Meet Me In St. Louis

March 29, 2012

written by Cathy Baker, mom of two amazing girls, from Missouri

Around here it is already Spring Break time! So we decided it was time for two Missouri born girls to visit the top of the Arch, rather than just ooo-ing and aahh-ing as we drove by it on our way north to see family! Added bonus, my parents were visiting, so they got to join us!

The Arch…

Here we are at the top of the arch (apparently my husband didn’t get the memo about wearing brown this day!)

Every time we visit St. Louis, I find I love this city more and more! So, I thought I’d share a bit of this city with you, so you could get in on the fun too! I’ve always been impressed at how many free attractions there are here in St. Louis – like the totally amazing, free zoo! And the free Science Center. And while I haven’t been here personally, I’ve heard great things about Purina Farms, which is also free. There’s also the Magic House, which does have an entrance fee, but well worth it from what I hear.

However, what totally amazed me on this trip was the City Museum.  Seriously, I would dare say, this may be one of the most amazing museums I’ve ever been to! Perhaps it’s my recent love of all things upcycled. But really, I loved it because I played hard all day – had an absolute blast with my family – and crawled into bed sore and exhausted at the end of an incredibly fun day.  Here’s the idea behind the City Museum – find all the ‘junk’ that is torn down, abandoned, rotting or rusting away in the city…and upcycle it into amazing awesomeness! Or as their website says,

Housed in the 600,000 square-foot former International Shoe Company, the museum is an eclectic mixture of children’s playground, funhouse, surrealistic pavilion, and architectural marvel made out of unique, found objects. … Cassilly and his longtime crew of 20 artisans have constructed the museum from the very stuff of the city; City Museum boasts features such as old chimneys, salvaged bridges, construction cranes, miles of tile, and even two abandoned planes! …“City Museum makes you want to know,” says Cassilly. “The point is not to learn every fact, but to say, ‘Wow, that’s wonderful.’ And if it’s wonderful, it’s worth preserving.”

A highlight are the old slides for shoes that have been converted to a 10 story twisty slide!  Yes, you have to climb 10 stories up first…don’t worry, your kids will sleep well at the end of the day because of it! Also, you have to meander through caves til you find it.

Here is one of the openings in the floor that once you crawl into opens into an entire cavern of caves below the floor to explore.

There are also miles of tunnels above and around the museum – old coils to crawl through – and you never quite know where you will climb out to next.  (Okay, maybe not miles, but there are lots!)

And the fun extends to the outside…

Here’s my daughter and my dad climbing through this coil tunnel 5 stories above the ground in order to slide down one of over a dozen slides throughout the place.

Did I mention rope swings, a skateboard park to run up and slide down, a free art creation area, a walk through kaleidoscope, the mini-circus, and making your own paper animal snowflakes?  And we didn’t even get to visit the roof top with the bus hanging over the ledge and the ferris wheel nor the aquarium. And yet we spent 7 full hours there simply playing and having the time of our lives! I have a few more pictures on my own blog, if you want to see some more of this amazing place!

So if you are ever near St. Louis, or want a fun place to vacation too – I’d highly recommend staying a bit in this fun ‘gateway to the west’ city!  You will create memories to last a lifetime!

What other amazing museums have you been too?

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Category: Travel
Tags: City Museum, St. Louis |