Crestwood, MO Outdoor Activities

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.

In 2009, while refereeing women’s flat-track derby bouts, the founding fathers of the St. Louis GateKeepers realized they wanted a taste of the speed, adrenaline, and action found in competitive roller derby. The pair gathered a crew of like-minded skaters and, in November of that year, the GateKeepers held its first league practice. By the end of their 2012 season, the league had expanded to feature three teams, plus a travel team that defends St. Louis from out-of-town opponents hoping to claim the Arch as a trophy. Despite its expansion, the GateKeepers stands by its original mission to provide a league for the players, by the players, and welcomes men from all walks of life to try on the sport's sweat-soaked jerseys and multicolored bruises.

There are a lot of places sinister ghouls can hide in 29 acres of forest. But unfortunately for STLFear’s guests, only the light of the moon will guide them as they navigate the forest’s haunted depths, forcing them to rely on their wits as they make their way through the leaf-strewn paths. Visitors can test their mettle on Friday and Saturday nights in October until 11 p.m. when the staff closes off the gates. STLFear also offers passes so that guests can skip the line and a coffin in which brave visitors can take novelty photographs.

Staffed by experienced coaches and computers who’ve sworn allegiance to the three laws of golfing robotics, GolfTEC’s motion sensors and high-speed cameras monitor swings and break down each individual’s form on a high-definition video display to get results. Sensors chirp with approval whenever they detect the perfect stroke or an especially witty golfing joke. GolfTEC’s certified personal coaches will point out flaws and strengths while providing golfers with tips on how to permanently improve their game from tee to green through a detailed, diagnostic gameplan.

A tradition-rich NHL franchise, the St. Louis Blues look to continue their 2010–2011 campaign of slap shots, penalty kills, and all-around pucksmanship as they scrap for a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. See if you can catch a glimpse of your favorite player amidst the blurred and helmeted faces of Eric Brewer, David Backes, and the rest of the squad as you cheer for the home team or wear a fake mustache and infiltrate a crowd of the visiting team’s fans. Kids 3 and younger get in free, though they are not guaranteed a seat, so bring along a lap or your dandling knee. Hockey is like the magnificent mutt of the sporting world. You get the suspense of watching an object swish through a net (like in basketball or soccer), the thrill of rambunctious brawls (boxing), the elegance of ice skating, and the utter brutality of golf all combined into one action-packed event.

A longtime tennis player, Mark Platt began teaching the sport as soon as he graduated from high school. However, after a brief period of instructing at local country clubs, he realized that his heart wasn’t in the work. The country clubs catered to intermediate and advanced players, and Mark wanted to teach beginners. In the absence of a satisfactory beginning tennis program in the area, he founded Mark Platt’s Beginner’s World Tennis in 1984.

As a tennis instructor, Mark has won numerous awards from such prestigious publications as Tennis Pro and Tennis Industry, according to the St. Louis Business Journal. Specifically geared toward beginners, his program combines lessons with special events including camps, leagues, and parties designed to encourage socializing—so far, his program has spawned 53 marriages. He and his small staff have big plans for the beginning tennis world; this year alone, they expect to introduce 10,000 adults, children, and marionettes to the sport.