Midwest vacation for long weekend?

[taymaesmom]

I agree with St Louis, our kids LOVED the City Museum there, such a great hands on place for them and so much to do. Also the Science Center and Zoo are free and both are nice. And a trip to the top of the Arch is very cool too!

 

[themouseandme]

Here's another vote for St Louis...tons to do with kids and a lot of it is free. Kansas City is another great option.

 

[smadath]

Another vote for Duluth! I lived in Northern WI for 5 years, and we used to go to Duluth all the time. Very pretty, and lots to do! And in case cold weather is a deterrent, downtown has an indoor Skywalk System that you can use to see the sights. http://www.downtownduluth.com/skywalk/index.php

 

[jlovesee]

I'm from Independence, MO (suburb of KC), and I am not a fan of St. Louis, I know it has a nice children's science museum and the arch... but that's about it. So I will argue for Kansas City, since its my home town

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, one of the most overlooked art museum in the country, VERY nice.
Country Club Plaza, down the street from the Nelson, the country's FIRST shopping center, the architecture is modeled after Seville, Spain.
Liberty Memorial, officially designated as the national WWI memorial
Union Station and Science City (one and the same), across the street from Liberty Memorial, and Crown Center (think Hallmark Cards), beautifully restored about 20 years ago, amazing plaster ceilings, nice kid's science museum, planetarium, IMAX, and model train museum, it also has rotating traveling exhibits.
KC Royals, until last year bottom feeders of the MLB organization, not so much last year. Kauffmann was recently renovated, and is considered one of the nicest baseball stadiums in the country.
Kansas City Zoo, St Louis used to be better, but I think after all the expansions, and refurbs over the years KC is now far superior, just recently added a nice Penguin exhibit, and has a LARGE but very nice African exhibit.
Truman Library, home and museum, in nearby Independence (down the street from me!), beautiful library and home of US president Harry S Truman. Also in Independence is the Waggoner Estate, which is a beautiful old southern-style home to visit and tour. If you do visit Independence Clinton's Soda Fountain is still in operation, this was Harry S Truman's first job.
8th and Vine, Negro League Baseball Hall of Fame, I sadly have never been, but heard its a very nice tribute to the old Negro baseball leagues, the KC Monarchs was one of the best teams.
Freight House, home to one of the area's Jack Stack BBQ (YUM!) establishments, and also an up incoming eclectic art district. Located right behind Union Station.
Worlds of Fun/Oceans of Fun and/or Schlitterbahn. WOF/OOF are located just north of the city, typical but fun amusement park, paired with a water park, VERY nice waterpark, one of the oldest in the country, and one of the largest land-wise, they were built as separate parks and combined into one ticket two years ago. Schlitterbahn is much more new, located in KC, KS, claim to fame is the world's tallest waterslide, Verruckt (it means "Insane" in German, very appropriate). There is a Great Wolf Lodge out there too, shopping area and Kansas Speedway.
Oh yes.. you cannot come to Kansas City without trying the country's best barbeque! Its legendary.

Jennifer

 

[Jajone]

Thanks everyone for the ideas. My kids are 15, 13 and 8. My Ds13 is difficult to entertain. Being from WI, we do not want to spring break out in the cold. A lot of people have said St Louis, what is there to do there for teens? It would be an 8 hour drive for us, which we are willing to do if there is enough there. What is there to do in Duluth inside?

 

[lovewdwdvc]

Grandview Lodge, Nisswa Minnesota outside of Brainerd Minnesota is a wonderful place for a March vacation. Cross country skiing, ice fishing, snow mobiling, lovely pool, great spa, dog sledding are among the wonderful amenities.

 

[crisi]

Thanks everyone for the ideas. My kids are 15, 13 and 8. My Ds13 is difficult to entertain. Being from WI, we do not want to spring break out in the cold. A lot of people have said St Louis, what is there to do there for teens? It would be an 8 hour drive for us, which we are willing to do if there is enough there. What is there to do in Duluth inside?

