Wood River, IL 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.

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.

The pedal pioneers at Boschertown Grand Prix Racing have been facilitating high-speed adventures on one of the largest tracks in the Midwest for more than half a century. In the early days of racing, the course served as a venue for the homemade karts of avid individuals, but now houses a herd of go-karts, sprint-karts, and super-karts that eliminate the possibility of unfair home upgrades such as engines outfitted with nitrous or the flux-capacitor of a 1981 DeLorean. Drivers as young as 10 reach speeds of up to 17 mph in a standard kart; racers 16 or older helm 24 mph sprint-karts; and drivers 18 or older take control of 28 mph super-karts. Wheels roll over hairpin turns, banked corners, straightaways, and opponents' rights to call themselves "Greased Lightning" as drivers dominate laps around the 5/8-mile track.

AC St. Louis triumphantly brings men's outdoor professional soccer back to the nation's soccer capital. STL's team of international and local footballers will weave in, over, and around their opponents—all under the all-knowing guidance of head coach Dale Schilly. Footballing fans, meanwhile, will get to cheer from the stands, refrain from hooliganism, and challenge each other to see who can shout "Gooooooooooooooaaaalll!" the longest.

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.

GCS Ballpark's emerald outfield and manicured base paths pulse with excitement as the Grizzlies prepare for the 2012 season and to reclaim their position atop the Frontier League. Last summer, Grizzlies catcher Landon Hernandez launched 18 homeruns into lower orbit, good enough for fourth best in the league. Hurling fastballs into Hernandez's glove will be former MLB farmhand Pat Arnold, and skipper and St. Louis native Phil Warren returns for his sixth season in the Grizzlies dugout, from where he has collected several prestigious records including most managerial wins and most sneezes confused as bunt signs.