ST. LOUIS -- This is a great baseball town. Cardinals fans know to applaud for a sacrifice bunt, especially when laid down by their pitcher. They know not to applaud when the other team ties the score on a sacrifice fly, even though it means an out for the opponent. They dress in red as if it were the only color on the racks.

And this is a terrible baseball town. The food at Busch Stadium, which opened in 2006, is especially bad; ask 10 Cardinals fans about the best grub in the park, and eight will say the nachos, which are basically the same nachos you find at every other park. Fans do the wave when their team is down by eight runs in the eighth inning. And the streets surrounding the park are largely a charmless sprawl of chain hotels, predictable sports bars and parking garages.

Anyone looking for a fresh take on St. Louis is in luck. This year's Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be at Busch Stadium on Tuesday, and rather than visit the same old haunts, we headed to the All-Star city to scout out its most all-star experiences.

These tips aren't just for All-Star weekend. They're good for any weekend of baseball in St. Louis. (The Marlins are in St. Louis Sept. 14-16.)

BEFORE THE GAME

It all starts where you wake up. Though downtown is full of hotels, you can find neighborhood flair at the Moonrise Hotel (www.moonrisehotel.com; 877-872-1122), which opened in April in The Delmar Loop, a neighborhood 6 miles west of Busch. The Moonrise is a boutique hotel with excellent service, cool amenities and a popular rooftop bar with panoramic views of downtown.

If you stay at Moonrise, start the day at Meshuggah Cafe (www.meshuggahcafe.com; 314-726- 5662), an independent coffee shop where the java is made one espresso-based cup at a time, and the breakfast sandwiches -- scrambled eggs and some combination of veggies and meat -- are cheap, hearty and delicious.

The best thing about spending the first part of your day in The Delmar Loop before going to a Cardinals game is that the Metro Link ($2.25 a ride) connects the neighborhood to the stadium -- an advantage in a city that's difficult to negotiate without a car.

If you want breakfast closer to the stadium, try Rooster (www.roosterstl.com; 314-241-8118), which specializes in crepes but not the kind that leave you hungry 20 minutes later. These are closer to omelets, stuffed with fresh, surprising ingredients. A house favorite, for example, is the mushroom, basil and oven-dried tomato crepes with goat cheese. Delectable.

If you're up early enough that you have time between eating and the game -- or if it's a night game -- check out one of the most mind-bending museums ever, where kids will smile nonstop: City Museum (www.citymuseum.org; 314-231-2489).

Housed in a 600,000-square-foot former shoe factory, this museum, founded in 1997 by sculptor Bob Cassilly, is a salute to imagination, packed with the surreal, the surprising and the incredibly fun. Full of things to climb on, swing from, slide down and ride, the place feels like a circus crossed with Batman's Wayne Manor inside the eye of a tornado.

If you sleep past breakfast and are ready to dive into lunch and beer, a great bet near the stadium is Schlafly Tap Room (www.schlafly.com; 314- 241-2337). The shaved roast beef, served on a perfectly soft roll, was succulent, as was the spicy and tangy beer-boiled brat, topped with grilled kraut and eye-opening mustard. And the beer didn't disappoint. Instead of Bud and Miller, you'll be drinking porter and hefeweizen.

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