Fort Leonard Wood: Marine's GF Survival Guide

Fort Leonard Wood is NOT a Marine's base ladies, I'm sorry, I was disappointed too.  I was so excited about getting to see what a Marine's base was but this was not going to be the case.  This is an Army’s base, and you get to hear the “Army Strong” thing, every time you get through that gate, haha.

Let me start from the beginning.  Fort Leonard Wood is located in the Missouri Ozarks and its main gate is located on the southern boundary of St. Robert.  There are 3 schools in this base, The Military Police Corps for the U.S. Army, the Chemical Corps for the U.S. Army and the Engineers Corps for the U.S. Army. That is why my bf was there, he is an engineer.

If you don't have a car, you will be stuck at the house all day until your man comes back from base.  There is NO public transportation in Saint Robert.  Yes, that blew my mind, I come from a big city in Europe and I don't think I have been to a small town here where there is no public transportation or a least one bus to take you to the center of the city.  There were some places nearby where we were staying, a dollar store and a furniture store...not much.  After one day you will be bored.  It could be good if you plan on taking your man to base so you can take the car and do something.

You will need an ID to get on base, and you CAN'T get in without being sponsored by your man, this is not negotiable.  It depends of the accuracy of the soldier at the gate, but they can deny you entry if your ID is overdue.  For foreign (like me), you will need a valid passport to show at the gate, the ID from your country of origin has no use there. 

Once inside the base, that thing is like a city.  They have everything in there, even a Starbucks!  For the PX you will need a military ID to be able to buy there, so make sure you go with your man.  Those stores are taxes free so you get to safe some money, and let me tell you they have good stuff there, perfumes like Gucci, Armani, Bath and Body works products, Victoria's Secret products, so its going to be like Christmas. The Gym is great, super big.  To get in there you need to be in the military or be sponsored by one.  While I was there (July 4th) they did something like a fair and it was open to civilians.   It was full of young girls, with little clothe on...I did not like that, but that could be me over thinking. It was a good opportunity for me see the cammies for the different branches; by now you should know that the Branches in the U.S. Arm forces use different cammies, being the Marine’s one the sexiest haha.

If you are looking for the typical "I love my Marine" things you wont have too much to choose from, since it is an Army's base it is focused on the Army, you will find one rack with Marine's stuff and not as close as cool as the Army's gfs one.  Don't expect to get much out of it.

Ok so if you are used to live in a big city Saint Roberts will kill you, its a dead town, you will have to help yourself with the cities nearby to have a good time.  This is what we did to have a memorable time:

I landed at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport (STL) which is like 20 minutes from Saint Louis, so we began there (yes, after 20 hours of traveling, I womened it up).

Saint Louis 

• Arc: The icon of St. Louis, MO is undoubtedly the Gateway Arch. America’s tallest national monument since 1965.  We ride the tram 630 ft. to the top, we also visited the Museum of Westward Expansion underneath the Arch showcases the Lewis & Clark Expedition.
• The 360 Rooftop Bar, at the Hilton Saint Louis, near the Busch stadium its located at downtown, we went there for something to eat and drink.  The 360 Rooftop Bar Soaring nearly 400 feet above downtown St. Louis, it is the ultimate rooftop bar and it offers sweeping views in all directions – hence the name – including a birds’ eye view right into Busch Stadium. With a cocktail in hand and a tasty bite to savor, it is the perfect perch to take in the Cardinals, the Gateway Arch, the mighty Mississippi and the sites of St. Louis near and far. Three Sixty has an extensive wine, beer and cocktail selection as well as a delicious assortment of small plate. After this we went to a little bar, we just chose one out of the blue to try some local beers; we had one and then left to Saint Roberts.

• Six Flags, this amusement park was good, I enjoyed the water rides very much.  The food is overpriced inside, so we took our food with us and left it in the truck.  You can come in and out of the park as many times as you want, just make sure they stamp your hand to ensure your re entry.

