I love Scott Air Force Base. The base is nestled away in St. Clair county. The base is surrounded by farms and in the summer, the smell of manure fills the air. So let's talk about the good of Scott. Free St. Louis Cardinals games...need I say more. Military ID card holders can get free tickets to the games. Not to mention most of the parks and museums are free to visit in St. Louis. My family and I loved going to the Zoo and Science Museum to pass the time. Oh and I can't forget about the City Museum. This place is hard to explain, but its amazing! Check out their website. In the summer, the towns surrounding the base put on fairs with carnival rides, entertainment, car shows, etc. Another great place to see is Eckert Farms. Just minutes away from the base, it grows a variety of crops throughout the year that you can go and pick from right out of the tree. Like apples, strawberries, and pumpkins. It makes for a fun day with the kids riding the tractor out to the field, then picking and eating apples. Each year the USO of Missouri puts together a wonderful day for the kids to come out and visit Santa at Union Station in St. Louis. Each child receives a free donated gift, write letters to Santa, make crafts, and enjoy a breakfast. Just love the generosity of the folks at the USO in Missouri. Now for the bad. Scott is just a 15 minute drive from East St. Louis and right across the Mississippi is St. Louis. Amazingly downtown St. Louis is relatively safe, you have to watch out for North St. Louis. I never noticed the high crime rates myself, but we lived on base. Turn on the news and it seemed as though there were 5-10 people being killed every night. On top of that, the weather can turn pretty nasty. We had so many tornado warnings, my wife would have a panic attack. Plus, no basements in base housing, unless your a flag officer...go figure. We decided that it was time to go at that point. Scott is a great place to go for a couple of years, but it probably won't make my retirement list.
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