Adventure Day 3 (Missouri)

Today we explored St. Louis. Here are the places we went to today:

Museum of Transportation – with AAA discount, we only paid $4 admission. They had a wonderful collection of old cars (Bobby Darin’s old car, 57 Chevy, and a Dusenberg with goat skin) and lots of trains (including the world’s largest snow plow train). I like to imagine what it would have been like to travel around the country in a train like wealthy people travel today in their private jets. We even watched three men repair part of the train tracks. They were training drivers of the trolley so it wasn’t open for rides today.

Laumiere Sculpture Park – Park that was free and filled with interesting sculptures. My favorite was the giant eyeball.

Walmart – We stopped there to buy me popcorn and a small tripod for my camera. It will come in handy so we can take some pictures together. I also found postcards for only .25. I have found that Walmart is a great place to find souvenirs that are reasonably priced.

We left there and went to find the Venice Café for lunch. It was a neat looking place and very colorful but it wasn’t open for lunch. It looked kind of hippie-ish but lots of reviews on the internet recommended it. Oh well, maybe on our next visit.

Our next stop was the Hard Rock Café in Union Station to buy our bottle opener magnet. Luckily they gave me a pass for two hours free parking so we walked around Union Station. It was like a mall with a food court (where we ate lunch) but there was also a Memories Museum that had artifacts about the history of Union Station, trains, and St. Louis. It was a fantastic exhibit that was free.

When we left there, we headed to Forest Park to look for the World’s Fair Pavilion. The World’s Fair was held in St. Louis in 1904. There were so many cars but we found a place to park along the road and walked up to the Pavilion. It was a pretty building. After that, we walked over to the St. Louis Zoo which was in Forest Park. It was a huge zoo and the best part was that it was free. It was the largest zoo, next to the San Diego Zoo, that I’ve ever been to and well worth seeing. We walked through the 1904 Flight Cage that was in the World’s Fair. The Smithsonian Institute wanted to move it to Washington DC after the World’s Fair but St. Louis wouldn’t let them.

After the zoo, we drove to St. Charles which is where Lewis and Clark started their exploration. This was the state’s first Capitol. The city is located on the Missouri River. The city had a historic Main Street filled with shops and eating places.

After this, we looked for something to eat and finally agreed on Taco Bell. Now we are back at the hotel resting our sore feet and stuffing our faces with junk food! Tomorrow we are on the road again.

More pictures on Flickr: Click HERE

Hearing and Adventure Day 2 (Kentucky, Missouri)

Blog prompt: Close your eyes. Listen. What all do you hear? Can you describe it in detail? Once you opened your eyes, did what you thought you heard and actually heard coincide?

As I write this, I can hear my husband snoring and the sounds of people moving around in the room next to ours. I can also hear my computer doing whatever it needs to do to survive. I am in a dark hotel room waiting for my husband to wake up.

Travel Notes (at the end of the day):

We left Paducah, KY after eating a wonderful breakfast at the Hampton Inn. I really like the bag of goodies they give you when you leave (bottle of water, apple, muffin, energy bar, mints). Then we headed north towards Illinois. As soon as we crossed over the state line, we stopped at the visitor center and the lady manning the desk was very helpful. We had thought about staying at a Drury Inn west of downtown St. Louis but she warned us about the construction on I-64 which caused a major detour. We cancelled our reservation and decided to wait until we got to St. Louis.

We were still in Illinois as we approached St. Louis and the Gateway Arch stood out against the horizon. It was truly a magnificent sight! We decided to do a tour of the Anheuser Busch brewery first and got there in time for the 12:00 tour. The tour was free and lasted over an hour. I really enjoyed watching the Clydesdales frolic outside in their play area. We also got to see their stables which were amazingly clean. The tour ended with the opportunity to sample beer (two free 11 oz. glasses to those over 21) and bags of pretzels.

After the tour we decided to make a reservation at the Hampton Inn near the St. Louis airport and the price was extremely reasonable (cheaper and better than the one we stayed in last night). The room is much bigger and has a comfortable chair for Don to sit in while he watches TV and it also has a microwave and refrigerator in it. After checking in, we parked the car and ate dinner at Bandana’s BBQ which was right next door. We each had the lunch portion BBQ Pork plate with 2 sides for $6.99 and it was exceptional! I would definitely eat here again. The pork was so tasty and tender and the sauces come on the side.

Now we will watch TV and do our research as we plan for our day tomorrow.

More pictures on Flickr - click HERE.