Glensheen is inside. The aquarium is inside. There is a train museum at the depot - inside - there is, if I recall correctly, some sort of museum there as well.

http://www.visitduluth.com/attractions/listings.php?page=general_attractions

There is also a LOT more to do in the Twin Cities than the Mall of America. The History Museum, the Minneapolis Art Institute (which is really good for a Midwestern Art Museum - they aren't extensive, but there is a Monet and a Rembrandt and a Van Gogh and a Degas and.....), shows at the Guthrie, Ordway or Orpheum (We see Oliver tomorrow night). A good Science museum. The Mill City Museum is spectacular (its a Minnesota History Society museum about milling). Old houses, including the Hill House and the Alexander Ramsey house. I'm not a sports fan, but the Wolves and Wild should still both be playing by Spring break, I'd think - both indoors. The Bakken is really fascinating - if sort of odd.

The Twin Cities has been a far nicer place weather wise this year than much of the area South of here. Its supposed to be cold the next few days, but it has been an easy Winter here.

 

[kathy884]

We did a mini spring break weekend trip to Memphis, TN. Did Graceland, Sun Studios, Beale Street, went to see an Elvis impersonator. It was a really nice little trip. So I second Memphis.

I'm from St. Louis. If you go to St. Louis you'd probably want to see the arch and the old courthouse, go to the St. Louis zoo (always rated as one of the top ones in the country), and the City Museum (a eclectic place with tubes kids and adults crawl around all over, floor to ceiling slides, attractions on top of the building etc. -- artistic in an old building and kind of like a McDonalds play land on steroids for big kids. Very popular with teens and 20 somethings with a few bars and eating places included in the mix too. Here's a link to the city museum, as it's hard to describe: http://www.citymuseum.org/site/

Branson to me is kind of a tourist trap, but we have been down quite a few times. They have a nice Titanic museum there and lots of shows that are fun to see -- country, variety, magic, rock tribute bands, celebrity impersonators, etc. There is a theme park called Silver Dollar City (old time Ozark theme - black smiths, a cave, lots of country music performances, and rides with a few coaster too. It usually opens around spring break time. Whether it will be open for your spring break probably depends on when your break falls. Lots of people from St. Louis go there for outlet malls and shopping too.

 

[Bobsmom]

Thanks everyone for the ideas. My kids are 15, 13 and 8. My Ds13 is difficult to entertain. Being from WI, we do not want to spring break out in the cold. A lot of people have said St Louis, what is there to do there for teens? It would be an 8 hour drive for us, which we are willing to do if there is enough there. What is there to do in Duluth inside?

St Louis has quite a lot to see and do. The city museum is fun for everyone, I would think it would be heaven for a 13 year old boy, it's like a giant playground. There are tunnels and secret passages, things to climb and jump off of, it's a very active place (don't let the 'museum' part fool you). There's a 10 story slide, a giant ballpit, you can climb out on the roof up to an airplane or sit in a schoolbus hanging out the side of the building. There's a circus and old pinball games, an aquarium, mazes, a shoelace factory and so much more. It is easily a full day's visit.

Beyond that there's a world class zoo which is always growing and expanding. The science center is free and lots of fun. The magic house is an awesome children's science museum which may appeal more to the younger pair. Grant's farm is great for a family outing, free admission and lots of animal interaction (feeding the baby goats is my favorite) and you get to meet some of the famous budweiser clydesdales. If you are needing some indoor time the st louis mills mall has an ice arena (where the Blues hockey team sometimes practices) and go kart track indoors. For adult time there are casinos in St Charles on the river. Historic St. Charles is a neat place to visit and explore, too.

If there are any other specific things your kids are into let me know. I live 2 hrs from STL and we are there a lot.

 

[abcboys]

8 hours is quite the drive but we love St. Louis, too. I'm not sure about March though since a lot of it is outdoors stuff. You would def. have to hit the city museum (it really is not a museum at all but you can see some pictures on line to get an idea. Like someone said an artsy playplace on steroids!) Your kids are the perfect age for it. I wouldn't really even recommend it for kids under 5. The Magic House and Science Center are also good for indoors. You can also go up in the arch. The other things we liked to do are Grant's Farm and the Zoo. We actually like Grant's Farm better than the zoo but again I'm not even sure if they are open in March and it would probably be too cold anyway. Good luck!