Things to Do in Bridgeton

The team at JitterSwing Dance Clubs constantly assures their clients that “JitterSwing is our name ... it is not a Dance.” Thanks to film and music videos, swing dance conjures images of acrobatics and leaping bodies, but JitterSwing’s instructors are popular for their approachable St. Louis Imperial style, which is slower-paced and accessible to students of any age. They lead couples and singles through group and private sessions that cover many other types of swing dance as well as country two-step, the cha-cha, and the river waltz. Partners preparing for a wedding dance can take advantage of private lessons, and youths aged 10–16 are invited to the juniors program. In addition to the multiple locations where instructors conduct their sessions, JitterSwing staff members also come out to private events to instruct guests of all ages.

The Glass Workbench—a stained-glass and glass-making specialty store—began as a family-owned enterprise in 1975. Back then, owners Glen and Joanne Bishop chose an old-style building on South Main Street to create their shrine to the age-old art of glassmaking. Now on the National Register of Historic Places, the building's 2-foot-thick Burlington limestone walls enclose the shop's inventory of supplies and books about glass arts. They also house mosaic stained-glass artworks by Julie Bishop Day, Glen and Joanne's daughter, who developed the stepping-stone technique for glass decoration. Local crafters take advantage of glassmaking workshops and admire the work of the staff's resident artisans, whose custom stained-glass pieces portray nature imagery and legendary moments in history such as when Ben Franklin invented Windex.

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.

Chris and Pam Schmick's passion for climbing inspired them to clear tons of rotting soybeans out of an abandoned grain silo in Illinois and transform it into a state-of-the-art climbing facility. Now, in St. Louis, the duo has converted a 10,000-square-foot historic train station into a climber’s haven. They installed massive rock arches that soar 35 feet in the air, and dotted the climbing walls with a diverse mix of slabs, cracks, dihedrals, and bald-eagle nests. After their successful expansion in St. Louis, the pair acquired a 14,000-square-foot gym space in West County in which they designed a full-service climbing paradise. All three gyms cater to beginner climbers, with 18-foot-tall bouldering walls and 14 autobelays. The gyms furnish climbers with showers and a locker room, and stock their pro shops with top-tier equipment from Black Diamond and La Sportiva.

Chris and Pam Schmick had spent six months cleaning out the scrap metal from their abandoned silos and just finished drilling thousands of holes in its walls. With little time to spare, they prepared for their climbing gym's grand opening on September 2, 1995—a date on which they had already agreed to hold a regional JCCA competition. The effort they've expended in the nearly 20 intervening years shows: today, climbers scramble on top ropes, lead ropes, and more than 20,000 square feet of lava-free climbing surface.

Instructors prepare visitors to surmount the gym's features in a range of classes, such as Rock Gym 101, which is an introduction to top-rope climbing that covers climbing safety, basic technique, and equipment. Once climbers are equipped with gear from the pro-shop, staff shows them around a multi-level bouldering cave, a main climbing area with 30-foot walls shaped by arêtes, cracks, and waves, and the building's five original silos. Elsewhere inside the gym, six auto-belays safely cradle visitors who wish to climb without taking a class.