I’m the odd one out in this intern bunch, being the only one not from St. Louis. This past weekend, I set out to check out what this city really has to offer, and let me tell you: it’s a lot!

First stop: The Galleria

An amazing shopping experience with pretty much every store I could hope for. Having lived in Columbia, MO for the last four years, I forgot how much I missed Forever 21. Retail therapy is a real thing, I swear to you.

Second stop: Downtown Clayton

I had no idea that St. Louis essentially has two downtown areas. Clayton rocks! Lots of bars and food options make for an interesting night out. Many bars are in walking distance of each other, which makes for easy perusing around town through the night. Wheelhouse and John P. Field’s were two of my stops and definitely worthy of a recommendation.

Third stop: Ballpark Village

The current crown jewel of St. Louis is just as awesome as you think it will be. This past Saturday night, the band Reel Big Fish was playing the main stage in the center of the venue, and having never heard them before, I was thoroughly impressed. Although the drinks were on the expensive side, I was prepared for such and still had a great time.

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Fourth stop: The Arch

A St. Louis classic! The panoramic views from the top are absolutely unparalleled. On weekends especially the wait to go up is going to be a little long, but you can take in a lot of the history of the Lou while you’re in line. It’s definitely a tourist attraction, but everyone goes up at least once.

Fifth stop: Broadway Oyster Bar

Ask anyone and they’ll tell you that Broadway Oyster Bar is one of their favorite places to eat in St. Louis. Our intern crew had a celebratory lunch after finishing our first presentation complete with a round of fun drinks. Being allergic to shellfish, I ended up ordering the muffuletta sandwich—absolutely delicious. It was huge and I ended up taking half of it home. The other interns ordered classic dishes off the seafood menu and said only good things. A stop at the oyster bar is a must when you’re in St. Louis. Make sure to bring cash, though—no separate checks here!

Sixth stop: Ad Club STL Event

Miranda already mentioned this in her blog post "Revolution and Reverence," but it's worth mentioning again. Our visit to Urban Chestnut Brewing Company provided me with a chance to take a look at some award winning work and inspired me to take a closer look at what the ad club in STL can offer me. St. Louis has not necessarily been the city I immediately think of when it comes to great advertising, but I am starting to realize how very wrong I have been. There is so much amazing talent in this city once you start looking for it.

I’d consider my first few weeks as a St. Louisan a success. This city has so much more entertainment, food and attractions that I can’t wait to check out. Stay tuned!

Beyond the ADDYs 2014 logo

We finally got to have our first beer on the job at Urban Chestnut in the Grove. A cross between a traditional German biergarten and a modern craft brewery, Urban Chestnut has created a “new world meets old world” approach to brewing. Equipped with a European-inspired, walk-up bar and an industrial factory vibe, the brewing company has become a patronage to revolution and reverence. The newly opened Urban Chestnut was the perfect setting for ad agencies in St. Louis to celebrate their award-winning campaigns at “Beyond the ADDYs,” a sold-out event put on by the St. Louis Ad Club. We were excited to get free access to the event and a free lunch, too!

Fresh off the Ameren new business win, HLK’s very own Joe Leahy gave the introductory address followed by presentations from Boxing Clever, Cannonball and Rodgers Townsend. It was an exciting opportunity as interns to hear first-hand how ad agencies formulate and execute a successful campaign, especially as we are in the midst of our own. We received rare insight from the creatives behind the campaigns which made us think and laugh, and inspiration that left us awestruck. As each agency gave commentary on their campaign and walked us through the creative process, we started to learn just how important revolution and reverence could be in this industry.

Coming in wide-eyed and fresh faced to the world of advertising; we are starting to learn that you need both revolution and reverence to be a successful agency. Of course, advertising is about revolution. No one gets to the top by staying the same. Changing our tools and thinking are necessary to any agency’s survival. Without it, we would be in the advertising graveyard of lost potential and hopeless causes. But you also have to never forget where you came from and always be inspired. That’s where reverence comes into play. Sometimes that just means coming together over a beer to celebrate ideas that are bigger than yourself, your agency, and maybe even the industry itself.