bert goes to St Louis and gets all touristy - Trip Report

[bert425]

Great report, Bert!

 

I have a lot of catching up to do on your report, but am looking forward to all of it!

 

I was telling my friend in KC about City Museum and he's never heard of it. Sounds (and looks) like a great weekend getaway in the future!

 

thanks! yeah, the only part of the City Museum that really would fall under "museum" (and not so interactive) is on the 4th floor. Have some pics from there on my next update. .but the 4th floor has really only a Pop Art gallery (which is fantastic), and some building reliefs that are interesting. There are some interesting displays on the 3rd floor with stone work & bugs/taxidermy. . but don't go expecting a typical museum. The vast majority of the City Museum is very interactive, and i loved it.

 

if you go, hopefully the trolley tips help

 

we still need to hang out, Phil!

[SharkTums]

These are the reports I was most excited about! Can't wait to see more of City Museum. And yes, those ride signs are definitely new!

[bert425]

These are the reports I was most excited about! Can't wait to see more of City Museum. And yes, those ride signs are definitely new!

 

are the video screens at top & bottom of some slides new too?

 

i would assume yes, just based on how many people were bitching as to why can't they ride even if the bottom video screen is not working???

[Canobie Coaster]

Great report!

 

Last year I remember that near vertical drop slide into the boiler room had a camera, but I can't remember any others with them. Those ride signs are definitely new though.

[Chiselphane]

The 10 story has had a monitor since at least late 2017

[BlahBlahson]

In March several of the big slides were roped off (not the 10 story one though) and the reason I got from workers that the old owners were kind of operating out of state compliance on having operators for the big slides because of grandfathering. When the new operator came in they wanted to comply with the state's standards that these slides needed more oversight to operate safely and the reason they didn't have every slide up was due to lower staff levels off-season.

 

That all said, still the greatest tourist attraction I've ever been to, and no less amazing than my prior visits. There's nothing like it.

[bert425]

The 10 story has had a monitor since at least late 2017

 

thanks.

 

weird that folks were reacting like it was something they'd never seen before.

 

 

In March several of the big slides were roped off (not the 10 story one though) and the reason I got from workers that the old owners were kind of operating out of state compliance on having operators for the big slides because of grandfathering. When the new operator came in they wanted to comply with the state's standards that these slides needed more oversight to operate safely and the reason they didn't have every slide up was due to lower staff levels off-season.

 

 

it seemed that every "big" slide was open and staffed with an employee to monitor - but pretty much all of the smaller (less than 1 story slides), or very "open" slides - where you can clearly see the bottom of the slide from the top - were open with no staffing.

 

there were some areas "closed" up on the 4th floor, and I was told that was due to staffing (will talk more about that in next update)..but it didn't impact my enjoyment of those areas, as even tho the one I was really interested in was closed off? could still easily see the artwork inside, so still got to get some great pictures of it.

Edited July 2, 2019 by bert425

[bert425]

Great report!

 

Last year I remember that near vertical drop slide into the boiler room had a camera, but I can't remember any others with them. Those ride signs are definitely new though.

 

hmm. . "boiler room" ? that's not ringing a bell, although there was one near vertical slide outside, that I grit my teeth, decided I'm here once dammit, I'm gonna do it, and took the plunge.

 

but that was a very "open area" slide.

 

so wonder if the one you're talking about is no longer there? or if maybe it's one of those "hole in the ground" slides I didn't go into? (but I would think if it had a camera, it certainly would have had a staff member there monitoring the sliders).

 

Edit: oh wait it was this one, right?

 

[youtu_be]

[/youtu_be]

 

that was one of the ones you get to from the treehouse complex. I honestly don't recall the monitor there. . maybe I was just freaked about how steep it was

Edited July 2, 2019 by bert425

[SharkTums]

'Staffing' is such a funny excuse! When we rent out the place there are like 4 employees in the whole building and we run around like idiots riding everything (and injuring ourselves). I take that back, 6 employees, because we also rent out the roof and there's a rule that there have to be more staff if you rent the roof.

 

I also remember the video monitors on the 10 story slide and the one slide of death, but no others.

[bert425]

'Staffing' is such a funny excuse! When we rent out the place there are like 4 employees in the whole building and we run around like idiots riding everything (and injuring ourselves). I take that back, 6 employees, because we also rent out the roof and there's a rule that there have to be more staff if you rent the roof.

 

I also remember the video monitors on the 10 story slide and the one slide of death, but no others.

 

not exactly related (but sorta/kinda), but the folks at Beatnick Bob's did mention to me in casual conversation (about the train closing so early) that several of the Museum attractions/food service options are run by independent contractors - including the Train, most of the restaurants, and even the Circus. So that's why sometimes things are closed, because the operators of those things needed to close that day. so they are IN the City Museum, but not run by the City Museum.

