Things to Do in Affton

After founding Yoga to Go Studio in 2008, certified instructor Linda Jones passed the baton to Kynan Katzman, one of her long-time students. The transition merited a profile by Mehlville-Oakville Patch_, partly because of Katzman’s impressive resumé, which includes endurance cycling. Under the leadership of both Jones and Katzman, the studio has introduced budding yogis to Anusara and Hatha yoga, as well as several forms of meditation geared toward students of all experience levels.

Led by equine expert and instructor Michelle Booker, Devinwood Farms offers services for riders and steeds on a property with an all-weather arena, heated barn, and picturesque riding trails. Inside the full-care boarding facility, staffers administer daily feeding and stall cleaning. The all-weather riding arena, illuminated by rows of glittering lights, leads outside to local riding trails. Hot- and cold-water wash racks hose down mounts after onsite riding lessons, and stalls provide a place for horses to comfortably hunker down with a good book during blustery nights.

Staffers at Kirkwood Knittery happily direct shoppers to a colorful collection of knitted sweaters, hats, and wraps; however, they're not for sale. That’s because staff members would rather teach customers to make the garments themselves during classes aimed at beginning and intermediate knitters. Sessions, which typically meet in four one-hour segments or two two-hour segments; cover skills such as basic stitches, circular knitting methods, and crochet patterns; and culminate in the creation of a scarf, pair of socks, or knitted umbrella. Before classes, students can peruse the shop’s selection of yarns to choose an attractive skein whorled from international wools, organic cottons, or rare fibers.

Laclede's Landing Wax Museum has been scaring and astonishing sightseers since 1983. Behind its 1885 cast-iron façade, the museum harbors more than 200 life-size figures across five levels and 10,000 square feet of museum space. The display of doppelgangers includes presidents, superheroes, historic figures, and movie stars, allowing visitors to gaze upon scores of famous faces without taking the rigorous paparazzi entrance exam. In the Chamber of Horrors, fictional villains old and new, including Freddy Krueger and the Phantom of the Opera, test the mettle of onlookers. Patrons can stop by the museum's gift shop before leaving or replenish the energy spent arguing with the statues with the help of ice cream, hot dogs, and other snacks at the ice-cream parlor.

Kingpin Lanes facilitates retro revelry with 24 tenpin bowling lanes, leagues for men, women, and children, and an arcade stocked with video games. More than 10 television screens shine down into the facility, allowing bowlers to simultaneously watch sports and play a sport without having to ice-dance during a professional hockey game. After achieving a new high score in Kingpin's arcade, visitors can refuel at the in-house Brickhouse Pizza Company. Its specialties include classic pies in addition to sandwiches such as the Kingpin combo with ham, roast beef, salami, and provolone cheese.

An authentic trolley with brass rails and bells and outfitted with modern padded seats and air conditioning glides through St. Louis’s historic neighborhoods as knowledgeable tour guides wax poetic about the city’s past and present. Guests gaze out of the trolley’s charming arched windows during the 23-mile ride, catching sight of a much larger arch standing sentry over downtown sites such as St. Louis Union Station and the Mississippi River. Tour guides fling droplets of wisdom like handfuls of rice at famished newlyweds, sharing anecdotes about historic Laclede’s Landing and Forest Park, the site of the 1904 World’s Fair, the first summer Olympic games held in the U.S., and the first forest.

The fully narrated tour departs and returns from Lumiere Place Casino on the riverfront. Tuesday and Thursday evenings, fearless tour goers can follow along a haunted walking tour that highlights some of the city's macabre past, including the St. Louis fire and the Bloody Island.