Wherever the Road Leads: St Louis Science Center and the Famous St Louis Arch

Although we were a bit weary from our unexpected long and eventful day yesterday, we had to return our rental, so back into the city we went. After returning the rental, we went to the Science Museum, also free. Although parking is $10, our reciprocal museum membership got us free parking this time.

I just love these machines

We did rush our time here a bit as we decided to also visit the Arch, so we could avoid another big commute tomorrow and have a quiet day to catch up on sleep and things like blogging. ;) Although the admission to the museum itself is free, there are lots of "special" exhibits that you have to pay extra for. I know Shanan would have loved to spend more time here as she is so good at taking the time to read each and every exhibit carefully...and then she remembers it! Love that about her! Jake loved the laser harp; he would make music and then dance to it! Love this age! We also really enjoyed the "architecture" section.

It was a true family team effort to put this arch together.

Linda was determined to put this together, and Jake was equally determined to tear it down!

After finally finding parking for the Arch--so don't love looking for parking for our big truck in big cities...parking garages and many parking lots are out--we made tracks over to it. I love the green grass and trees around it. It's a lovely place for a picnic and a stroll, which we of course had no time for. Genna had a massive meltdown on the way which actually paled in comparison to the mega meltdown she had when she had to get out of the stroller to go through security at the entrance. Oh my! I was sure I would have to stay down with her and Jake! Alas, she did settle down and promised me no meltdowns about going up to the top of the Arch. And she made good on it, too! It's a long process from the time you buy your tickets to the time you actually board the tram to go up. When it first opened, there were only stairs to go up, over 1,000 of them! Now, you must ride the tram. If you're claustrophobic, severely so, you may want to avoid going up; the trams are tight! Each little car seats five, so our family filled one by ourselves. It takes four minutes to go up, and you can stay at the top as long as you wish. The ride down only takes three minutes.

This was taken at a traffic light heading to the arch.

Here is a side view

I wish we had more time to spend on the grounds.

When we arrived at the bottom again, Steve had to run back to feed the meter because we didn't have enough time left on it for the kids to finish up their Junior Ranger badges. The Park Ranger that gave them their badges did a great job asking questions and reinforcing what they learned. I love it when they do that; it really helps them remember.

We still had to boogy back to the truck, but this time, it started just fine, and we got to make good on that promise of dinner out. :) A much better ending to the day indeed!!