Thanks for the advice guys... Rather than reply to everyone
individually, I'll make general comments here...

Well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder... I have flown the
panhandle coast line before and the last time there I motored along for
about ten minutes, said "jeeeezzzz", hung a right turn and went
straight across the gulf to Tampa rather than look at that coast any
longer... Probably not the smartest thing to do even with two engines
because I didn't have flotation gear along on that trip and I found
that the north end of the Gulf was empty of boats, in the event of
going down... I kept ATC dialed in (not talking to them) just in case
I needed to hit 7700 and hollar for help...

Yes Dan, I noted V198 as staying out of the airspace where our
government flies multi million dollar airplanes with secret electronics
that can't seem to avoid hitting a 100 knot spam can...

Hey, I like zoos... Give you a tip in return, the Colorado Springs zoo
seems to be not well known, but I thought it was outstanding...

The advice to spend two days in the Big Easy is good, but I suspect I
need to see the arch - unless the majority advice is to skip it... I
intend to see it again in a few years when I'm too decrepit to spend 14
hours a day running my business and go do the Great Loop, but who knows
at my age... Eat dessert first, you may not get to it otherwise...
The other point about the Big Easy is that I don't like spicy food and
one drink is pretty much my limit... So taking the horse and buggy tour
of the French Quarter and supper on Burbon St. will likely suffice...

Drury Inn is interesting... One Sunday I wandered out to the airport to
go flying... There was a corporate jet on the ramp and a crowd milling
around in the lounge with the smell of money permeating the
atmosphere... I wiggled my way between the designer suits, power
ties, Rolex's, pearl necklaces, Gucci high heels, etc., to the coffee
pot... They had emptied it - leaving the empty pot on the burner, grrrr
- so I busied myself cleaning up the mess and making a fresh pot...
Just as it finished dripping this Drury van pulled up and a couple in
their early 60's got out, she in blue jeans and a sweater, he in shirt
sleeves and no tie... He parted the crowd like the Red Sea, straight
to the coffee bar and said it smelled good,... I poured him a cup and
made small talk... He said the group was with Drury Inn... Never heard
of it, I said... He went over to the wall display of advertising (again
plowing through the crowd which parted silently), pulled a brochure
and handed it to me... I looked at the brochure and opined I still had
never heard of it... He got a bit annoyed, introduced himself as Mr.
Drury, and stomped off... I doubt that I am going to be offered the VIP
suite if I ever stay at one...

For St. Louis I have one vote for Creve Coeur and the guided tour..
Anyone have an opinion on St. Louis Downtown, CPS, it seems to be in
the shadow of the Arch...

At the Big Easy one vote for NEW - any other choices?

denny