by Trisha Peplinski Harvey
The Valley. Fer sure. (Daylife.com)
Most people, when thinking of the Valley, think of California and people who say “Like totally awesome!” However, St. Louis has their own Valley, and yes, some of the people there might say the same phrase.
Off the beautiful Highway 40 is the Chesterfield Valley and the shopping center called Chesterfield Commons. This shopping center and general area is known simply as the Valley by locals. The Chesterfield Commons is the longest outdoor shopping strip in America — over a mile long, located right off Highway 40 at Boone’s Crossing. You wouldn’t expect anything less from the people of Chesterfield. They like to go above all others.
The Valley has lots of shopping from major chains like Target, Wal-Mart, and PetsMart to smaller specialty stores like Fleet Feet (hey, I’m a runner) and even a vacuum store. There are tons of restaurants from fast food like Lions Choice to more expensive like The Old Spaghetti Factory.
Bike riders in the Valley (Daylife.com)
You can also catch a movie, play softball, go ice-skating, adopt a pet or even go to a bounce place. Even if you do not want to do any of those activities, you can ride your bike or walk the path. It’s in the flood plain, so it is a very flat area.
Back in the Flood of 1993, the Valley was completely flooded. There was no shopping center, but a couple of restaurants and stores and, of course, the softball field and pumpkin patch. When they were building the shopping center, a lot of people thought it was stupid because it was just going to flood again. After the flood, higher levees were built.
The Valley is a one-stop shop for all your family needs. If you need help finding it, ask anyone in Chesterfield where the Valley is, and they can tell you many different ways on how to get there.
So come on down to the place of the perfect and gorgeous people of Chesterfield and shop and eat with the masses. Once you go to the Valley, you will always want to come back.
Trisha Peplinski Harvey resides in Houston, Texas, but her hometown is like totally Chesterfield. She always shops and eats at the Valley and has gone to the bounce house. She even once had a summer job in the Valley.
Why St. Louisans like the Valley:
Among other reasons, they like to pretend there is no such thing is flooding. This explains a variety of stupid development decisions, such as the City of Fenton putting its city softball fields 100 feet from the Meramec River and then acting surprised when they have to cancel half their games every week because the field’s underwater every time it rains for half an hour.