Go ahead and keep your spring, with its balmy temperatures and gentle rain. And we'll pass on fall, with that hint of foreboding underlying rapidly shortening days .... we're not there yet. For our money — right here, right now — there is nothing better than summer in St. Louis. Muggy nights on the stoop with a cold one? That's heaven to us.

This year, we're determined to have the most St. Louis summer ever, and we've prepared our annual Summer Guide to that end. You say you want free shit? We've got no less than twenty things to do, plus another ten that are nearly as cheap. You say you like beer? We've got twelve tap rooms ripe for visiting. Ah, but you'd rather eat pork steak? Just wait 'til you get to Cheryl Baehr's roundup of the city's best. And if you're hungry in the mean time, hey — we've got a complete guide to the city's most beloved junk food.

And if you're lying on the couch right now with a hangover, as a good St. Louisan is wont to do, why not mosey over to our quiz page? There you can test your skill on that most elusive of questions: Are you a true St. Louisan? You may feel like one after partaking in the delights outlined in this issue, but don't fool yourself. Making it here requires that special something. Merely eating your weight in Provel and Pimped Out Pickles this summer is not enough .... though we'll concede it helps.

Enjoy your summer. May it be as peak St. Louis as a gravois of Hoosiers in the Ted Drewes parking lot.