Ready to (Kiddie) Rock!

We've arrived in Kansas City. 17 driving hours and 1100 miles in 66 total hours is the tally for the week that was. With no DVD player or handheld video gaming device. It can be done, just like those that came before us. Music, toys, art and a lot of giggles.

Forget all that now. We are, to quote Ella Childs, "prepared to rock!"

Before we lay our heads down in KC, here is a quick recap of Friday's activities:


Traveled to the top of the Arch in St. Louis. The line for tickets was 20 minutes long...and that was after the place had been open for a mere 17 minutes! On a weekday! (granted, it's a holiday weekend). Let be a lesson to you, be it at the Jefferson National Expansion Museum (aka The St. Louis Arch) or at any museum/zoo/tourist destination: get your butts out of bed and get there early!

The tram/elevator ride to the top is described as "what futuristic meant in the 50's" and that is so perfect. It's a little 5 person pod that rocks and rides up in 4 minutes time. I'm 6 foot 4 and all was good, just a duck to pass through the tiny door. It's quick, it's fun but it's not for the claustrophobic.

The museum portion of the National Parks site is free and very impressive. It's essentially one gigantic circular room and in spiraling around it you will learn a ton about St. Louis, Lewis & Clark, Native Americans and westward expansion in the 1800's. Even if you have no desire to rise up the 630ft above the Mississippi River, do visit the free portion of the park, it's worth your time.




From there we headed west. 11 blocks west to be precise, to the City Museum. Simply put, it's the greatest way to spend $12 that I've ever seen/experienced/done. The City Museum is a massive building with layers upon layers of indoor/outdoor active activities for kids and grown ups - caves, slides, skateless skate-park, catwalks, ball pits and way more. It's been 8 hours since we left and I still cannot come up with the proper verbiage to describe it to you. I'll say that St. Louis should be considering a viable, attractive family destination solely because of the City Museum. Even if there was nothing else here (but there is a steamboat load more) St. Louis should be high on your family's list of places to visit, if only to spend a day inside this industrial fun house.

And now we rest, happily knowing that we have a home for the next 3 days.