The Magic House, St. Louis Children’s Museum (St. Louis)

The Magic House, St. Louis Children's Museum (St. Louis)

The Magic House Children’s Museum is an interesting place for younger kids, and great if you need to fill some time in between some historical stuff with some fun as well as thought provoking activities.  Most of the hands on displays are very science oriented and my kids had a blast running around and checking everything out.  Some of the more memorable things to do included playing with magnets-check out what … [Read more...]

Museum of Westward Expansion (St. Louis)

Museum of Westward Expansion (St. Louis)

Located under the Gateway Arch is the Museum of Westward Expansion which houses some of the rarest artifacts from the days of Louis and Clark.  This is a fitting place for this museum as the arch is on the banks of the Mississippi River, the gateway to the west over which many explorers and pioneers headed out to settle the Louisiana Purchase and seek their fortune. In all honesty, the kids started to moan when I … [Read more...]

St. Louis Cardinals Busch Stadium (St. Louis)

Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin

If you are a St. Louis Cardinals fan or you just like like baseball, you can do what we did and check out Busch Stadium.  We're not huge baseball fans but we thought it would be really fun to walk around and check out this historic stadium.  Sadly just as we arrived it had closed, there was no game, so we headed to the team shop and perused the goods.  We didn't buy anything but it was fun to look around.  To … [Read more...]

Ted Drewes Frozen Custard (St. Louis)

Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin

Every guidebook we read said that Ted Drewes Frozen Custard was a St. Louis original not to be missed so we were really excited and intrigued to try this unique dessert treat. When we arrived there was a line which we found out is a constant thing here.  When we finally approached the window we were given the choice of a frozen custard or a concrete. The custard is a lot like ice cream only creamier and richer.  I … [Read more...]

Itinerary #8: Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin

Minnesota

During the planning phase of this trip, the theme sort of came to me just by looking at the activities and historic sites. Many things had to do with waves of different groups who came to settle in these states to begin a new life far from the foreign lands they’d come from. It’s what makes cities across this area so interesting and unique—places like Chicago, a wonderfully diverse city where you can explore … [Read more...]