Grand Prix: St. Louis is only a few days away. Some of you may be shocked, however, to discover that this Grand Prix is not actually in St. Louis. A little slice of Heaven, about an hour northwest from St. Louis, called St. Charles will be playing host to this event. Since I grew up in St. Charles, this both pleases me and makes me a little bit sad. I am also sure that it confused at least a couple of you*. I am happy because my hometown is (sort of) getting some exposure, but sad because there is not so much to occupy one's time in St. Charles (the nightlife is a little better in actual St. Louis).

With this in mind, I have decided to offer up to the Magic Community a few of my favorite places in St. Charles. Mostly this will focus on restaurants, or other food acquisition sites, as I like food and there is not going to be time for much else this weekend anyway. This is not a primer on RGD Sealed or CCC drafts. If you do not know how to build an RGD Sealed at this point, not much is going to save you, and if you do not yet realize just how bah-roken Phyrexian Etchings is in CCC draft, you need to go draft. A lot.

I will start off by saying that you are going to be about an hour from downtown St. Louis. If you are a tourist type and want to see the Arch you should plan accordingly. There are also several riverboat casinos downtown, but there are two in St. Charles and, well, this article is about St. Charles, not St. Louis.

The Tournament is at the St. Charles Convention Center, so I will assume that any out-of-towner will be starting from or near this location.

I will start with food, because there really are a couple of places that out-of-towners should eat at when they come to St. Charles. I will provide a couple of places that will be good to go to after the tournament is over as well as a couple of close places to grab a bite between rounds.

Lyon's Frozen Custard
Oh sweet Mother of God! I love this stuff more than anything on Earth. Most people know what frozen custard is** and there are a lot of frozen custard places but this, my friends, is the real deal. If you eat only one non-McDonald's thing while you are in St. Charles this weekend, make it something from Lyon's. St. Louis has its own “frozen custard” place, but it does not even come close to what you get at Lyon's. Not only does Lyon's taste better, but it gets bonus points for having actual chocolate frozen custard (which it does not charge extra for, like some places) and for using actual M & M's***. Plus, you get a ton of toppings when you ask for them.

This place is not extremely close to the event site, but nothing in St. Charles is really “far” from anything else. You should have no trouble stopping by in the evening.

Thrull's Pick: Medium Chocolate Concrete with M & M's. (You can thank me later — I collect Flame Fusillades *wink wink*)

Cecil Whittaker's Pizzeria
This is another place that is not extremely close to the site, but is a great place to grab dinner on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday evening. The closest site is the West Clay location, which also happens to have an excellent “after 9:00 PM” deal on a two-topping large pizza. The price of the special has gone up slightly, but the thing is huge and my favorite non-frozen meal in the town. Cecil's serves St. Louis style pizza, which basically means thin crust and Provel cheese. Now, I will grant you that Provel cheese takes some getting used to, but I really like it and while you are here, you should at least try it and see what you think****. I do not really know how to describe it and there are some national pizza chains that serve St. Louis style pizza, but they do not even come close to the real deal served at Cecil's.

Cecil's also delivers, so that could be an option for you during actual rounds of the tournament.

Thrull's Pick: Large with hamburger (not sausage) and bacon (real bacon, not Canadian).

Lewis & Clark's and Trailhead Brewing Company
These two places are owned by the same person and, in my opinion, are basically the same place. Lewis & Clark's is a bit more of a restaurant and Trailhead is more of a bar, though. The food here is good and not too expensive (it's in the Applebee's sort of price range) but the beer is incredible. Trailhead is the microbrewery, and their various and sundry beers are served at both locations. Also, it is sort of an iconic place in St. Charles, because pretty much everyone worked at one of these places in high school.

These two restaurants/bars are located on Main Street so they are really close to the tournament site. Take a cab though: you won't want to be driving when you leave Trailhead.

Thrull's Pick: There is a most excellent pumpkin beer served in October, but the two best beers are served all year long. Riverboat Raspberry and Old Courthouse Stout are what you want, the amounts depend on how well you did Saturday I guess.

Duchesne Bar & Grill
This is your standard issue dive bar. The food is ridiculously cheap. The beer is ridiculously cheap. The bathrooms are ridiculously gross. It's got all the bases covered. We usually go here after Magic events for a few pitchers and some good company. If you are into this type of place, then this is where you want to be after 10.

Again, kind of far away from the site, so plan accordingly. (i.e., take a cab or befriend a Mormon)

Thrull's Pick: 99 cent hamburger? That'll do, fatty. That'll do.

Gingham's
For late night action and delicious coffee I love this place. They also have been kind to us drafting there at 2AM, so be nice and they will be too. The food here is basic late night restaurant food, but I really love their coffee, and once somebody at the table orders some coffee they just give you a pitcher of it so you don't have to wait for more if you are looking to go on a caffeine binge.

