Zoo?  It's free.  Granted, there are plenty of things you could pay for - parking in one of the designated lots, riding the awesome zooline railroad or the carousel, snacks at one of the concession stands or the restaurant, souvenirs at the shop or admission to the frankly awesome Children's Zoo, but none of that is required.  Even parking.  There is ample free parking within easy walking distance of the zoo entrance, throughout Forest Park, and hey, you're right there in Forest Park, who needs a concession stand when you can pack a picnic?  And if you don't mind getting up a little early, you can even skip the $4.00 a pop for the Children's Zoo if you get there before 10:00 AM.  Here, for your viewing pleasure are a few of the cutie pies of the St Louis Zoo from http://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/saint-louis-zoo/:

And now, having waxed on for Way Too Long, I realize I've only even told you about the Zoo.  There are literally dozens more great things to do in St. Louis for super, duper cheap (if not free), so I'm thinking this may become a semi-regular feature.  What do you think:  Cheapskate's Paradise?  More to come!

Better than cheap

So last night I had high hopes of finally procuring the elusive Tall Skinny Shelf for a price even better than cheap.  It's Spring Cleaning time here in the 'Lou, and Big Trash Day (week) to boot, and I thought I had spotted the shelf in a garage that was getting cleaned out for what I assumed was the bulk trash pickup, but when I went back by there last night, it was only the dumpster stuffed to the gills.  Possibly with great stuff, but most certainly not with a Tall Skinny Shelf, so I moved on, and can I just say that I drove around for about an hour up and down various alleys in my fair city, and WOW are St. Louisans cleaning house.  I saw at least a dozen couches, chairs, ottomans (ottomen?), patio furniture, TVs, computer monitors, a Little Tykes playhouse and picnic table, doors, windows, various bits of lumber, a really lovely small buffet that I tried in vain to stuff in the back of Chester, and all sorts of short fat shelves, entertainment centers, etc.  Here's what ended up coming home with me:

A mysteriously home made not-quite-ladder, the chair I mentioned yesterday,
a long skinny shelf since I couldn't find a tall skinny one, and a child-sized chair, plus...

Don't forget the disco ball!

This child-sized chair is missing a spindle in the seat back, and the paint is chipping all over.

Can't you just imagine a backyard tea party, all scabby knee'd kids in grass-stained dressups with half-broken chairs and chippy tea cups and a patchworked tablecloth and probably a sheet-fort built under a big old tree.  Man childhood was cool, wasn't it?

Detail on the weird not-ladder.

Can you see how the 2x4 crosspieces were sort of carved into notches and stuck into matching holes on the side pieces?  And the whole thing is oddly painted silver.  I have no idea why I picked it up, but I am determined to figure out some way that it's totally useful in the booth eventually.

And another shot of the disco ball because, let's face it - that's just cool.

The long skinny white shelf in the first picture that is sadly not a Tall Skinny Shelf is coming with me to the booth tomorrow, along with lots of little tchotchkes to display upon it.

Can you believe I picked up all that for a whopping zero dollars?  

I love Big Trash Day!

Oh, and it's Monday night!  Don't forget to check out everyone's great finds at Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday!  I'm going to try joining up here this week as well:

Me and my Shadow's Magpie Mondays