St. Louis

St. Louis is a city on the west bank of the Mississippi River, just south of where it joins with the Missouri River. By itself, it is the second largest city in the state of Missouri behind Kansas City, although its overall urban area is larger than KC's.

The downtown skyline is perhaps the most distinctive of any city in the midwest thanks to the Gateway Arch, an enormous stainless steel structure that is the tallest man made monument in the United States. Designed by Finnish architect Eero Saarinen and completed in 1965, the Arch commemorates St. Louis's status as the "Gateway to the West", the starting point of American westward expansion after the Louisiana Purchase. The Arch tends to show up in most modern media depictions of St. Louis, so you're probably familiar with it even if you don't know anything else about the city.

St. Louis is also noted for the influential 1904 World's Fair, held to celebrate the centennial of the Louisiana Purchase. The fair was the subject of the famous musical Meet Me in St. Louis, and certain buildings and fixtures still remain in modern day Forest Park, converted into various museums and attractions. The Anheuser-Busch brewery is here as well, makers of Budweiser and at one point the largest American-owned brewery, until they were bought out by Belgian company In Bev in 2008.

Sports are popular in St. Louis. All local professional teams enjoy a strong following, especially the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball. The Redbirds, as they are affectionately known, have played in St. Louis since the late 19th century, and despite the city being a relatively small media market as American cities go, they maintain a loyal fan following across Missouri and surrounding states. The Cards are also among the most successful teams in baseball, having won more World Series (11) than any other team in the National League, and the second most in the majors behind the Yankees. (This is a fact often quoted by Cardinal fans to fans of the rival Chicago Cubs, though the longstanding rivalry is generally more civil than the famed Yankees/Red Sox clash.) They are also known as the original team of Albert Pujols, arguably the single best player in baseball today, who left the Cardinals for the Anaheim Angels when his contract ran out after the conclusion of the Cardinals' epic 2011 season.

St. Louis cuisine is uniquely influenced by the large contingent of Italian immigrants in the neighborhood known as The Hill. One of the most notable items on the menu is toasted ravioli, a breaded version of the pasta served as an appetizer and dipped, as opposed to covered, in marinara sauce. Toasted ravioli is available frozen at many area grocery stores in addition to local restaurant menus. St. Louis also has its own style of thin crust pizza topped with Provel cheese, a mixture of cheddar, Swiss, and provolone that is not widely available in other parts of the country. St. Louis is also the home of gooey butter cake. It's not exactly gooey, but it is sweet, rich, and brownie-like, and while it's something of an acquired taste, once people are used to it, they tend to agree that it's quite tasty.

By the way, locals will not actually call the city "St. Louie", however widespread this pronunciation may be in popular depictions (eg, the rapper Nelly).