Fast Trip to St. Louis

We squeezed in a little family trip to St. Louis over the weekend - quick but fantastic!

We had to wait around to check into our hotel for a little while, so we killed time at the neighboring, nearly-abandoned mall.  After finding two restaurants in the food court for lunch, Delaney and I enjoyed this two-story carousel.  The poor guy who has to sit there all day . . .

Day #1: Ulysses S. Grant Historic Site
I knew very little about Ulysses S. Grant, so this little (free) stop was great!  The house we toured was his wife's childhood home and they did live there for a few years after they were married.  Besides being a Civil War General, he was a president who worked to fulfill Lincoln's vision of freedom for all - despite the fact that his father-in-law believed in slavery.  They were said to have very loud arguments over this!  I appreciated how our tour guide encouraged us to keep in mind the perspective of the slaves who lived at the site and pointed out some interesting tidbits - like showing a plain back door, built differently from the rest, that implies this was the only door slaves were allowed to use.  Even though the farm was called Whitehaven, Grant had the house painted green (a very trendy color when he chose it)! Quick but informative stop!

Some young Clydesdales on the way in to the site

Houses from this time period
were often built with vertical logs!

Possibly a slave entrance

view from the chicken coop

Grant designed this barn!

City Museum:  What a place!  Floor after floor of new discoveries:  slides, climbing tunnels, interactive exhibits, scary heights, even a ferris wheel (which none of us rode).  This tested my courage quite a bit as some of the places we climbed were quite high.  I did not climb into the bus that seems to be dangling over the edge of the building!

10-story slide

Day #2:  Gateway Arch National Park: We tested our fear of heights at City Museum, and then we went to the Arch!  After watching a 30 minute documentary on the building of the arch, we gained a new appreciation for the monument.  Wow!  How in the world could people be so brave to ride up to the top (630 ft.), unharnessed, and work!  We had time to tour the museum before our ride up, and that was a great visual reminder of our westward expansion after the Louisiana Purchase.  It was also a tribute to the history of St. Louis.  As at the Grant historical site, I appreciated that all views were represented.  Not all groups of people saw America's westward expansion in a positive light. 

We were all a little uneasy about travelling up in our "pod," but we did it, and the views were stunning.  If I forgot about how high I was, I could enjoy it for brief moments! :)

After our ride to the top, we took a "paddleboat" ride on the Mississippi River.  The paddle didn't really run the boat.  Our tour guide pointed out good information about the river, and about what we saw on the banks - both the Missouri side and the Illinois side.  It was a nice, cool day, which made our experience even better!

Waiting for the door to open
for us to go up

Checking out the welding!

After our trip to the Arch, we had intended to eat lunch at Pappy's Smokehouse downtown.  However, we were surprised to find, at 2 p.m., the line for lunch extended throughout the restaurant and out the back door.  So, we headed across the street to Hugo's Pizzeria, where only one other family was dining!  It was such a cute, charming restaurant - I just had to take pictures!

Tangrams while waiting!

Gender neutral bathroom signs were pretty great!

Ozark Mushroom Pizza - divine!

Dining with fresh flowers makes
me smile!

The evening was reserved for hotel time - a must for the kids, apparently.  The cave will have to wait for another time, I guess.  It turned out pretty great because it was a rainy evening and lounging felt good!  The girls, especially, enjoyed the pool, as it was an indoor/outdoor pool.  Swimming in the rain was a fun treat.  And, since our hotel had free food in the evening, we enjoyed dessert from the Cheesecake Factory - part of the nearly-abandoned mall.  That place was not abandoned.  We ordered some cheesecake and walked back to our room - and I enjoyed every morsel of it!

Elevator-sitting

How Cambry feels about cheesecake

How the rest of us feel about cheesecake

Swimming outside at night?  Yes, please!

Day #3:  Heading Home:  I found myself taking lots of pictures of bridges on this trip.  I guess when there are two major rivers so close to each other, that's just what might happen!  I marvel at their strength and the engineering that goes into creating such structures!

Caiden drove the last two hours home - a little reluctantly, but he did it!