davidandmarta.blogspot.com: st looooo-e

what do you do with 2 kids on spring break, a day off, no other sources of childcare, a pretty small travel budget, and unrequited wanderlust?

i'll tell you what we do: we packed up on a saturday morning (first day of spring break, as ramona is eager to correct me) and drove three hours south to springfield, illinois.

we visited lincoln's tomb,

we visited lincoln's home and well preserved neighborhood (AND got a national park stamp),

we wandered around the illinois state capitol building (AND got a u.s. state capitol book stamp),

found a sweet statue of a guy named wood with some inspiration facial hair (david staple: take note),

and had corndogs at an original route 66 roadside restaurant and tourist trap.

we drove on route 66. we got our kicks.

after licking all the ketchup off our faces and fingers, we got back in the car and drove another 1.5 hours to st louis. we headed straight to the highly recommended classic italian restaurant favazza's on the hill, and we were not disappointed. it was a big carb-loading event.

here are some cool dudes, awaiting their italian food.

after a big long sleep in our hotel with a little sneaky view of the arch, we had some breakfast, had a swim in the pool, and then strolled over to the arch and historic courthouse (the very place where the dred scott case was tried in the missouri court, on it's way to the supreme court, where it would serve as a push toward the civil war).

of course we stamped our national parks passport book.

the base of the arch is under construction, and the arch is closed to tourists. i was kinda bummed, but i am certain david was relieved to not have to get into a tight little tube and go uncomfortably high in the sky. but you know what? this family is road trip motivated, often westward bound, and will happily travel through the gate to the great west again in the future. and when we do, i'm going up inside the arch.

from there, we walked in that glorious 80 degree sunshine and the blooming flowering leafing springtime, crisscrossing the downtown, to reach the city museum.

spring!

anyway. about city museum.

i want to adequately describe city museum with words, but truthfully, i don't think i can. this place is a wonderful work of art and imagination, an interactive play structure that is 10 stories tall, indoors and outdoors, and is not just for kids. this is how the museum describes itself:

"eclectic mixture of children's playground, funhouse, surrealistic pavilion, and architectural marvel."

i'd say that's right.

we were told: you'll lose your kids, so write your name and phone number on them with a sharpie.

we were told: your knees will be sore after crawling through metal tubes all day, so bring knee pads.

we were told: bring a head lamp.

we were told: you're going to get stuck in some tubes and tunnels.

we were told: it's the best place on earth.

and it is. look at this place. it's welded scrap metal and found objects (like airplanes) all stuck together in a maze that ascends in to the sky.

inside, there are tunnels, mirrored hallways, a giant skate park without the skateboards, a circus stage with super talented teenage performers, tunnels and tubes in the ceilings and between floors, there are caves and slides..... there is also a huge hamster wheel.

back outside, more wire tunnels through the sky. there's me and ramona, waving down at the two members of our group who were not interested in entering that portion of the maze of metal.

back inside, up in the ceiling, following ramona into a series of ever-smaller tunnels and more knee bruises that i thought possible.

james climbed like a monkey all over these steel contraceptions, stairs, and tunnels. this one is particular is right above his other favorite outdoor part of city museum: the super giant ball pit.

stairs to slides....

and the tuba-like top of the slide...

back inside, talented gymnasts do their thing to much applause.

ramona and i made our way to the twisting turning crazy metal stairs that start in the cave and go up up up to the top of the 10 story slide. then she went down the 10 story slide first, and waited for me at the bottom. when i came shooting out of the 10 story slide, we were both so full of giddy adrenaline joy. i wanted to do it again immediately, but she was the wise one and said, "let's find other new things." smart kid.

and the knee pads. for parents. in the gift shop. shoulda bought some.

after spending about a million calories crawling and climbing and sliding and sweating in the missouri heat, we all felt pretty well justified with the slushies at the city museum (kids only),

and the big BBQ rib meal that we walked to from the museum. the food came on big silver trays in a cafeteria style line, and it was so so so so good. so good.

on the walk back, james and ramona somehow convinced us to take a handsome cab ride. i am sure it's because i wanted to pet bill the percheron and then felt guilty when the kids were begging for a ride in front of the driver while i simultaneously fawned all over her horse and told them that we don't do those sort of unneccessary expensive things..... it turns out, we do. and it was a wonderful little ride through downtown. the kids loved it, got to wear tiaras (?), and bill even posed in a selfie with us and licked ramona's head.

pre-head-licking....

post-head-licking....

that was a pretty full day. we went for another swim, ate some free lobby popcorn, watched some tv, and crashed.

in the morning, we said goodbye to the famous members of that great westward expedition: lewis, clark, sacagawea, york, and their dog seaman--all statues, of course, in the hotel lobby.