MISSOURI: THE SHOW ME STATE
BY CLAY
LARROY
After
working and studying hard all year long families across the United States will
be taking long awaited vacations. Family vacations and travel can be the most
rewarding experience. Families that take vacations together build memories that will
last a lifetime. Family vacations
are so important, as it gives us a way to connect with each other in a stress
free relaxed environment. When
you need to plan a trip contact me!
The article below offers a captivating perception on St.Louis.
St. Louis trip is a hit with older kids
By Paul
Vercammen, CNN
July 29, 2011 8:06 a.m. EDT
St. Louis (CNN) -- I got some raised eyebrows when I told my teenage boy
and preteen girl they were headed to St. Louis with my wife and me for a
six-day summer vacation.
But all of our fears of mutually assured
boredom were erased by a series of St. Louis landmarks that helped push the
kids' electronic devices out of sight.
St. Louis is family-friendly and
surprisingly young and vibrant. Here's a brief overview of what I called our
"developing minds tour."
Forest Park
We made three fun stops in Forest Park, an urban oasis spread out over almost
1,300 acres. It's one of the biggest urban parks in the nation and about 500
acres larger than Central Park in New York.
Saint Louis Art Museum
Yes, I said it, art museum. Come on
down, because the price is right. Admission is free to this architectural
wonder, a Cass Gilbert structure built for the 1904 World's Fair in sprawling
Forest Park.
Children love the permanent Arms and
Armor exhibit. Take an air-conditioned trek back in history to a time when
border disputes were solved with crossbows by guys wearing chain mail. You may
hear a "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" joke or two from your kids.
Forest Park Boathouse
You can row or work your legs on a
paddle boat, floating through Forest Park under foot bridges, past the cattails
and back home to a great little snack stand at the entrance to Post-Dispatch
Lake and the Grand Basin.
The Muny
Take in a bombastic show at this
playhouse that seats more than 10,000 people and calls itself the oldest and
largest outdoor musical theater in America. When we saw "Footloose,"
an estimated 100 cast members cavorted on a revolving stage. "Footloose,"
the tale of some misunderstood high school dude with the ability to dance, took
on rock concert fervor.
This year, "Legally Blonde"
and "The Little Mermaid" share the summer schedule with classics such
as "Singin' in the Rain" and "Bye Bye Birdie."
Six Flags St.
Louis
This
place has lots of
adrenaline-rush rides and throws out a life saver on a steamy day: Hurricane Harbor.
The water park, with its massive array
of slides and pools, provides welcome relief when the summer temperatures hit
sweat-inducing levels.
Make sure you check for weather
conditions; a thunderstorm sent us out of the water and into one of the park's
Johnny Rockets hamburger joints in our swimsuits.
Crown Candy
Kitchen
At this soda fountain/candy store on steroids, three scoops of homemade
ice cream go into a malt. That's 24 chilled ounces in that diner version of a
silver chalice, the metal milkshake cup. I could taste the chocolate two hours
later.
Another highlight is the BLT, stacked
up with bacon. You need to do a CPR hand press on the sandwich just to be able
to take a bite. Crown Candy Kitchen is also famous for a stomach-stretching
challenge: Drink five malts in 30 minutes, and you get them free, plus a
T-shirt and your name inscribed on a plaque. (We didn't attempt it.)
Gateway Arch
The arch is
an ingenious structure that combines perspective on the nation's westward
expansion with a thrill ride. You ascend 630 feet to the top and take in
seemingly unending views of St. Louis west into Missouri and across the
Mississippi River east to Illinois.
If you are afraid of heights, note that
the top is fully enclosed, with large glass windows that allow you to take
photographs and video. You travel up in trams, made up of little five-person
pods inside the arch legs, so there's no scary view outside. The museum below
the arch is terrific, featuring wall-sized photos that help you trace Lewis and
Clark's journey.
The City Museum
This old shoe factory morphed into a fun house of quirky exhibits and spruced-up
playground equipment. Kids look at, climb on and crawl through attractions,
many plucked from urban scrap piles, including two abandoned planes, a
suspension bridge and a bus.
There are lots of dinosaurs, caves and
so much happy screaming, the place echoes with the sounds of people of all ages
acting like kids.
St. Louis
Cardinals game
Busch
Stadium is a shrine to
baseball, a glistening-clean house of worship. The reverent and savvy fans
drive from all over the Mississippi River Valley and beyond. Carloads come down
from Hannibal, Missouri, and over from Paducah, Kentucky, up from West Memphis,
Arkansas, and across from Mount Vernon, Illinois.
So many of the fans wear red or white
Cardinal T-shirts, the stands seem adorned with peppermint confetti. The Arch
shines on the horizon outside a ballpark where everyone seems eager to give
players directions and talk baseball.
The Delmar Loop
You can cruise this hip stretch of
shops and restaurants on foot, glancing down at the plaques on the St.
Louis Walk of Fame. There's sidewalk hardware honoring everyone from
Ulysses S. Grant to Miles Davis, T.S. Eliot, Yogi Berra, Ike and Tina Turner,
Charles Lindbergh, Chuck Berry and a hundred more.
The kids found their souvenir nirvana
here in Avalon, a trendy
clothing store. Avalon sells new clothes, but the hit was racks of vintage
clothing that suggest filthy rich people from St. Louis' tony neighborhoods
dump great stuff.
The kids' haul included a classy party
dress, an old-time Cardinals baseball jersey and sporty polo shirts. None of it
cost more than $15, and it was a lot better than coming home with a snow globe
or a million-in-a-million souvenir T-shirt.
We didn't get to every spot in St.
Louis that would have registered high on the teen and preteen acceptance
meters, but our itinerary was a success.
And in an era where many parents fear
that their teched-out kids will complain "there's nothing to do," St.
Louis delivered dozens of moments of doing something "pretty cool."
With
a close relative in St. Louis, we'll be back. We still haven't tried toasted
ravioli.
REFERENCE SITES:
Being the gateway to a
large city, St. Louis, I had felt from the very beginning that somehow this
building should symbolize this sense of being a gateway.
Minoru Yamasaki
Travel to experience life!
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