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I'll be on vacation in Illinois (Champaign-Urbana area where I grew up) in another week and a half. I'll have my 8 year old daughter and 12 year old nephew with me.
I thought I might take them down to St. Louis to see the arch and ride to the top.
Any other fun, interesting, preferably kid-friendly things to do down there? Eat somewhere for some BBQ?
I think it'll just be a day trip, but I have given thought to staying overnight down there, too. I don't have a specific date in mind, but sometime between July 15th and July 21st.
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I had thought about a Cardinals' game. I went with my dad a few times as a kid.
Not sure how expensive that would be for the three of us.
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Rudie, thanks for the Google link. I should have done that myself.
One of the sites listed in the results has given me some great ideas.
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Yes on the Arch! I haven't been to the top since I was a kid. But I do remember a long ago nightmare in which the Arch toppled over into the Mississippi (with me in it) and went sailing down the river.
If you have time, the St. Louis Zoo is outstanding.
Also if you have time, and the kids like trains, somewhat west of St. Louis is the Transportation Museum which is pretty cool.
http://transportmuseumassociation.org/
There's a science center and planetarium:
http://www.slsc.org/
And the Botanical Gardens with the Bucky Fuller Climatron:
http://www.mobot.org/explore/climatron.asp
Too much to do in one day!
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Arch and the museum under it are a nice thing to do when it's really hot outside. Get your ride tickets early. The 'elevator' up the arch is a funky bit of 1960's plastic chic... you can almost imagine stewardesses in Pan Am uniforms, or a very Shagadelic Austin Powers getting into them.
The Science museum is very cool and well done. Riverfront is fun... Arch and riverfront makes for a good day. There are some awesome dinner joints in Laclede's landing just to the north of the Arch, but my knowledge of them is decades old. I don't know what condition the riverfront is in right now.. you may be able to see the Mighty Miss in flood, which is cool, but limits things a bit.
The Zoo is just plain awesome, and admission is FREE. And if you show the kids "Meet me in St. Louis" before hand, you can point out that the Zoo and Forest Park were the actual site of the 1904 World's Fair.
Do NOT go to "East St. Louis". Even to the casino. The one in Alton is a bit safer. Est STL is a free-fire zone. Always has been
