Help Me Become the Official Explore Saint Louis Summer Ambassador of 2015!

Happy Easter Sunday, darlings! Are you celebrating in any special way? I'm writing this post while at a super cute Kaldi's in the Country Club Plaza of Kansas City. I will have more on all of my KC blogger conference adventures up on the blog soon, but for now, I need your help!

Are you familiar with Explore Saint Louis? If you live in Saint Louis and aren't, you really should be! It is run by the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission (CVC), and aims to support and promote Saint Louis as a destination for visiting, traveling, touristing, and building a stronger local economy for the city. On the Explore Saint Louis website, you can find everything from news about upcoming conventions, suggestions on what to do on your weekends, and even book hotel packages. It's the ideal one-stop-shop of information about our city!

As part of this year's biggest summer season yet, Explore Saint Louis is hosting a really cool event on April 30th! You should come and see for yourself why St. Louis is such a great place to visit during the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission’s annual Be A Tourist In Your Own Town event. The region’s most popular attractions will exhibit with free refreshments, music, prizes and fun for everyone. This event will take place from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m in Ballpark Village.

Aaand... This is where you come in! This summer, Explore Saint Louis, in partnership with KDSK, ALIVE Magazine, and the Midwest Influencer Network, is hosting a competition where they (and you) will choose one fabulous person who helps show off what our lovely home is all about. Dubbed the "Official Explore St. Louis Summer Ambassador Search," this competition will allow you to vote for the person that you think would best represent Saint Louis and the idea of being a tourist in your own town. While at the MWIN VIP Blogger Lounge a few weekends ago, many bloggers filmed a short clip talking about what they like to do in Saint Louis, and here's mine! Click the screenshot to follow the link to the full video and CAST YOUR VOTE FOR ME! Aside from the amazing cash prize, I would be so humbled and ecstatic to be selected because my love for Saint Louis runs deep. I have lived here my entire life, and I've never had an overwhelming desire to leave. There is always something happening, always something new to discover. I won't let you talk about Saint Louis in a poor light in front of me either - I'll defend my city tooth and nail. We've had a rough past year, and that is important to recognize. But I saw people saying that they didn't want to live here anymore and such. No! We need to stay here, stay strong, and support our city in any way that we can! Especially by supporting the CVC and championing Saint Louis as an amazing, welcoming destination.

Oh! Let me also mention that the winner receives $1,000! Holy sweet guacamole, Batman. I would have a blast spending all that money (on STL destinations, of course!)!

But there is so much more to my love for Saint Louis than just those few seconds! The biggest, bestest thing I love about Saint Louis is that it has a little something for everyone. And I mean, absolutely everyone. And a lot of things in Saint Louis are free. Yep, I always tell people who aren't super familiar with our city about how Saint Louis is a great place to explore because a lot of the big attractions are free! If you enjoy being outside, you have our amazing Forest Park, which is one of the locations that our CVC-sponsored blogger tour stopped at back in October.

In Forest Park alone, there are a multitude of free activities! The above photograph was taken in front of the Saint Louis Art Museum, which I adore but don't visit as often as I should. Directly next door to SLAM is the Saint Louis Zoo, which is one of the top-rated zoos in the US! This summer, I am pledging to make it to the Zoo more often, especially during one of their Friday night Jungle Boogie events. Summer nights in Forest Park are heavenly, and one of the events I look forward to most each year is the Shakespeare Festival St. Louis' Shakespeare in the Park. This year's production is Antony & Cleoptra! This event is free, amazingly well-produced, and offers an opportunity for me to picnic with a ton of friends under the stars. I can't argue with sipping wine and watching Shakespeare's work.

For kids of all ages (including adult ones), two of my favorite places to visit in nice weather are also the City Museum downtown, and the Missouri Botanical Garden. The City Museum is an incredible play place for kids and adults (if you're feeling athletic), built mostly from reclaimed materials of all kinds and in and outside an old factory. The Missouri Botanical Garden has a rich history that is deeply rooted in Saint Louis, and has some of the most amazing outdoor and indoor gardens you'll ever peep, not to mention a bevy of fun events throughout the year.

For the "real" adults, Saint Louis offers an amazing variety of things to do after-hours, especially during warmer months. For history buffs and music lovers, the Missouri History Museum offers day-time hours of colorful MO history and special exhibitions, as well as night-time Twilight Tuesdays during the summer. Downtown Saint Louis has all sorts of fun events near to our famous Gateway Arch, including riverboat cruises, Fair St. Louis, 1904 Steakhouse at River City Casino (live music on the weekends!), and much more! If you're a fan of open-air drinking, two amazing places to visit are the Moonrise Hotel and 360 Rooftop. The Moonrise is one of my favorite places to hang - Okay, okay, my handsome boyfriend bartends there so that's part of the reason why - but its view of the city, two separate rooftop bars (one is en pein air, one is enclosed), first floor bar and restaurant, and swanky hotel rooms are pretty dang cool. 360 Rooftop also boasts amazing views of downtown Saint Louis, and brings in some of Saint Louis' most talented DJs to provide the atmosphere on the weekends. The DJ booth is suspended above the bar, which I find pretty sweet. I'd love to DJ up there one day! And, we all know that drinking and driving is a huge NO NO, so make sure you call yourself a Laclede Cab for getting around on your nights out and about.

Whew! I could keep going on and on, but I think I really ought to get in my car and drive the four hour drive back to Saint Louis. I guess I have to go back to real life now...! I'm so excited about this potential opportunity to be the official Ambassador, and I hope that comes across here! If you could take the time to visit the KSDK site and vote for me, I would so, so appreciate it!

What are YOUR favorite places to visit in STL?! Do you frequent any of the same places as me? I would love for you to share your thoughts, and give me a little love by voting for me!

Follow along with all things Explore Saint Louis here:
Official Website: http://bit.ly/1FblKQ9
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ExploreStLouis
Twitter: @ExploreStLouis, https://twitter.com/explorestlouis
Instagram: @ExploreStLouis
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/explorestlouis1/
... and keep up with this competition and its results: ExploreStLouis, #STLAmbassador