St. Louis News Blog

All told, about 3,000 people showed up Thursday night at the City Museum for the Riverfront Times' annual Best of St. Louis party. There was a variety of attractions: free drink tickets, fire-breathers, burlesque dancing, stilt-walkers and the Dirt Cheap chicken among them. Nightlife photographer Egan O'Keefe was there and brought back these photos.

Photo: Egan O'Keefe

Burlesque performer Lola Van Ella. See more photos from last night's RFT Best Of St. Louis party.

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Photo: Egan O'Keefe

See more photos from last night's RFT Best Of St. Louis party.

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A good piece of lingerie should be a little bad, right? Sure. But what if there happened to exist a bad little number that also made you feel really, really good? Good about buying something handmade, right here in the Lou. Read the rest of this Best Of St. Louis story and watch this video below by Stew Smith.

Step up to Frank Merrins' hot dog stand and order your favorite style. His cart, "Frank's N Brats," can be found on Broadway just south of Busch Stadium and is open two hours prior to every home Cardinals game.

Frank sells his wieners in a brown paper bag so you can walk right into Busch Stadium with it and avoid paying through the nose for a dog at the ballpark. That's one reason his dogs are St. Louis' Best Hot Dogs for 2009.

They're also big and tasty.

"My dog's 100 percent pure beef. It's a large dog," boast Merrin.

Video by Stew Smith.

In July 2003 Clayton Braun nearly died on a Mississippi River sandbar after he dived headfirst into the water during a day of waterskiing. Three years later, confined to a wheelchair and with extraordinarily limited use of his arms and hands, Braun was something of a reluctant recruit to the area's quadriplegic rugby team, the St. Louis Rugby Rams. Read the rest of this Best Of St. Louis story.

Video by Stew Smith.

Step inside New Market Hardware (4064 Laclede Avenue) in the Central West End for a tour of the 95-year-old shop, and find out why they have so many pictures of Hulk Hogan, Mr. T. and the Ultimate Warrior -- among others -- on the walls. It's the Best Hardware Store in St. Louis for 2009; read why here.

Don't say we didn't warn you -- walk inside St. Louis' best cougar den of 2009, the Jive & Wail in Maplewood. Video by Stew Smith.

Read why the Jive & Wail is our 2009 Best of St. Louis winner.

Today's Best of St. Louis video takes you inside Iron Age Studios, this year's Best Tattoo Parlor.

Video by Stew Smith.

www.flickr.com/photos/afagen

​So our tongues may have been planted firmly in our cheeks when it came to the Best Bus Route category in our 2009 Best Of St. Louis issue:

Best Bus Route
We regret due to lack of funding service to this category is suspended.

But despite seemingly every useful stop in the city bearing that brief and cutting message, some good things are actually going down with public transportation in the River City.

At the beginning of August, Metro implemented their "Partial Service Restoration Plan," which brought back and created more than two dozen routes in the city and county.

As the observant folks at UrbanReviewSTL point out, the coolest of those is the new Downtown Circulator, which loops from City Hall to America's Center to Busch Stadium. (Hey, how about that, we're a big city after all! With a cheap and efficient to get around downtown and everything!)

But by far the best news is that St. Louis' bus routes are now available on Google Maps. Enter your start and end address in the "Get Directions" search function and it spits out the nearest stops, estimated times, and route options. It's convenient, it's accurate, and it beats the hell out of the "TripFinder" function on Metro's website.

Check it out:

Step inside Hammond's Antiques & Books, tucked away behind a few trees in the 1900 block of Cherokee Street in South St. Louis. We talk with owner Jovanka Hammond, who gives us a tour of the two-story shop, which she opened nearly 30 years ago.



Read why Hammond's is the Best Used Book Store of 2009.

Best Bar Bar of 2009: Babe's Tavern and Garden



Read why Babe's Tavern and Garden on Ivanhoe is the Best Bar Bar of 2009.

Best Place to Buy Sex Toys: CheapTRX.



Read the Best of St. Louis story here, and take a tour of the basement shop with its manager John. Some scenes may not be safe for work!