 

I thought that was rather interesting, and sure enough, the eatery on the 4th floor was not open when we were there - it looked to me like the large open room behind the serving area, was missing an installation. So have to wonder if maybe with that being empty (at the moment), and the Pop Art Gallery up there being closed - it just wasn't worth it to staff the food counter, so they took time off?

 

but who knows.

 

as noted, I did see a ton of staff (in bright orange shirts) while we were there on floors 1, 3, and outside. . and most were stationed at the entrances to the bigger slides.

[SharkTums]

^Yeah, when we do our events there we work with Sam himself of Samwiches on the Mezzanine level to cater for us. Like we've all discovered...it's a weird place!

[bert425]

^ agreed.

 

i'd certainly love to go back at some point again!

 

if not with a group, then just a quick weekend getaway - St Louis Zoo, City Museum on Sat, Six Flags on Sunday

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Glad you really enjoyed the City Museum. The ride signs and additional video monitors are a bummer but expected. Telling you you can't do something for your own safety completely goes against the MO of that place but again, expected. Sorry you couldn't experience it in the raw bit hey, running on 3 cylinders, it's still good.

[Canobie Coaster]

Great report!

 

Last year I remember that near vertical drop slide into the boiler room had a camera, but I can't remember any others with them. Those ride signs are definitely new though.

 

hmm. . "boiler room" ? that's not ringing a bell, although there was one near vertical slide outside, that I grit my teeth, decided I'm here once dammit, I'm gonna do it, and took the plunge.

 

but that was a very "open area" slide.

 

so wonder if the one you're talking about is no longer there? or if maybe it's one of those "hole in the ground" slides I didn't go into? (but I would think if it had a camera, it certainly would have had a staff member there monitoring the sliders).

 

Edit: oh wait it was this one, right?

 

[youtu_be]

[/youtu_be]

 

that was one of the ones you get to from the treehouse complex. I honestly don't recall the monitor there. . maybe I was just freaked about how steep it was

 

That's the slide! I remember it was accessed straight from the hallway and dropped you into (what I thought) was a boiler room. To get out, you had to squeeze through this super narrow passage way.

 

You can actually see them looking at the video monitor on the video you posted before starting the slide. That was without a doubt the most terrifying slide I've ever done and my favorite thing at the museum.

[bert425]

Glad you really enjoyed the City Museum. The ride signs and additional video monitors are a bummer but expected. Telling you you can't do something for your own safety completely goes against the MO of that place but again, expected. Sorry you couldn't experience it in the raw bit hey, running on 3 cylinders, it's still good.

 

heh.. it was pretty nuts regardless!

 

the signs were there, and there was staff at the top of each "big" slide telling folks when they could go. . . but they didn't turn anyone away.

 

so I'd say the signs are just a "suggestion". . I didn't see anyone enforcing anything.

 

so just for liability, I guess

[prozach626]

Hmmmm. I might have to consider taking the long 30 minute drive back to City Museum. It's been at least ten years since I've been.

[anonymouscactus]

Great reports. I am going to try my hardest to fit in a visit to the city museum when we do a "Missouri coaster tour" at the end of September. I completely forgot it was in St Louis and had always thought it is a MUST DO after seeing all the photos and reports from everyone. Will probably be my only chance to do it so I'll have to make time to stop for awhile even though it was supposed to be a full day of driving home

 

Thanks for posting everything! Love it!

[ytterbiumanalyst]

^ You can do everything at City Museum in about an hour. You'll want to spend all day, it's that great--but it's easy to squeeze in even if you don't have a ton of time.

[anonymouscactus]

Good to know. The website says plan on ~3 hours but it's literally right off our route home, so I guess I'll just be getting home at 2am and heading to work that same morning. Sometimes gotta make sacrifices lol but I'm definitely looking forward to it. I'll try my best not to rush it.

 

If it wasn't for this report I probably would have missed out, not even realizing i'd be traveling right by it!

[bert425]

Good to know. The website says plan on ~3 hours but it's literally right off our route home, so I guess I'll just be getting home at 2am and heading to work that same morning. Sometimes gotta make sacrifices lol but I'm definitely looking forward to it. I'll try my best not to rush it.

 

If it wasn't for this report I probably would have missed out, not even realizing i'd be traveling right by it!

 

it depends on what you are interested in. . I would say you certainly need at minimum 3 hours. . just to glance at everything (if not DO everything).

 

we were there a good 5 1/2 hours, and that was without the Rooftop, some galleries closed / in process of being installed-repaired, not seeing a Circus Show, or sitting down for a full meal, and simply bypassing things we weren't interested in (such as the rope swings, or running on the skateboard ramps, or some of the wire outdoor habitrails).

 

we *easily* could have stayed another 3 hours.

