Happy Monday! I’m FINALLY back from Florida (I miss Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort SO much right now), which means you can expect regular/frequent blog updates/posts again. (Gosh, I’ve missed having high speed internet! I still can’t get over the horrible wifi situation at the hotel I was staying at. Needless to say, I WON’T have to deal with that ever again because I know have a personal wifi router thanks to AT&T!).
Before I share my Disney World Haul and my first ever Universal Orlando Resort Haul, I wanted to share a little bit more from my trip to St. Louis earlier this month.
If you recall from my previous blog posts, I took an impromptu two day road trip to St. Louis right before I left for Florida and man, was it AMAZING. (St. Louis is such an underrated city). Within my 48 hour trip, I was able to visit nine (that’s right, NINE) awesome St. Louis attractions (and a majority of them were FREE!).
If you’re ever in the St. Louis area, then you should definitely check out these nine amazing St. Louis attractions:
1. Missouri Botanical Garden
The Missouri Botanical Garden offers 79 acres of beautiful horticultural display, including a 14-acre Japanese strolling garden, Henry Shaw’s original 1850 estate home, and one of the world’s largest collections of rare and endangered orchids (and admission into the garden is only $8, talk about a great deal!). You can check out my entire Missouri Botanical Garden post HERE!
2. Saint Louis Zoo
The St. Louis Zoological Park, also known as the Saint Louis Zoo, is one of the nations leading zoos in animal management, research, conservation, and education. Not to mention the zoo is FREE! I’m a HUGE animal lover so it warms my heart when I visit places that are as passionate about animal conservation and research as I am. I know sometimes zoos can get bad reps but the Saint Louis Zoo does not fall into that category. This zoo is all about learning about the animals and their habits and needs and trying to find new ways to help them.
3. City Museum
City Museum is a play house museum, consisting largely of repurposed architectural and industrial objects. From indoor caves to a 10-story slide to a rooftop old fashioned ferries wheel, visitors of City Museum are actually encouraged to touch, climb on, and play in the various exhibits (a “hands on” museum? Count me in!). Since there are so many fun nooks and crannies to explore throughout this museum (a lot of which require you to crawl and climb to access them), I HIGHLY recommend wearing sneakers and long pants (I was wearing shorts during my visit and my legs and knees got a little scrapped while I was crawling through the caves!).
4. Citygarden
Citygarden is an urban park and sculpture garden located in the city’s “Gateway Mall” area. Think of it like a huge (free) outdoor art exhibit filled with a ton of gorgeous plants, fountains, amazing architecture and hip sculptures (I mean, it doesn’t get much “hipper” than a giant headless guy wearing a pink suit, am I right?).
5. Gateway Arch
Not only is the Gateway Arch the world’s tallest arch but it is also the tallest man-made monument in the Western
Hemisphere!
The view from the top of the Getaway Arch is amazing! On one side you have a view of the Mississippi River and on the other side you have a speculator view of the city of St. Louis.
6. Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis
The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis is a cathedral of the Roman Catholic Church located in the Central West End area of St. Louis. While I’m not a religious person, I am a lover of gorgeous architecture! The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis gave me major flashbacks to my visit to Notre Dame de Paris last spring (You can read more about my adventures in Paris HERE. I can’t wait to go back to Paris in December for Christmas and New Years Eve!).
7. Busch Stadium
Baseball fans, where you at? Honestly I’m not a huge sports person (even though I do LOVE rooting for the Chicago Blackhawks, Bulls and White Sox) but catching a game at Busch Stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals, isn’t a bad way to spend an afternoon.
8. Old Courthouse
I’m always up for a good history lesson! The Old Courthouse was the site of the first two trials of the pivotal Dred Scott case and the Virginia Minor’s case for a woman’s right to vote.
9. Saint Louis Art Museum
Art museums are my absolute FAVORITE and the Saint Louis Art Museum did not disappoint! One of my favorite things about the Saint Louis Art Museum (besides the fact that it’s FREE. Yup, you heard right, this is a free museum) was all the open concept contemporary art galleries. You can read more about my visit to the Saint Louis Art Museum HERE (BTW, this museum is closed on Monday’s so plan accordingly!).
Have you ever been to St. Louis? Which of these “Must See” St. Louis Attractions would you most like to visit?