Saint Roberts:

• Cheers & Salud: this is a very good bar, as the names previews, it has two sections one with hip hop music and another separate room with Latin music.  It was a lot of fun, even though it was never super crowded.  The Latin area was good also but not too many people in it, the DJ needs improvement he was playing a lot of old songs (if you enjoy Latin music you may want to suggest him some). 
• Trinity: Largest club outside of Fort Leonard Wood. Country/Rock out front and a second Dj/Dance club in the back. We went directly to the back, Hip Hop the entire night, nice environment, it wasn't that full though.
• Johnny G's: this is a bar with a small dance floor, cheap drinks, nice people.  We went here mostly because of the DJ's, which is a friend of ours.  If you are lucky and he is playing, you will have a blast.
• Community pool: neither my bf or me can remember the name of this place, but it was the local pool, we paid 3 dollars to get in.  Family environment, but there are some amenities and its cool for tanning and having a different moment. 
• Souvenirs hunting: we just rolled, haha.  We drove around looking for yard sales or flee market.  We didn’t buy anything but had a good time just looking around and taking weird / funny pics.
• Elbow Inn Bar and BBQ: Devils Elbow, Missouri is an unincorporated community in Pulaski County on historic US Highway Route 66. It is situated on the Big Piney River and was named for a particularly bad place in the river known as a "devil of an elbow". It is about five miles (8 km) east of St. Roberts.Many bras have been tacked to its ceiling by free spirits traveling old Route 66 haha, maybe you dare.  It is full of bikers so don’t think on going there with your nicest clothe; the day we went there they were on a bday with free food for all.  There is a visitor’s book where you get to sign; there were a lot of people from around the world.  The pen was missing, so take one with you.

• Historic Route 66: for a foreign like me this was a shock: the ultra famous Route 66 breaks through neighborhoods! and it can get super narrow at some points.   It was fascinating to finally see the Mother Road. 

• Big Lois: yes, an stripper club.  I had my reservations about this, I did not know how I would handle it, if I was going to get jealous or what exactly was going to happened there.  So we talked it out before getting in: he didn’t get to do sh%^it, but me.  So, yes, I put my money out and pum! I got me lap dance, and the girl did not take my money! It was fun, a bit embarrassing  though (I bet my face was the rarest) but fun. I could do it again
• Sonic: this was very romantic, he wanted to take me for a smoothie like the old times, we ordered and drank it the truck.
• Dairy Queen
• Movies 
• Catfish for lunch: my bf wanted to take me there for the catfish, the best one ever he said...it was good :) at the entrance there was a big map of the world, and people got to pin mark their countries.
• Chicken bones (restaurant)
• Buffalo Wild wings (restaurant)

Springfield:

• Midnight Rodeo: my bf is (or he thinks he is) a cowboy and since early in our relationship he wanted to take me to a country music club, and so he did.  It was a blast! I’m Latina and I don’t know anything about dancing country but it was amazing just immerging in the deep America.
• Lamp lighter in: This is the hotel we stayed at, well-located, friendly staff and very clean.  It was just crossing the street from the Midnight Rodeo, so we could drink all we want and just walk home by the end of the night.
• Nakoto Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi bar: it has a sizzling Hibachi grill and a sushi bar, you will surely be entertained and satisfied at the dining Japanese restaurant as you watch your food being prepared before your eyes.  It’s a little bit expensive but the food is tasty.
• Bass Pro Shops: It is an outdoor retail leader in hunting, camping, nature gifts, outdoor cooking...it was a stop, just looking around.  He wanted to buy me a knife :s  they have animals in exhibition, like turtles, and a aquarium.  Also, some fake (or dissected, I cant be sure) animals that you can take some good pics with.
• Battlefield mall: this is where we went for cowgirl shopping, nice stores here.  Got my boots at a good price.
• The Worlds largest gift store: yes, its super big.  If you are in need to buy some souvenirs for the family this is the place.  Here we found my cowgirl hat. 

This took me forever to post, I wanted it to be perfect but I decided to just post it! if you have any questions or want to know more about one of these places, leave me a message here.  

Have a nice one!

SEMPER FI.

P.S. Getting ready to fly and see my bf tomorrow :) so please, forgive any misspelling <3