Great American Road Trip - Day 3

Today was so much fun!

After a little picnic breakfast we headed out to our first stop of the day: the St. Louis City Museum.  It was absolutely amazing!!  I was really excited about going here, and so were the boys...and it did not disappoint!!  I would highly recommend this stop for families with kids of all ages, and the young at heart.  A tip for families with young children: this place is a zoo....put your name and number on your kids arm with a sharpie...they will likely get lost!

We went straight up to the roof when we arrived, where we rode on a Ferris wheel, climbed through airplanes suspended in the air, as well as crazy mazes of tubes that winded and criss crossed in the sky.  

When we were finished on the roof we made our way back down....by sliding down the 10 story slide!! This was legitimately awesome! 

We found ourselves at the base of a cave, and explored in almost pitch blackness through narrow holes, and up small tunnels.  

After a picnic lunch in the car, we headed back for a little bit more fun on the indoor mazebefore finally   calling it quits with aching arms, legs and abs....this is the only time i have ever left a museum feeling like I had a full body work out!!...I would strongly recommend that anyone who goes here should wear full shoes, and no skirts!

We headed back to the hotel for a short refresher, and then headed back out to explore the area around the Gateway Arch.  The Arch is known as the Gateway to the West, and is situated on the edge of the Mississippi River.  

This is where we decided that we had to do a Mississippi River Cruise.  Although there was not a ton of sites to be seen from the cruise, we felt that this was a good experience...because who wouldn't want to be able to say that they floated down the Mississippi on a River Boat playing Louis Armstrong music?!

After docking from our tour, we made our way to the base of the Gateway Arch where the boys and I lined up to take the journey to the top.  Getting to the top of the Arch is an experience in itself - very different from the CN tower or the Empire State Building....you travel to the top in a 4 foot tall futuristic pod that seats 6 people.  Once reaching the top the crowd of people are corralled into a tiny hallway where you can look out the tiny windows at the surrounding city and river.

Once meeting back up with the Hubbs, we decided that we were starving!  Because life is short, we decided to eat dessert first and made our way to an old St. Louis Route 66 landmark: Ted Drewes Frozen Custard.  We all thoroughly enjoyed this...it's not unlike ice cream - just creamier!  I had lemon crumb flavour.  

From Ted Drewes we picked up a light dinner and headed back to the hotel where we have all checked back into our electonic devices and are resting up for or next adventure!  Tomorrow we are back on the road!

xo Chris.

Great American Road Trip - Day 2

Although we spent a lot of the day today in the car, we had fun!

After eating breakfast at the hotel, we were on the road headed for our next destination: St. Louis.  However, this trip is not about reaching any particular destination...it's truly about the journey.  We drove most of the day at a leisurely pace, without stress to get anywhere at any time and we began, where our journey will end, as we drove past the outskirts of Chicago.  

From the outskirts of Chicago we started making our way South and (not including a couple of bathroom breaks) our first stop of the day was in Wilmington, Illinois.  We stopped at the old Launching Pad Drive-in (which happened to be closed), but standing proudly beside the road welcoming us into the parking lot was the Gemini Giant.

This beauty is one of many Giant statues along the route attracting tourists to establishments off the beaten path.  We had fun taking pictures with Gemini, and ate a picnic lunch - stopping periodically to take pictures for other tourists posing with the giant.

From there we continued south towards the town of Lincoln, Illinois where we found the "worlds largest covered wagon" with an equally giant Abraham Lincoln perched in the drivers seat.

After a few quick pictures, we made our way to the home town of Mr. Lincoln: Springfield!

...not this one....

that's better.

While in Springfield we explored the neighbourhood that Abe grew up in with it's wooden sidewalks, big porches and gas lanterns.  Unfortunately all of the tours were sold out, but we were able to brows around on our own.  

From the Lincoln home, we headed to a true Route 66 landmark and our first Route 66 diner experience: The Cozy Dog Drive In.  This is the home of the ver first corn dog - invented at the World's Fair in St. Louis.  

From famous corn dogs to famous condiments, we travelled through Collinsville, Illinois where we spotted the "World's largest Catsup Bottle".

It wasn't far from here that we caught our first sight of the Gateway Arch, and found our hotel in St. Louis.  

We are looking forward to exploring the city tomorrow!