Tag: St. Louis zoo

Our Midwest Road Trip

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6 Days-5 States-4 Hotels-2 Kids

We knew we’d be laying my grandma to rest this summer in Saint Louis, MO, and in order to get there, we had to plan.

To get to St. Louis from our home in Texas we were looking at an 11 1/2 hour drive one way. With a 2 year old and a 4 year old that task seemed almost impossible so we decided to break it up in to multiple days.

Our first day of driving was supposed to be about 5 hours but of course took much longer;we knew it would. We took into consideration potty breaks, bathroom breaks, and honestly the occasional snuggle breaks for our sweet toddler.

We stayed in McAlester, OK the first night and it was just okay. The hotel was decent, the area was fine, the biggest letdown was the dirty pool. I intentionally booked every hotel along the way with the pool in mind and unfortunately that didn’t work out as planned. But we made the best of the situation and had dinner and ice cream at the Braum’s next to the hotel.

Day two we planned to see my little brother and family in the Kansas City area. We really had such a great time. Nothing makes my heart happier than seeing our sweet boys enjoy their family, especially their cousins. We stayed in Lenexa, KS the second night and in hindsight we definitely would have stayed with family. I did not pick a good hotel, it was a tad sketchy and the bearded one got stuck in the elevator! (Which of course we can laugh about now).

Another 5+ hours in the car on day 3 and we finally arrived in St. Louis. I picked my favorite hotel for our 3 night stay, Hilton Home2Suites. If you’ve never stayed, I highly suggest it. The rooms are huge and have plenty of space for the littles to run around. They have a large kitchen area, pool, breakfast everyday, and so much more. It’s our go-to hotel on long vacations. The first night there we picked up some groceries and used the hotel grills for our dinner.

While in STL we attended my grandmother memorial at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. It was definitely difficult, but I was happy to be around my loved ones.

After the service we all went to a pretty good restaurant, Three Kings Public House. Once again our boys got to see more of their family.

We didn’t want to rush back home to Texas so we decided to do some sightseeing and explore STL a bit. First we picked up my older brother and went to see our old house, my grandmother’s house, and hit up a few favorites like Ted Drew’s and Imo’s (you can’t go wrong with frozen custard and pizza).

The next day we wanted to check out the science center but it’s closed on Tuesday and Wednesdays so we went to the zoo instead.

Fun fact: The STL Zoo is free! My brother and I have so many great memories of the zoo and it was the perfect place to take the boys. We stayed all day, saw all the animals, and road the train a couple of times. It was the perfect ending to our whirl wind road trip.

After we left STL we traveled home a different way, which took us through Arkansas. We stayed in North Little Rock in a hotel downtown. The hotel was good but once again the pool was closed. We did however find a cute little park on the river and let the boys run off some of that energy from the long hours in the car.

Our last day in the car was the longest at just over six hours (before all the stops). But at last, we made it home safe and sound. After 4 different hotels, 6 days on the road, and ridiculous amount of hours in the car, we finally made it home.

My biggest takeaways from this road trip would have to be

  • Go with the flow, stop often, don’t get stuck on the minute to minute plans, you will eventually get to you destination
  • Pack snacks, lots and lots of snacks, our boys have their own snack boxes
  • Keep them entertained, we bought dual DVD players which we used a lot
  • Relax, stay calm, make memories

Up Next…THE BEACH!

St. Louis Adventure, Day One

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After a quick overnight stop in Raymore, MO to see my granny,  gorge on frozen custard, and jam out to Waylon Jennings, we finally headed to St. Louis, Missouri.

There’s so much to explore and experience in St. Louis, The Gateway to the West, home of the Arch, Anheuser Busch  headquarters, and my old home sweet home.

As a child growing up in the suburbs of St.Louis I never really appreciated or knew the deep historical roots of my city, as an adult, I appreciate them that much more.

St. Louis Day One:

We quickly checked  in to to our Soulard Air B&B (it’s fantastic, we stayed here for New Year’s Eve) then headed on over to the St. Louis Zoo in Forest Park.

Now, I have to say, I’m not a huge fan of zoos overall but the STL zoo is so nostalgic. I recall numerous family adventures as a child and the St. Louis zoo and all it entailed are part of those fond memories.

During the summer the zoo has extended hours so we showed up around 4 and stayed until 7. On our way out we noticed they had a free concert going on and people were flocking in by the car loads. Pretty cool summer activities for families, couples, and anyone else looking for a live concert.

The zoo itself is one of my favorites. There’s plenty of entertaining exhibits, it’s shaded, it was far from crowded and it’s a FREE attraction. Of course you have to pay for some of the activities like the train and different shows, but entry to the zoo is free, which is a pretty appealing feature. Make sure you park on the street to avoid the $15 parking fee!

In the 3 short hours we were there we were able to cover lots of ground. First stop, the herpetarium full of exotic reptiles from across the world, and air conditioned of course! Next we visited the primate house, the 1904 Bird Enclosure, and pretty much everything else the zoo had to offer. There weren’t any unique or rare animals we’d never heard of before, but it was still a pretty relaxed evening at the zoo. I’d definitely recommend the St. Louis Zoo to any newcomers. My favorite of course was the elephant exhibit ❤️.

When we’d finished with the zoo we decided to just take a quick drive around Forest Park to see what it had to offer.

Forest Park:

During our Christmas Break adventure we were able to visit the St. Louis Museum of art, which was spectacular and had an eclectic array of art. But, due to the freezing weather, we didn’t really have the opportunity to explore the park at its fullest.

Anyway, during our quick drive we came across the annual Shakespeare in the Park: Romeo and Juliet free performance and let me tell you, it was PACKED! I put it on my list for our upcoming days (we were too late to stop today).

We were also able to see all the other events and museums the park has to offer such as, The Jewel Box, The Muny Theater, The History Museum, The Science Center and quite a few others.

Overall, I’d chalk up our first day in St.Louis as not only successful, but relaxing and informative. Stay tuned  for  the rest of our STL adventures: Soulard Farmers Market, Anheuser Busch Brewery, The Graffiti Wall (recommended by our bartender), The Arch, museums, food and whatever else we can accomplish in our 3 day expedition!