I am looking at making an emergency trip to St. Louis this week (my grandmother is not doing well) and really hate to give up my skating--it's what keeps me sane.

What rink is the furthest (?) south? I will be in Jefferson County and don't want to have to drive to northern St. Louis if at all possible. And where can I find schedules and/or maps? And is there a good skating shop there? (we have nothing in Raleigh, NC.

Thanks for your help,

Christy

that far south, you want visit the Wayne Kennedy Sports Complex site, if you wanted to come to St. Louis for skating. I do wonder, however, if there is ice at Wayne Kennedy now; you might want to call.

http://www.stlouisco.com/parks/kennedy.html

There's also Kirkwood:
http://www.ci.kirkwood.mo.us/parks/rink/main.htm

Your other option might be to go south to the Ice at Plaza Galleria in Cape Girardeau, but that might be a drive. This link will display all your arena options, although be forewarned some are hockey only:
http://www.arenamaps.com/arenas/Missouri.htm

As for southernmost skate shops, I recommend Skater's Choice at I-55 and Lindbergh. They have some stuff, like new and consignment dresses, guards, soakers, tape boxes, laces, etc. but it's nothing like Rainbo in Chicago:

The Skater's Choice
5224 South Lindbergh Blvd.
St. Louis, MO
314-849-6994

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Wang chung!

Actually, Cape Girardeu's ice has been down for almost a year now. They've been driving up every weekend to skate.

Webster Groves is another one you might look into.

http://mo-webstergroves.civicplus.com/index.asp?SID=410

If you're going to be in the north-eastern part of the county, you might want to try going over to the US Ice Sports Complex in Illinois.

http://www.usice.com/

Thanks for your responses. I did have to make the trip, and I skated at Kirkwood. A nice facility, and nicer people. It was a very good skate in the middle of a trying week.