 

heck, at least 45 minutes was just at the Pinball Machines (and that's a very small section of the 3rd floor).

 

so yeah. . plan for plenty of time, and you'll love it.

 

if you can time it to go on a weekend? Friday & Saturday nights they are open until Midnight - and they offer a discounted "post 5-pm" admission ticket.

 

 

about to upload part II. . so more pics coming!

[bert425]

Hmmmm. I might have to consider taking the long 30 minute drive back to City Museum. It's been at least ten years since I've been.

 

ABSOLUTELY worth it. Even if a little bit "de-fanged" we still had an amazing time (and that's with Nick sitting quite a bit while I went off and did things)

 

Great reports. I am going to try my hardest to fit in a visit to the city museum when we do a "Missouri coaster tour" at the end of September. I completely forgot it was in St Louis and had always thought it is a MUST DO after seeing all the photos and reports from everyone. Will probably be my only chance to do it so I'll have to make time to stop for awhile even though it was supposed to be a full day of driving home

 

Thanks for posting everything! Love it!

 

thanks! really appreciate it. . I love re-living my trips (even very recent ones), by sharing here at TPR.

 

I'd say make sure to try some of the "treats" at Beatnick Bob's. . . everything I had there was great!

 

as I just posted above too. . you likely need at least 2-3 hours to really experience it, but you *can* spend much longer there, and if pressed? you could just get a sampling of some of the stuff.

 

there are no maps to the place, so you never know when you're done with an area - as a hallway might lead to a whole nother section, with slides/attractions to play with/on.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Good to know. The website says plan on ~3 hours

 

I would say you certainly need at minimum 3 hours. . just to glance at everything (if not DO everything).

And that is accurate, to do it justice. The more time you can spend here the better. Just don't skip it because you think there's not enough time.

[bert425]

Day 2: part 3b - More at the City Museum

 

not a whole lot of extra commentary to add here.. will "talk" under the pics

so once we finished our snack, we of COURSE had to do one more round of Pinball before moving on. Hey, it makes Nick happy, and he was doing his best to keep up with me (and I love pinball too).

Then we moved on continuing on the 3rd floor, admiring the train.

 

For some reason, I didn't take a lot of pictures of the area the kid-size train goes thru, but it included some psychedelic colors, what looked like Jellyfish, a full size (like from outside the front of the restaurant) Bob's Big Boy statue among other things.

 

i DID stop and take a pic of *this* WTF-ery area, where the train goes by a full scale model train set (complete with clouds, lightning, dinosaurs, fighter jets. . . oh, and all built on top of a giant (and scary looking) Millipede !

 

no, I don't understand it either. . . it is insane! but I loved it

 

(too bad the miniature train wasn't running - when they closed the bigger train, they turned off this one too).

Continuing around back to the side of the floor by the Carnival target game (and the back entrance to Beatnick Bob's), we then took a look in "Avalon" - one of the galleries that is more what you'd see in a typical Museum.

 

although a sort of F-ed up one: Avalon is full of mummified, Taxidermied, and mounted bones of insects, animals, and reptiles.

 

didn't take any pics inside here either, as we moved rather quickly thru it (it was. . . uncomfortable. . LOL. .. .especially the 4 giant dead hornet's nests suspended from the ceiling inside the "gallery"). Not really my thing, but interesting.

 

Connecting thru the back of the Avalon gallery was a new installation in process of being created (so very cool they let you see what they are creating), this one focusing on stone reliefs & Gargoyles - as well as iron work from old buildings.

 

There were no signs up telling me where the material came from, or even what city. But that COULD be because they are in process of putting up the exhibit (?). I say that because a similar gallery on the 4th floor, of Building reliefs *did* have cards noting where/what buildings they had come from, complete with pictures of the buildings with the stonework on it.

 

you can see off to the right, some of that exhibition

a better view of the entrance into the exhibition next door to Avalon.

Nick and I posing in front of some beautiful ironwork installed on an interior wall of the space.

 

I believe I may have asked someone passing by to take this picture, since we have cut off the 1920's turnstile that was beneath this iron work. It was really quite the stunner, made out of bent iron, and you could step on a floor pedal to "push" the turnstile - so it was very interactive, once you figured out that you had to step on the pedal to get it to turn.

Me and a gargoyle.

 

I couldn't help myself.

 

I thought about how disrespectful it is that the idiot tourists at Easter Island are doing similar to the giant sculptured heads there. . . and then did this anyways, figuring it came from an outdoor corner of a building in a downtown somewhere.

I even took another picture .. . LOL. . wonder if I'm gonna be haunted by spirits now!

We needed a potty break around this time, and found hidden way back behind the stonework, an old bathroom - that I'll bet is original to the warehouse building the City Museum is in (it takes up the 1st 4 floors of the building (and the roof), with the floors above looking quite abandoned - at least based on the broken out windows I saw from outside).

