I’ve always wanted to go to the Boathouse in Forest Park to sit on the patio for a meal or just a drink. Finally, this year on my birthday, I did it. The experience was as memorable as I thought it would be. There was simply something mesmerizing about the idyllic scene before me—a lake, tall fountain grasses, ducks, cranes. I don’t know if all visitors react this way, but I felt like I was channeling a time when the major form of recreation for St. Louisans was spending the entire day in a setting just like the one I was staring at. When people laid claim to a patch of city park to enjoy their free time amid a natural outdoor setting. That was, of course, well before cell phones, video games and cable TV.
More than anything, I enjoyed staring out at the water with its occasional paddle boater and dreaming of what the park and its inhabitants were like, once upon a time. I wasn’t nostalgic for the good old days so much as stunned by how much had changed in what is really a very short time. Not so long ago, say in the 1950s, American role models were the Cleavers, not the Kardashians. A barbecue or picnic at Forest Park provided a whole day’s activity. Imagine it: lounging, tossing the ball, boating, playing tag and red rover, and just generally laughing with family. Today, eating lakeside and paddle boating in the park are considered quaint; you do them maybe once a year as a novelty, to see what it’s like.
Interestingly, there has been a boathouse (not the one there now) in Forest Park since the park’s creation in 1894. Probably because people liked to fish and to explore the 22 acres of waterway fanning around the two islands. For us non-Victorians, I highly recommend sitting on the patio and just enjoying the view—like me, perhaps you’ll think about what life was like for those St. Louisans 125 years ago. Be forewarned: the wait for dinner might run up to an hour. But even that can be a congenial time when your kids (and dogs) romp around playing with those of other families. The little ones will have fun feeding the ducks, and in summer, you might catch a concert on the dock—for free! Also free: pastoral views, frogs, egrets, kingfishers and dragonflies.