I have a feeling everyone will dump on St. Louis. That’s cool. If you don’t live here, you cannot appreciate the innate midwesternness it brings. It isn’t for everyone, but I suggest you take a couple of days to enjoy the area.

And that is the first thing you need to understand. St. Louis is an area. The city and county are split, so when you see the crime statistics it usually refers only to the smaller city and not the much larger county. The St. Louis area also includes the Southern part of Illinois. Yes, that includes East St. Louis, but so many other nicer areas, too.

Anyway, here we go. All my suggestions come from the point of view as a parent.

Let’s get the questions out of the way.

What’s underrated? The friendliness of the people in St. Louis is something we take for granted. As for underrated places to go there are 3 that come to mind.

1) The Cahokia Mounds on the Illinois side in Collinsville. Locals don’t even appreciate the history and majestic beauty of the area. It is a UNESCO Heritage site and you can spend all day enjoying the place.

2) Edward “Ted” and Pat Jones- Confluence Point State Park. On the Missouri side and close to downtown, the park is beautiful as you see two rivers coming together. The real value is the magnificent bird watching available. Large open spaces, many trees and you will see your share of our feathered friends.

3) Mastodon State Historic Site. Locals really don’t know about this, so hop in the rental car for a ride. Spring is the best time to visit. Great museum with fossils and artifacts. The outdoor area is inviting and a great place for a family picnic.

How should a visitor approach the city? Everyone is friendly, so there isn’t anything to worry about. If you stay in the central area, people are used to tourists. A couple of notes about locals.

1) We love to ask where you went to high school. We do this for a couple of reasons ... to judge you on where you grew up and to find common interests.

2) St. Louis has many municipalities and police departments. As mentioned above, the city and county are split and within the county there are individual cities with their own police departments. Hand to God, driving from downtown and out to the county you’ll go through 12 cities. Laws in each city are different as well as police demeanor.

What’s it like long-term? I love that St. Louis is a friendly, inviting place. It is a fantastic place to raise kids and property costs are relatively low. I hate how the area is still relatively segregated. As mentioned above, the county has many municipalities and it isn’t uncommon to drive through an entire minority city to go right into an all white one. The economic situation is trending in the right direction, but St. Louis went from the number 1 city in America for fortune 500 headquarters to out of the top 10 between 1995 and 2010.

One of the more forward thinking things the St. Louis did was tax homeowners in the city and the county for the museum district. This means the zoo, art museum, science center and natural history museum are all free to go to. Seriously, walk into the zoo at anytime without paying a dime. Even better, they are all located within Forest Park, which one of the larger urban parks in the country. You can spend 4 days in Forest Park and never leave.

Magic House in Kirkwood in the county is a place for your kids. Seriously. Many interactive displays and events. If you go, plan on spending most of the day. You have to pay to go get in.

You like wine? You’ll love Augusta, MO in St. Charles County. Home to many older, fine wineries. You get the best of everything. Great wine, entertainment and outstanding nature views. There isn’t one specific winery to recommend, so see them all.

St. Louis is a great place for families to visit and have some fun.