Day 4: St Louis, MO

We planned one down day during our trip out to Virginia for a couple of reasons.  Having never been in St Louis, there were some places I really wanted to visit.  We also thought a day off the road might be good for all of us.  

But most importantly, Dave really wanted to see the Cardinal's play in Busch stadium... and they were only playing on the evening of the 5th, so we sort of scheduled our trip between his work schedule, and the Cardinal's game :o)

●●● City Museum

Anyone who learned we were going to St Louis would inevitably tell us:  You HAVE to visit the City Museum.  So, we planned to spend our morning there.

Okay, honestly, this is the most amazing museum I have ever been in!! 

Our morning, soon turned into: closing the place down!  Yes, it was really that fun!

The "No Maps" sign at the ticket counter pretty much explains it all!  This museum is a place for kids of all ages to explore. To climb, jump, crawl but most of all, to discover!

It was built in what had been a very large shoe factory, and many of the crawl-through tunnels were chutes originally designed to send shoes from top floors down to the basement for shipping!










Because of the stormy skies and promise of rain, we started off at the top of the museum - which is visible from blocks away!  

Everything you can see can be climbed on, or over, or under... you get the point!

After hours of play, we finally descended into the interior of the building... and descended is the right word, as we went down a ten story slide!

The inside was just as amazing as the roof!  

Below was the amazing Puking Pig - I mean seriously, shouldn't all museums have a puking pig??

We all spent the day climbing, playing, laughing, crawling (the museum store knee pads were a worthwhile purchase!)  Even having spent all day there, I'm still not sure that we got to see everything!  As D said, "Well, I guess we'll just have to go back" :o)


●●● Busch Stadium

Dave really wanted to take the kids to see their first professional baseball game.  Austin is a wonderful town, but it doesn't have a professional team! So, we planned our trip around the Cardinal game...

Unfortunately, I didn't plan well enough by pre-buying tickets!  When we looked the day before, the only seats available... at any price... were the outfield bleachers. 

And, as it turns out, these seats were **awesome**.  Close enough to feel a part of the game, close to snack bars and bathrooms, roomy... Perfect!  We sat in a pile of long-time Cardinal fans who were happy to share their love of the game with us!

After a full day of climbing in the museum and watching the game, we all happily climbed into our soft bed to end an incredible Day 4!