We actually managed to leave town by 7:30 a.m. which was amazing considering two teenagers were involved.
Everything went smootly-a breakfast at McDs for most of us and Burger King for Caleb. We stopped just outside St. Louis and bought a huge 20 pack meal of White Castle hamburgers. Caleb wouldn't eat the, of course, but we chucked down more than a few.
First on our agenda was the St. Louis Zoo. Now, let me mention that it was very hot that day. The sweating, the walking, the dealing with Liam, and the fact that the animals were not really out much, made it sort of a flop. It didn't even match a Springfield Dickerson Park Zoo experience. The little ones had fun, but the rest of us were pretty miserable. After that we headed to our hotel at Union Station. We walked around a bit before checking in .
Union Station, unfortunately is dying. If you have ever been in a dying mall, you will know what I mean (North Town Mall, anyone?). Karl remembered it from his youth as really busy and cool, but what few stores they had were mostly gift shops, and the workers eyed us travelers like predators, just hoping we'd stop at their place.
We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe, which was tasty, but again pretty dead. How do these people make a living?
After that, we checked in at the hotel. The parking fee was $15, which I think should have been included in the hotel. The hotel was fine, but too expensive for what we got. There was some water damage in the Karl-Caleb-Liam room, and it was really a $125 room, rather than a $200 room.
We were right by the pool, so Taryn took Liam for a quick swim, as I had forgotten to pack bathing suits for the rest of us.
After that, we left for the arch. Caleb stayed at the hotel and went to sleep because his laptop couldn't connect to the wifi. He was pretty disappointed, but he hadn't slept the day before, so he needed the rest, anyway.
We rode the Metro to the arch. Getting on the Metro at Union Station was a little stressful because of someone trying to sell tickets for cash, and someone else asking for money to buy tickets. But it was very fast and we were able to avoid driving around looking for places and the inevitable arguing which comes from the stress of getting around in traffic. The arch was pretty much as I remembered it, except the buildings didn't look as amazingly small as they did when I was a kid. Liam loved it, Taryn seemed happy, and Karl likes most things. We decided not to worry about money, so we bought all the extras we wanted (stupid photos which will gather dust, haha).
After we got back to the hotel, Karl and I had planned to go have a drink in the beautiful lobby, but I had fogotten to pack a nice top, and I was a mess. We decided to head over to Landry's Seafood, and we had a drink at the bar. I had a white wine spritzer as it was really hot! Taryn babysat the little ones, which was nice.
The next morning the plan was to go to the science center and then City Museum.
I woke fairly early and waited excitedly for the really expensive room service meal. The meal was good, the pot of coffee was remarkable and smooth.
The science center was free, but of course parking was ten dollars. We went in, bought tickets for the Planetarium's Night Sky show (I can't remember what it's called), and then walked. Liam had huge blisters from walking the previous day, but he eventually bucked up and hobbled around. He loved the tornado exhibits. Their was a simulated tornado of smoke, and a wind machine which blew up to EF0 winds on you for a low-low cost of $2. That was a hit.
Really, there was so much we didn't do there, we could have stayed much longer.
At 11:30 we went to the planetarium. The show was pleasant and relaxing. There is nothing like lying on a floor with a roomful of strangers. Even Caleb got involved and answered questions. After that, we looked at the space stuff, and then went to the "flight simulator machines". Caleb and Taryn chose a war flight or something, they did 360 turns, and frankly we were shocked Caleb did it. There was a screen, and we could seem them laughing and hear them yelling. It was cool. Liam and I chose the weather one, where we were sucked into a tornado. The screen wasn't all convincing, 3D would have been cooler, but Liam had a blast. We went back over the highway (with clear cutouts in the floor, to watch the cars pass underneath). Liam helped some bigger boys build a foam arch with blocks and then we watched the huge marble race machine while we ate some slices of cheese pizza. This was definitely the most fun part of the trip.
After this, we were all too stiff for the City Museum. We had hoped visit my aunt and cousins, but it was my cousins birthday, and I didn't want to mess up their schedule, so we drove around the town, with a quick unplanned trip to Illinois to drive by the Cahokia mounds (the map was unclear and over the river we went). They were not as impressive as I had imagined, so I was glad I hadn't made a day trip to see them. Karl had been there before.
Finally, around the beltway, a quick stop for Dunkin Donuts (so much better than Krispy Kreme), and then back on I44 to head home. We did pick up some Jack in the Box tacos, because I LOVE them. Gabe cried a good 40 minutes of the trip, but we saw a double rainbow right before Springfield.
Overall, it was fun, and there was so much more we could have done if we had time. I don't think I would stay at the Union Station hotel again, just because there wasn't much to do in the area.
