St. Louis is only about two hours away, but it always feels like such a trek in our heads. Even before COVID put a damper on our travel plans, we didn’t visit often enough. So, when Kyle found out Bon Iver (one of his favorite bands) was coming to the Saint Louis Music Park, we decided to make a weekend out of it. We were looking for places to stay when I was fortuitously contacted by the PR director for the Four Seasons St Louis. She asked if we had any trips planned, and for the first time in years, we did! So, she graciously booked us a room and a spa treatment, and we ended up having the absolute best time. Keep reading for a St Louis weekend getaway recap!

First thing’s first, we wanted to make the most of Friday, so we got up at 8AM and drove straight to the Four Seasons. It’s sandwiched in the middle of downtown St. Louis, right next to the bridge with an amazing view of the Arch. We scheduled our couples massage for early afternoon, so we grabbed lunch at the hotel and then headed straight to the spa lounge. If you make an appointment, I highly recommend checking in an hour or two early. Soak up every minute of your time, too. One side of the spa looks out at the Mississippi river and the other directly overlooks the Arch, and it’s peaceful and luxurious and will put you in the best post-travel mood.

Also, I’m going to be honest– I’ve booked massages at nice hotels before, and most are pretty average. Our couples massage was one of the best I’ve had in my entire life. My neck and upper back are permanently tense (probably due to a combination of stress and absolutely terrible posture), so my masseuse whipped out something called Tiger Balm. Game changer, y’all! It smelled amazing and immediately made my muscles feel like 50 pounds of dead weight had been lifted off of them.

Anyway, long story short, our massages were wonderful. We both felt super relaxed and nowhere near ready to leave, so we ordered a few more rounds of drinks. Hot tip– Order snacks or cocktails from the pool/room service menu and have them brought to you in the spa lounge!

The Bon Iver concert was Friday night, so we (eventually) left the spa and headed to our room to get ready. On the topic of our room, did I mention the view? We were on the 12th floor, and it legitimately felt like we were at eye level with the Arch. So beautiful!

I had extremely modest expectations, but I’ll admit, the Bon Iver concert was pretty darn amazing. I’m not sharing pictures, though, because it was 100 degrees, and I was already melting by the time Bonny Light Horseman (Bon Iver’s opener– highly recommend checking them out on Spotify!) came on stage. Two teenagers in the row directly in front of us brought a portable fan, and I was super jealous. Definitely stealing their idea next time.

After the concert was over, we headed back to the hotel and immediately passed out. Like immediately. I’m guessing our exhaustion was the result of combining a spa day with a hot outdoor concert and the most intense Uber driver on the face of the planet. Still, we were somehow spry, wide-eyed, and raring to go in the morning!

We planned on not doing much of anything on Saturday besides reading by the pool and getting dinner at Cinder House. And that’s exactly what we did. Florida is home, so I grew up spending weekends by the pool. Since we moved to Missouri, though, I think I’ve only been to a pool once or twice. No one wants to deal with them in the winter here, and I’ll be honest– it’s lame, but I totally get it. But I digress. My point is that a lazy pool day was long overdue!

Just a tip— if you order a drink from the bar, I highly recommend the Clementina. It’s essentially a spicy margarita, and it’s amazing. I won’t divulge the exact number, primarily because I don’t know, but I will say that I had more than one. 

If you haven’t read it yet, which I’m learning almost everyone has, I highly recommend Where the Crawdads Sing. I killed 75% of the book in one afternoon. I literally couldn’t put it down!

We finally went back up to our room around 4PM and got ready for dinner. I’m always looking for a reason to wear this strapless ruffle maxi dress, and dinner at Cinder House seemed like a fitting occasion.

Before our reservation, though, we ordered drinks and hung out on the terrace for a bit. Seriously the best view in all of St. Louis! It does tend to get overtaken by wedding parties on weekend evenings, though, so enjoy it while it’s quiet.

Eventually, a wedding party made their way out to the terrace (and also clearly wanted the same photo backdrop), so we went inside, which was perfect because our table was ready early and we were star-ving!

Backing up a bit, our server let us in on a little secret at lunch on Friday. Of all the things on the menu, you need to order the Dia’s bread… and you need it order it right when you sit down because it takes about 20 minutes to bake. That’s not really the secret, though. When you place your order, ask for a side of raspberry jam. Then spread some on the bread along with the charred onion dip and prosciutto. Heaven. 

We wanted to try pretty much everything on the menu, so we ordered a bunch of appetizers and then shared the feijoada. Aside from the Dia’s bread, probably my favorite thing was the Hen of the Woods mushroom. The pomme puree underneath was to die for!

Kyle being Kyle also told the server that it was my birthday, even though my birthday was a solid two weeks away. Still, they brought out my dessert with a candle and “Happy Birthday” written in chocolate. 

After dinner, we fell into a deep food coma, watched some Iron Chef, and then passed out. We had to get back to our sweet doggos in Columbia, so we checked out pretty early on Sunday morning. I wish we’d been able to squeeze another pool (or spa!) day into our St Louis weekend getaway, but hey! That just gives us an excuse to book another weekend in St Louis!

Also, this trip was just a short St Louis weekend getaway, so we really only left the hotel for the concert. If you’re looking to explore the city, check out this St. Louis travel guide! I wrote it about six years ago, and it’s still the list I send people when they ask about the best things to do in St Louis.

Just so you’re aware, we were hosted at the Four Seasons Hotel St Louis and gifted spa treatments in exchange for social and blog coverage. As always, all thoughts are my own. Thank you so much for supporting the brands that make Diary of a Debutante possible!