St. Louis continued
We're back in town from St. Louis. We had a wonderful time. We did so many things while we were there! In addition to things mentioned in the previous post, we went to the Anheuser-Busch brewery tour, Ted Drewe's frozen custard, Meramec Caverns, St. Louis Zoo, Soulard Farmer's Market, City Museum, Union Station (a mall made out of an old railway station), saw a couple shows from the local improv group, the LaughMasters, a crappy wax museum that I was glad we went to simply because if we hadn't gone we wouldn't know what we weren't missing, a Toy Museum, and several restaurants. We were busy all day every day. It was a blast.
The Anheuser-Busch tour was fascinating, plus we got to see clydesdales and have a free beer at the end. I hate beer. Now I know that fresh beer tastes just as bad as regular beer, but I was a trooper and drank most of a glass.
We went to Meramec Caverns, which are about an hour away from St. Louis. It was really neat, although I think they were trying too hard. They had a giant picture of Lassie in one room because they shot an episode of Lassie there, and at the end they had a "Light show" on one of the formations that consisted of an old recording of some woman singing God Bless America and the tour guide in the back flipping the light breakers on and off to the music. You could hear the switches flicking on and off. It made us laugh. I really enjoyed the caves, I think it was one of my favorite things that we did while we were there. It really is amazing to me that such beautiful things just happen naturally.
The St. Louis Zoo is fantastic. It kicks the Memphis Zoo's butt. The penguin exhibit is the coolest thing I've ever seen. They have a room that is kept at 40 degrees that has Emporer Penguins right in front of you and a room of Puffins, which were adorable because they kept splashing.
Ok, this one's not an Emporer Penguin, but this little guy was too cute to pass up. He seemed to like people watching.
If you ever go to St. Louis, or anywhere near there, you MUST go the City Museum. It is fabulous. If you've never been there, it is built in an old shoe factory and uses scrap metal and various other recycled goods to create a giant playground of sorts suited for kids AND Adults. The place is filled with places to climb and tunnels that go to who knows where all over the place, many ending in giant slides. They also have an adult sized ball pit. Not to mention that everything is done in a unique eye-catching artistic way. Inside there are man-made caves to climb through, and outside is what they call Monstro City made of scrap metal and various other items including a jet, that form a huge structure to climb in that goes about 6 or 7 stories high. You just climb and explore, just like being a kid. If you go, and you should go, wear pants that you mind messing up, comfortable shoes, and be prepared to climb and sweat, and have a wonderful time for hours. Did I mention that they have an aquarium too? And that they're open until 1 am on Friday and Saturday? It is awesome. Truly awesome. My legs are still covered in bruises.
A couple pictures of the main entrance hall, including a giant 3 story tall slide, and that slinky looking thing is one of many things to climb in. Pictures do not do this place justice.
Me climbing in something that ended up going to the ceiling and connected to a network of old playground tunnels.
Michael under the aquarium
This was quite a feat for Michael. This was about 5 stories up in the air and at about a 45 degree angle, his feet were too big to fit into the grate like a ladder, so he had to pull himself up bit by bit. Unfortunately, many parts of City Museum are not built for your bigger than average guy.
This was in the cavern portion and was along the ceiling. The tunnel was so small you couldn't even properly crawl, you had to army crawl to get through.
Some other climbing thing.
Michael in the giant ball pit.
This isn't one of my pictures, but it gives some kind of perspective on what Monstrocity is, although this only shows a small portion. That plane is about 6 stories in the air. It was night when we were there, so we couldn't get a good picture outside.
This one's for Dave, they salvage pieces of old buildings that are being demolished that look neat. This was taller than me.
Anyway, you should go. Nuff said.
The Anheuser-Busch tour was fascinating, plus we got to see clydesdales and have a free beer at the end. I hate beer. Now I know that fresh beer tastes just as bad as regular beer, but I was a trooper and drank most of a glass.
We went to Meramec Caverns, which are about an hour away from St. Louis. It was really neat, although I think they were trying too hard. They had a giant picture of Lassie in one room because they shot an episode of Lassie there, and at the end they had a "Light show" on one of the formations that consisted of an old recording of some woman singing God Bless America and the tour guide in the back flipping the light breakers on and off to the music. You could hear the switches flicking on and off. It made us laugh. I really enjoyed the caves, I think it was one of my favorite things that we did while we were there. It really is amazing to me that such beautiful things just happen naturally.
The St. Louis Zoo is fantastic. It kicks the Memphis Zoo's butt. The penguin exhibit is the coolest thing I've ever seen. They have a room that is kept at 40 degrees that has Emporer Penguins right in front of you and a room of Puffins, which were adorable because they kept splashing.
Ok, this one's not an Emporer Penguin, but this little guy was too cute to pass up. He seemed to like people watching.
If you ever go to St. Louis, or anywhere near there, you MUST go the City Museum. It is fabulous. If you've never been there, it is built in an old shoe factory and uses scrap metal and various other recycled goods to create a giant playground of sorts suited for kids AND Adults. The place is filled with places to climb and tunnels that go to who knows where all over the place, many ending in giant slides. They also have an adult sized ball pit. Not to mention that everything is done in a unique eye-catching artistic way. Inside there are man-made caves to climb through, and outside is what they call Monstro City made of scrap metal and various other items including a jet, that form a huge structure to climb in that goes about 6 or 7 stories high. You just climb and explore, just like being a kid. If you go, and you should go, wear pants that you mind messing up, comfortable shoes, and be prepared to climb and sweat, and have a wonderful time for hours. Did I mention that they have an aquarium too? And that they're open until 1 am on Friday and Saturday? It is awesome. Truly awesome. My legs are still covered in bruises.
A couple pictures of the main entrance hall, including a giant 3 story tall slide, and that slinky looking thing is one of many things to climb in. Pictures do not do this place justice.
Me climbing in something that ended up going to the ceiling and connected to a network of old playground tunnels.
Michael under the aquarium
This was quite a feat for Michael. This was about 5 stories up in the air and at about a 45 degree angle, his feet were too big to fit into the grate like a ladder, so he had to pull himself up bit by bit. Unfortunately, many parts of City Museum are not built for your bigger than average guy.
This was in the cavern portion and was along the ceiling. The tunnel was so small you couldn't even properly crawl, you had to army crawl to get through.
Some other climbing thing.
Michael in the giant ball pit.
This isn't one of my pictures, but it gives some kind of perspective on what Monstrocity is, although this only shows a small portion. That plane is about 6 stories in the air. It was night when we were there, so we couldn't get a good picture outside.
This one's for Dave, they salvage pieces of old buildings that are being demolished that look neat. This was taller than me.
Anyway, you should go. Nuff said.