City Museum

 I cannot even say enough good things about St. Louis's City Museum.  This is one of the most unique, quirky, and fun places that I have ever visited.  The term "museum" is a misnomer.  This place is really more of a jungle gym on steroids.  The museum uses reclaimed materials to make the most wonderful things.  There are dozens of tunnels, slides, and interesting places to explore.  We spent hours climbing, crawling, and sliding.  There are even tunnels in the floor and in the ceiling.  There are nooks and crannies everywhere- and you can explore them all.  Several times I saw Olivia point out a hole in the floor or wall to Owen, to which he would reply "Let's go in it".  There are no maps, so getting lost was pretty much guaranteed.  But, that was part of the fun.  We all liked the slides, and we went down as many as we could find- including the ten story slide.  I felt like such a kid at this place, and I was not alone.  After all, the City Museum was designed with adults in mind.  We stayed late- almost til closing time- and there is no way we saw it all.  Should fate ever take us through St. Louis again, a return visit to the City Museum will be at the top of my list.

Gateway Arch

The third day of our Missouri vacation began with a visit to the iconic Gateway Arch.  The arch and area around it is undergoing a major renovation.  As a matter of fact, they had just re-opened the tram to the top about a week before we arrived.  We did get to ride to the top, but other areas of the park were still closed (like the National Expansion Museum).  

The arch is the tallest national monument in the U.S., and the tram ride to the top was interesting.  The designers came up with an innovative way to move passengers along a curved track.  The tram system combined the technology of an elevator, trolley, and ferris wheel.  The ferris wheel part was evident as the super-small tram car righted itself several times as we moved up the track.  

The top of the arch offered views of both St. Louis and the Mississippi River.  Luckily it was a clear day, so we had no problems with the view.

Anheuser-Busch Tour

On the afternoon of Day 2 in St. Louis we took the complimentary tour of the Anheuser-Busch brewery.  Two things struck me about this brewery- it is large and it is fancy.  After giving us a brief history of the company, our guides led us to the Clydesdale stables.  We saw some of these famous animals as well as some of the old Budweiser wagons.  After poking around the stable for a bit, we headed into a room in the factory where we were given a sample of Budweiser which we (meaning Brian) could enjoy while the guides told us about the seven step brewing process.  I didn't know anything about brewing beer prior to this tour, so I found this pretty interesting.  We were then taken to a few areas of the factory where we could see the machines involved in the brewing process.  Once our tour was over, we were able to redeem the beer tokens that we had received at the beginning of the tour for a beverage of our choice at the Biergarten.  Brian traded his in for some variety of Shock Top and the kids got a Pepsi and lemonade.  I'm not a beer drinker but I hated not to try something that was produced at the factory (I was onsite after all).  The guide helped me choose a drink that she thought I might like (Cidre- Stella). It was okay- not my thing, but I didn't gag.

St. Louis Zoo

Day two of our Missouri vacation began at the St. Louis Zoo.  This is one of the best zoos that we have ever been to (and it was free).  There were many outstanding animal exhibits, but I am going to post pictures of some of our favorites. The one that left the biggest impression on me was the polar bear.  We have seen polar bears at other zoos, but the one here was relaxing up next to the glass and we were able to get really really close to him.  What a magnificent animal!

The kids enjoyed watching the hippos.  Most of the animals were in nice, large habitats- that's always nice to see.

 The penguins were also a hit.

The St. Louis Zoo had several animals that we had never seen before.  Brian really liked the Takins.  He thought they were cool when he first saw them, and then their coolness was solidified when he realized that they could climb.

We spent about five hours at the zoo, and enjoyed our time there.

Spring Break in Missouri

Last year Brian and I decided that we would like to visit all 50 states with our kids before they grow up.  This is a goal that we would like to see happen- doesn't mean that it will, but we would like to try for it.  The minimum criteria that must be met in order for a state to count is that we have to have a sit-down meal in it.  Eating in the car does not count nor does simply driving through a state.  A meal is the minimum.  We had already covered a lot of the southern and mid-Atlantic states prior to this trip, so we headed toward the middle of the country for Spring Break.  We ended up adding three new states (Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas) during this trip- that brings our family total up to 19.

 Day one was our longest driving day.  According to Mapquest, the drive from our house to St. Louis was suppose to take a little over 12 hours.  We thought that that was do-able in a day.  However, we did not count on getting backed up in stop-and-go traffic SEVEN times between home and Nashville.  It took about twelve hours just to get to Nashville.  We ended up driving for seventeen hours straight to make it to our hotel in St. Louis.  It was one of the longest days ever.  The silver lining of all of this traffic was that we ended up going through Atlanta later than anticipated and managed to meet up with Cassie and James for lunch.

We also stopped at Steak and Shake in Illinois for a late supper so that we could count that state.

 The Gateway Arch was certainly a sight for sore eyes after a long day of driving.  We checked into our hotel around 1 a.m. and went straight to bed.  We were exhausted.

Easter

 We had a wonderful time celebrating Easter with our family this year.  On Saturday, the kids dyed eggs and got their baskets ready.  They woke up early on Sunday morning to check out their Easter Bunny loot, and then we got ready to go to Sunday School and Church. It had been raining during the night, but it slacked off enough for us to get our picture by the cross after the service. We ate lunch at Granny Buie's house but were not able to hunt eggs there due to the weather.  It was a great day of celebration.

SAM Shortline Railroad

Olivia's WINGS class recently explored southwest Georgia by taking a ride on the SAM Shortline Railroad.  Their trip began in Cordele and traveled to Leslie and Americus before returning to Cordele.  Olivia was excited to have her Papa (who worked on these types of trains for for many years) go with her.  Included in the price of the trip was lunch on the train (hotdogs) and a souvenir train cap for the kids.

In Leslie, the students visited the Georgia Rural Telephone Museum, which is home to one of the largest collections of antique telephones and telephone memorabilia in the world.

In Americus, the students visited the Habitat for Humanity Global Village and learned about the houses that this organization builds around the world.  They even got to visit replicas of the different types of shelters from different countries.  The kids were given "passports" and were able to get stamped at each "country".  From the way my dad described it, this place sounds very interesting.

 When my dad and Olivia got back home, they were both worn out.  It was a full, busy day for sure.