Panera offers free WiFi in about 400 locations. The odd thing is that even though their listings didn’t name a location near my hotel, a proximity search found one in my hotel:
Westport Plaza
147 Westport Plaza
Maryland Heights, MO 63146
Then there’s also Apple Store West Country:
131 West County Center
Des Peres, MO 63131
…Just a quarter mile east of 270 on Manchester.
Apple stores are are one of my favorites for free WiFi because they host resources generally not available elsewhere while away from home-base. And since I’ll be traveling without my PowerBook this time, I’m glad to know there’s a store nearby. I could, conceivably, go in and Photoshop some pictures from my digital camera, upload them to Flickr, then blog them all on the showroom floor. I once forgot my powersupply while at a conference in DC, and the Apple Store fellows let me charge up, check my email, and browse the web for an hour or more.