Wow! I hadn’t realized just how long it has been since I last posted! July has been extremely busy. Things just worked out to take place in July, one thing right after another. Obviously the long weekend of the 4th of July, then a family vacation to St. Louis, Missouri, then a concert, then a vacation with my husband to Wyoming. It has been fun but has taken up much of my time and energy.
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Every year we try to take a vacation with our daughters and their families. This year we went to St. Louis, Missouri, and had a few extras as well – our niece and one of our daughter’s mother-in-law and sister-in-law. All good! Everyone got along and had a great time. All 13 of us.
One of the first things we did was visit the Gateway Arch. I’d been to it before but never went to the top. This time we all went up.
There is construction going on around it and under it. Believe it or not, the Museum of Western Expansion is underground, right below the Arch. Right now much of the museum is off limits due to the construction, though there are some exhibits in the old courthouse close by. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it to the courthouse this trip.
This is what we saw from one side of the viewing area at the top of the arch, which is 630 feet, or 192 meters, high. From the other side of the Arch, you see the Mississippi River. You go up in little enclosures that sit five people each and it takes several minutes. You don’t want to have a problem with tight or high places!
Check out what I found in the Arch gift shop! They have toys, books, and other items that relate to the western expansion of North America. I guess they consider tatting an old craft practiced during the western movement. How cool is it to find tatting like this in the gift shop?
There is a lot available to do in St. Louis so we had to narrow down what we wanted to do. Prior to our trip, we had a lot of people tell us what a great place the City Museum is, so we chose to go there after the Arch. We all totally agree this is a great place! No, it’s a totally awesome place! You can be there all day and not see or experience the whole thing. I recommend it to anyone going to St. Louis. If you go, take along head lights (flash lights that you can wear around your head) and knee pads. This place is loaded with things to experience – slides, caves, climbs, and other things too many to mention.
It was hot the day we visited, but it was a Saturday so it was open until midnight. We spent most of the afternoon there, then went out for supper and (most of us) went back until closing. You get wrist bands as your entry tickets which allow you to go in and out all day.
This is a small portion of the roof of the museum. My husband is the highest person in that wire structure. It doesn’t go anywhere, it’s just a place to climb. The grandkids had a blast here! The parents had to stick with their kids. There are a lot of slides in the building, some spiraling through the dark, and it’s hard to know where or even which floor they end on. The caves are dark and may be scary to younger children but have amazing things hidden in them. There are trees and other things to climb all over the place. If you go, plan to spend a lot of time!
I did pick up a few things from the Arch gift shop (yes, the tatting book, I didn’t have it yet) and the City Museum gift shop. I didn’t get much tatting done, but I didn’t expect to. The two buttons were all done on the drive there or back. Yes, there was time on the long drive there and back to have done more, but it didn’t happen.
This was a wonderful vacation. I am exceedingly pleased that it worked out so well and that everyone got along as well as they did. Well enough that we are already talking about where and what we want to do next year.
“Take vacations. Go as many places as you can. You can always make money. You can’t always make memories.” positivelifetips.com