This place is pretty close, there is a Denny's closer to the site, but Gingham's is worth the extra minute you will be in the car.

Thrull's Pick: Chicken/Country Fried Steak Dinner (served 24 hours) with whipped potatoes (and don't you dare order mashed potatoes, they are whipped!).

There is also a McDonald's that is a quick run from the site, so hopefully you like McDonald's for your between-round meals. And well, this event is hosted by Moy Events, so you should have plenty of time to get your McDonald's.

Entertainment (stuffs)

On Friday night, Riverport is playing host to a Journey and Def Leppard concert, which I will be at*****. But do not worry, you do not have to sit in your hotel room and sulk in envy of me! There are a few non-Magic things to do Friday night.

First of all, Moy Events is hosting the event and has their Magic-related events listed on their website. I am not a huge fan of such things, plus I already have my three byes anyway******.

Your best bet (lol, pun) is one of our two Riverboat casinos.

For the tourist, St. Charles was the original capital of Missouri and has a lot of Lewis & Clark historical things. There is not really much you can do on the weekends, but check the City's homepage to see what can be done. And if you are a bicyclist (Magic-playing bicycle enthusiast, more like bicycle euthanist, amirite?), the Katy Trail is a really long bike path that runs through St. Charles (and all of Missouri), so bring your bike and take a ride if you are so inclined.

Ameristar and Harrah's
I like Ameristar a little bit more than Harrah's because of its location and because I tend to have better luck there, but Harrah's is actually a little bit nicer and bigger. There are several places to eat at Ameristar, but it is usually really crowded. Ameristar definitely gets the edge over Harrah's this weekend, because it is right next to Riverport and the sold-out Def Leppard concert is on Friday night, and Sammy Hagar is on Saturday night, and that place becomes a nightmare to drive near during such occasions.

Ameristar usually has a band playing, but I cannot discover who it will be on either night at the moment. Magic players do like gambling, though, and these are your closest choices in St. Charles.

Thrull's Pick: $25.00 blackjack tables, and I swear that if I see you hitting a bust card when the dealer is showing a bust card I will do something crazy.

Dave & Buster's
This is the option for people that don't want to technically be gambling. I actually hate this place, but some people like it. It is also right next to Riverport, so you will want to be there before 10pm, because once the concerts get out, you won't be going anywhere. This is an “over 21” arcade. They also have a restaurant and a cover charge to get in after a certain time (I think after 9pm, so get there before then if you are a cheapo like me).

This place is pretty close to the site, though, so if you are into arcades you should go here.

Thrull's Pick: Skee-Ball, obv.

“Hot Summer Nights”
I do not really know what this is, but it was on the St. Charles City homepage, billed as “Hot Summer Nights: Hot Nights, Cool Sounds and Taste Bites,” so it could be cool. It sounds like there are going to be some bands on Main Street and some restaurants and other vendors around after 5pm on Saturday. I cannot say how awesome this will be, but Main Street is inches from Ameristar Casino so, if it is bad, you can just head over to the casino.

Thrull's Pick: Eat dinner at Trailhead and have a few beers, then go check out this event and if it is not so fun go to the casino.

Main Street/Riverfront
“Main Street” is a nice little brick road near the river. It is where a lot of restaurants and bars are (including Lewis & Clark's and Trailhead). During the day there are lots of shops (well, they are there at night, just closed) to check out if you desire. At night, though, it is a great place to go and bar hop. People in St. Charles are nice and fun to talk to, and I have always found it to be relatively safe to walk around down here at night. Most of the bars have bands playing on the weekend and most do not have cover charges, which is nice.

Main Street is close to the site and where most things you will want to check out anyway. Remember to play it safe if you are going to drink. [/mom]

Thrull's Pick: Riverboat Raspberries at Trailhead and Purple Hooters at City Club.

...

I think I have covered most things that are interesting to do in St. Charles. I will try to actually be around the forums to answer any questions somebody might have about the city, so post them there.

{e}

* I now live in St. Louis and several people were a bit confused as to why I was still getting a hotel room for Grand Prix: St. Louis.
** But for those of you that do not, just imagine ice cream. Then imagine it richer and creamier. Then imagine it tastes better than anything on Earth. That gets you close.
*** You know, like if you went to a store and bought M & M's and ate them, they use those M & M's, not the mashed up flakes of something that could have been, at one point, M & M's that other places use.
**** Hey, you wouldn't skip the Chicago style pizza if this were GP: Chicago, right? So why would you skip out on an actually good pizza style.
***** And no, you can't come, it's sold out. /me makes a rude gesture.
****** Another rude gesture? I'm so daring!