St Louis Trip

[glaserjm]

I'm so exited you ate visiting our fair city for the 4th...the fireworks are not to be missed, but there's so much more to do than the fair. I'm assuming you are staying in the central attraction corridor area and have already heard about the awesome places in Forest Park. Don't overlook the art museum, its a great collection for its size.
The Loop area just northwest of Forest Park had a great urban vibe with funky stores, restaurants and the St. Louis Walk of Fame.
Another awesome part of the city are the wonderful influences that different immigrant populations have had on the local cuisine with amazing Italian, Vietnamese and Bosnian food.
I've been a resident of the city for my entire life so if you have more specific questions or interests, please don't hesitate to PM me!


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[AshleeH]

The Magic House is amazing! It's the Children's Museum. The zoo is very nice and clean (just get there early if it's the weekend or you'll be in line to park for a long time). A Cards game if there is one; and Six Flags. Those are all of our must-dos when we're there for a long weekend.

 

[NotUrsula]

Just FYI, this weekend is the opening of the new Sea Lion Sound habitat at the Zoo, so heat or no heat, the place will be packed.

 

[FoundMyPrince]

Check out groupon.com today for St. Louis. Some Cardinals tickets are 1/2 price for games next week. go now!!

 

[Sandy61]

Cahokia mounds and Science Center were our favorites.

 

[hsmamato2]

Whatever else you do or don't do DO NOT MISS THE CITY MUSEUM!!!!! It is truly unbelievable. 12 bucks a person to get in, and well worth it. It is fascinating and your kids will love it. You can climb on anything and everything. They have 2 planes suspended over the parking lot, you crawl through metal human slinkys to get to them!!! Check out the enchanted cave area and crawl through pitch black tunnels, that lead you to more tunnels, and more tunnels! Then go down the 10 story slide. Climb underground on the first floor and discover more slides and places to hide. You can't miss it, it's the only building with a ferris wheel on the roof (and yes you can ride the ferris wheel)!

http://citymuseum.org/site/

ETA They also have a cool art area. They supply paper, paint, random things to make stuff with, and balls of clay to mold all included with admission. We always come home with many treasures my DD 10 has made while taking a break from all the running/climbing etc.

DEFINITELY!!!!! bestplace EVER! my boys voted it "better than Disneyworld" no joke! Recommend you get there when it's opening,and go to the roof first thing,and work y our way down,it gets busy. I've never seen another place like it,ever.

 

[hsmamato2]

Sciene Center is nice....but fairly small,if you're from a place with a BIG one, your kids will be done here in a short time,as ine were, but it's FREE! Zoo is great too,we love it!
The arch is a fun afternoon,and our hotel we stayed at,up the street from the Arch was a nice walk on a hot day, there are public fountains/cooling off areas all along that big street heading down towards the waterfront...like mini pools,and splashing places where you're supposed to get wet! (very different from where I come from LOL)

 

[ICF]

Sciene Center is nice....but fairly small

Did you go to both sides and all the levels?

While it can't compare with the Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago or anything....I never considered it small.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Just to reiterate re: the Arch, but you are going during Fair St. Louis & it will be VERY VERY busy down there. The upside is lots will be going on, but it will be quite crowded. Be sure to check out the museum there if you go.

 

[taymaesmom]

We LOVE City Museum, my 17 yr old dd still loves to go. Our number one tip is wear old clothes. While we have never been hurt we have ripped our pants/shirts many times and got really dirty. Most of the place is made of rebar and concrete so it can be dirty. But oh so fun. Even my FIL at 65 loves to play there!

 

[Eeyore98]

Sciene Center is nice....but fairly small

Yeah, sadly there is much less of the Science Center than there used to be! Originally it was just in the planetarium in Forest Park (and its outside exhibits). Then they opened up the new building on the other side of the highway, and both sides were fully open and connected. The tunnel used to have a huge room full of awesome medical stuff, including an iron lung and surgery videos, and a fake coal mine that was really neat. For a few great years, the Science Center was a place you could spend an entire day and still not see everything

Then for whatever reason, they remodeled the planetarium side to make the upstairs host rotating paid attractions only. The basement is the only free area left, and it's a shell of its former self, with just a scattering of space memorabilia. The outside exhibits on this side have also been neglected, with loose extra pieces needed for some of them (wooden bricks, balls, etc.) often missing. They have also closed off a lot of the newer side as well. What was once a whole section of exhibits about the environment is now two different closed-off spaces, one belonging to a medical group and another belonging to some university paleontologists. A cool little donation area where your loose change activated a charge on a Tesla coil was removed to make way for a concession stand for the Omnimax theater.

We spent some time there on a recent trip back to visit family. Even with two kids in the group, we had pretty much seen everything and were ready to leave in about 2-3 hours.

 

[ltl engine]

Hi! We are planning a quick trip the weekend of the 13th. Can anyone suggest a good hotel? We plan to visit the Arch, City Musuem and still planning the rest....TIA

 

[sarabear]

Go to Jilly's Cupcakes! They won Cupcake Wars last summer. Kind of expensive, but they are huge.

 

[miraclemommy]

We are not sure yet if we are going to Six Flags but we might if we can find a big enough discount.

Thanks,
Jennifer

 

[FoundMyPrince]

We are not sure yet if we are going to Six Flags but we might if we can find a big enough discount.

Thanks,
Jennifer

Check ebay. There are many auctions for children's tickets that were earned thru the kiddos' schools - and you can usually get them for about $12 each (children's tickets). Sometimes McDonald's or Taco Bell will have coupons available for $29 adult tickets.

 

[CinderellaMouse]

Hi! We are planning a quick trip the weekend of the 13th. Can anyone suggest a good hotel? We plan to visit the Arch, City Musuem and still planning the rest....TIA

I live here so I don't know a lot about hotels, but I did stay in one last fall for a conference I went to downtown. The Hyatt Regency is right by the Arch and is very nice. I don't remember how much, but it seemed very reasonable (although I would have had a conference rate). The Hilton Ballpark is nice too.