Sorry for the typos, so sleepy.
Everything went smootly-a breakfast at McDs for most of us and Burger King for Caleb. We stopped just outside St. Louis and bought a huge 20 pack meal of White Castle hamburgers. Caleb wouldn't eat the, of course, but we chucked down more than a few.
First on our agenda was the St. Louis Zoo. Now, let me mention that it was very hot that day. The sweating, the walking, the dealing with Liam, and the fact that the animals were not really out much, made it sort of a flop. It didn't even match a Springfield Dickerson Park Zoo experience. The little ones had fun, but the rest of us were pretty miserable. After that we headed to our hotel at Union Station. We walked around a bit before checking in .
Union Station, unfortunately is dying. If you have ever been in a dying mall, you will know what I mean (North Town Mall, anyone?). Karl remembered it from his youth as really busy and cool, but what few stores they had were mostly gift shops, and the workers eyed us travelers like predators, just hoping we'd stop at their place.
We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe, which was tasty, but again pretty dead. How do these people make a living?
After that, we checked in at the hotel. The parking fee was $15, which I think should have been included in the hotel. The hotel was fine, but too expensive for what we got. There was some water damage in the Karl-Caleb-Liam room, and it was really a $125 room, rather than a $200 room.
We were right by the pool, so Taryn took Liam for a quick swim, as I had forgotten to pack bathing suits for the rest of us.
After that, we left for the arch. Caleb stayed at the hotel and went to sleep because his laptop couldn't connect to the wifi. He was pretty disappointed, but he hadn't slept the day before, so he needed the rest, anyway.
We rode the Metro to the arch. Getting on the Metro at Union Station was a little stressful because of someone trying to sell tickets for cash, and someone else asking for money to buy tickets. But it was very fast and we were able to avoid driving around looking for places and the inevitable arguing which comes from the stress of getting around in traffic. The arch was pretty much as I remembered it, except the buildings didn't look as amazingly small as they did when I was a kid. Liam loved it, Taryn seemed happy, and Karl likes most things. We decided not to worry about money, so we bought all the extras we wanted (stupid photos which will gather dust, haha).
After we got back to the hotel, Karl and I had planned to go have a drink in the beautiful lobby, but I had fogotten to pack a nice top, and I was a mess. We decided to head over to Landry's Seafood, and we had a drink at the bar. I had a white wine spritzer as it was really hot! Taryn babysat the little ones, which was nice.
The next morning the plan was to go to the science center and then City Museum.
I woke fairly early and waited excitedly for the really expensive room service meal. The meal was good, the pot of coffee was remarkable and smooth.
The science center was free, but of course parking was ten dollars. We went in, bought tickets for the Planetarium's Night Sky show (I can't remember what it's called), and then walked. Liam had huge blisters from walking the previous day, but he eventually bucked up and hobbled around. He loved the tornado exhibits. Their was a simulated tornado of smoke, and a wind machine which blew up to EF0 winds on you for a low-low cost of $2. That was a hit.
Really, there was so much we didn't do there, we could have stayed much longer.
At 11:30 we went to the planetarium. The show was pleasant and relaxing. There is nothing like lying on a floor with a roomful of strangers. Even Caleb got involved and answered questions. After that, we looked at the space stuff, and then went to the "flight simulator machines". Caleb and Taryn chose a war flight or something, they did 360 turns, and frankly we were shocked Caleb did it. There was a screen, and we could seem them laughing and hear them yelling. It was cool. Liam and I chose the weather one, where we were sucked into a tornado. The screen wasn't all convincing, 3D would have been cooler, but Liam had a blast. We went back over the highway (with clear cutouts in the floor, to watch the cars pass underneath). Liam helped some bigger boys build a foam arch with blocks and then we watched the huge marble race machine while we ate some slices of cheese pizza. This was definitely the most fun part of the trip.
After this, we were all too stiff for the City Museum. We had hoped visit my aunt and cousins, but it was my cousins birthday, and I didn't want to mess up their schedule, so we drove around the town, with a quick unplanned trip to Illinois to drive by the Cahokia mounds (the map was unclear and over the river we went). They were not as impressive as I had imagined, so I was glad I hadn't made a day trip to see them. Karl had been there before.
Finally, around the beltway, a quick stop for Dunkin Donuts (so much better than Krispy Kreme), and then back on I44 to head home. We did pick up some Jack in the Box tacos, because I LOVE them. Gabe cried a good 40 minutes of the trip, but we saw a double rainbow right before Springfield.
Overall, it was fun, and there was so much more we could have done if we had time. I don't think I would stay at the Union Station hotel again, just because there wasn't much to do in the area.
Sorry for the typos, so sleepy.
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