[ISF]

It's all in the eye of the beholder. Lodging within walking distance of the building is going to be quite pricey and in most cases parking is charged in addition to the lodging costs. If you stay far enough away from the downtown St. Louis area where lodging costs are lower you will have urban traffic congestion to put up with as well as parking within a reasonable distance of the building will most likely be more than $20.00 per day. As has been said previously, food and beverages are (over) priced at bigger city levels. When all things are totaled up and considered it's going to be a rather expensive racing excursion. And those, like us, who aren't all that enamored with going to see races in an urban setting won't be exactly comfortable in downtown St. Louis.

It's very sad that the traditional December midget racing at Du Quoin isn't going to happen this year. Lodging, food and beverage is half or less than that of St. Louis. Value for the money in all regards was much, much better than St. Louis and no more than one support class was involved at Du Quoin, if that, and the midgets were the headline division. Good, clean and plentiful rooms were/are available for $70.00 a night within 20 minutes of the fairgrounds. The Du Quoin event was very well supported by participants and spectators alike and it seemed to have built a fair amount of traditional momentum. Don't know what happened but we sure wish it hadn't gone away.