Apparently, the $8 million makeover the Cheshire received back in 2011 just wasn't enough for some people, like New York-based art critic Michael Wilson who sniffed in Artforum, "The mock-Tudor facility had apparently been designated officially historic, a reward for having survived unnumbered stag parties and family getaways since as far back as the mid-1950s." Harumph. Guests who aren't insufferable prigs will find much to appreciate at the Cheshire, starting with its location, which abuts the city limits on the edge of our beloved Forest Park. The rooms themselves are swathed in classic jewel tones and accented with leaded- and stained-glass windows, while the larger novelty suites are an English literature major's dream with names such as "James Bond" and "Brideshead Revisited." Dining options abound, and all are excellent: James Beard Award winner Patrick Connolly helms casual-cool Basso in the basement, while upstairs the Restaurant at the Cheshire is a gorgeous, more formal affair led by Rex Hale, who's also the executive chef at downtown's chic Three Sixty. Plus, the Market at the Cheshire is a picnic-perfect choice for take-away foodstuff, such as sandwiches, cheeses, mix-and-match six-packs, wine and more, or the Fox & Hounds Tavern can assemble a picnic basket ahead of time, complete with a blanket. There are also freebie bikes to use, live poolside music during the summer and a farmers' market on Saturdays. That cool $8 mil seems like money well spent to us. Rooms start at around $100 a night.

This spring the media-relations officer for the St. Louis County Police Department found himself part of the police blotter for a change. Randy Vaughn was filling out paperwork when a fleeing suspect burst into the building and ran past his desk — the perp seemingly unaware that he had chosen police headquarters as a hiding place. The cops easily nabbed their prey, and Vaughn went about his duty of informing the media of the incident. "Usually, bad guys don't run at you," reported the police spokesman, adding, "it was ridiculous." Such colorful commentary isn't out of the ordinary for Vaughn, a seasoned vet who knows how to mix gravity with wit when dealing with the press. Who can forget his e-mail to reporters that not-so-subtly requested that they refrain from paging him between the hours of 10 p.m. and 4 a.m.? "IN OTHER WORDS, PLEASE LET ME SLEEP!" wrote Vaughn. On its face, the message seems brusque, but we ask: What other bureaucrat will take your calls eighteen hours a day?

A driving force behind the IKEA-to-St. Louis rumors and home to some of the smartest analysis of local crime stats, nextSTL.com regularly stirs the pot in ways that can make mainstream media in town jealous. Launched in 2010 and run by editor Alex Ihnen, nextSTL is known for its in-depth analysis of hyperlocal issues — we're talking block-by-block changes — that really matter to its devoted readers. (Sources frequently tell us we have to check out its coverage of a topic before we publish our own stories.) Whether it's about the impact of Saint Louis University on midtown or the most nuanced breakdown of city/county crime data, nextSTL gets it right in a way rarely found in local media.

It's a divorce attorney's job to get two people to split up. Conversely, it's often Jim Hacking's job to bring two people together. That is, if one of the two people was born in a foreign country and the other is a U.S. citizen. Some of Hacking's more dramatic work is helping asylum seekers and battling with immigration authorities over deportations, but his bread and butter is marriage-based visas. This year the United States Supreme Court threw immigration attorneys a little curve ball after it declared the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional. Now that the federal government is recognizing same-sex marriages, Hacking was one of the (if not the) first attorneys in St. Louis to accept same-sex-couple clients who've been legally married and need a green card to stay together here in town. Because legalization of gay marriage is nowhere on the horizon for Missouri, it's great that attorneys like Hacking are willing to help keep these families together through other means.

Of the 4 million pieces that populate the beautifully restored Central branch of the St. Louis Public Library, visitors will find some 100,000 maps of our fair city. Most of these, naturally, are found in the handsome St. Louis Room. Here are stacks upon stacks of maps, atlases and reproductions of cityscapes from centuries ago that outline St. Louis' story. (Some of the original maps were drawn at a time when mapmaking was the product of trips via hot-air balloon. So genteel!) It's a wondrous thing, seeing the familiar look so foreign: Tower Grove Park as we (sort of) know it, but here bordered by Russell's Coal Mines, Arsenal Street Road and King's High Way. These are depicted as well-traveled streets — but busy with horse-drawn carriages. Elsewhere there are sepia pictures of this very library at the turn of the 19th century, when patrons were mostly men in suits and ties, and the few women who came wore long sleeves and floppy hats. No place in town does St. Louis' history more magnificent justice than the public library's flagship branch. Tours leave from the desk in the library's Great Hall at 10 and 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m. on Mondays and Saturdays.

We are a sedentary nation, and the Internet sure ain't helping. For the first time ever, this year Americans are expected to spend more time online (five hours per day) than they do watching TV (four and a half hours per day). Who better to recognize this than a counter-intuitive website that actually encourages us to unplug and get off our ass? The online home of Missouri State Parks is such a site. This beautiful and smartly designed website greets visitors with an interactive "Choose Your Own Adventure" tool. Just plug in your interests (camping, hiking, fishing, etc.) and voilà! Out pops dozens of state parks where you can pursue your hobbies. Click on one of those results, and you're taken to the park's individual website where you can see photos and video, read about the park and its history, and even reserve a campsite. And for you unabashed techies who cringe at the thought of spending time off the grid, know this: Some of Missouri's 87 state parks and historic sites offer campgrounds with free Wi-Fi. You can find out which ones at (where else?) www.mostateparks.com.

Quietly tucked away in deep south city next to Carondelet Park, fortressed behind rows of century-old trees that line the boulevards, Holly Hills gets along quietly, just fine on its own. The houses span from elegant brick masterpieces to affordable, comfortable bungalows. Perhaps most telling about the neighborhood is its census figures. In a time when many city folks were, and still are, fleeing west and south, the Holly Hills neighborhood has essentially retained its population between the 2000 and 2010 census, its numbers falling by just 4 residents, to 3,701. And the fact that Holly Hills is less than a ten-minute shot down Interstate 55 from downtown certainly lures local attorneys, judges, politicians, city firefighters and police. And let's face it: In terms of neighborhood safety, these are good neighbors to have.