 

anyways, we were the only folks in this bathroom, and I absolutely adored the classic Subway Tile thruout the space. so took a picture.

 

there was also a large empty gallery room off to the side (I have to wonder if maybe that's where the wedding party we had seen earlier on the 3rd floor taking pictures, had done their reception? - I HAD heard someone talking about the 4th floor being closed off for a wedding, but the stairs were open when we made our way up here, and we had passed the wedding party earlier). . .anyways.

Up some steep, Iron steps from the 3rd floor (avoiding the spiral staircase that also would have taken us up to the 4th, as Nick was concerned he wouldn't be able to navigate the spiral as the handrail was on the wrong side for him - he's a lefty), we came upon the windows looking out over the front entrance outdoor area - and a fantastic view of the top of the "dragon slide"

 

(and the City Museum Employee in the bright orange shirt, making sure it stayed safe).

some really good views overlooking the outdoor area, from the windows on the 4th floor.

the entrance to the outdoor area is on the 2nd floor. I dunno how I managed to get a picture with so few people in it, as the place really was pretty crowded.

 

see that Metal "net" habitrail from the upper plane to the top of the Pyramid? And the other metal habitrail from the lower plane up to the upper plane?

 

yeah. I did NOT do that. . LOL. . was terrified that I'd get stuck half way, and not be able to go back since it was so crowded. Luckily, there's an "easier" path - tho still climbing and squeezing - to get to the dragon slide. more on the outside in a bit.

Here's Nick smiling in front of the windows (and behind him you can sort of see the "easier" path - climbing up a tall ladder structure).

Not really 100% positive, but I THINK this is not the body of the Dragon Slide, but actually just another orange slide that was in the outdoor area.

 

Pic taken thru the windows on the 4th floor this time over by the "outdoor reliefs" smaller gallery on this floor.

these Mosaics too, were just lovely and very well done.

 

So stopped and got a close up pic, before focusing my attention on the pop-art.

The 4th floor was really pretty dead when we got up here : Art City was open (the hands on "make some art" area. . but since it was getting to be early evening, most of the kiddos who would have been in this space were gone, so it was empty). The restaurant here was not open, and looked like it hadn't been for a while - just an empty counter, with no supplies behind it. there were a few tables out, with some people sitting at them.

 

what was here? Yep, more mosaics!

 

you may notice here a closed metal gate. This leads into a small gallery of Pop Art & sculptures by some well known names. The Gallery is sponsored by the St. Louis Art Center.

 

and I recognized several of the artists on display, and was excited for a moment, hoping there's another way into the gallery.

 

there was a City Museum Employee patiently listening to someone at the tables by the closed Restaurant serving bar complaining about the 10 story slide being closed.

 

when the people got up in a huff, I asked her before she went back downstairs about the closed gallery door. She told me that it wasn't open today, because of staffing.

 

Note: THIS I *totally* understand. the pieces in this gallery are worth millions of dollars. I'm sure whomever owns them and has them on display has very strict rules about how many staffers must be in the space with the sculptures, to ensure no one touches them, or damages them.

 

but i wasn't too upset, as the metal gates (as you can see here) are quite large. certainly large enough for a hand holding an iPhone to get thru, and get good pictures of the sculptures, even if one has to stay outside the actual gallery.

 

the staff member even pointed out to me that there *was* a 2nd entrance to the Gallery, so I could go to that entrance and see the sculptures in the 2nd room.

 

This kind of art is right up my alley, and I was positively thrilled to get to see it in person (even from back away a bit). To me? it was worth the price of admission on it's own .. although I had been having a spectacular time up to this point anyways.

 

before she headed back downstairs, I mentioned i had heard her talking to the other folks about the 10-story slide, and knew it was closed, but that the 5 story slide entrance is thru the caves? (I had read that on the museum site). She said - well, you CAN go that way - from the lower floors . . . . *or*.. there's a hole in the wall over by the other gallery behind us (the ones with the building reliefs).

 

She said "it doesn't look like it's something you should go thru. but go thru it, and you'll be right there at the bottom of the spiral steps that will take you to it"

 

so got some cool insider info!

Spectacular.

 

I believe this is by KAWS (the X-ed out eyes & Pop Culture reference of Gumby are a giveaway)

would have loved to get a closer look at the art on the walls. . but thrilled I got to see it.

 

and that's a brass (?) or maybe polished Gold (?) topple chair back there!

 

and on the wall? is a stained glass mural called "Mayhem on Ice" celebrating the St. Louis Blues (I know the name because the employee pointed it out to me from the other entrance)

in particular this sculpture - which I've seen pics of (in various castings) from other museums. It's formed metal in the shape of blown up balloon figure, but artist Erwin Wurm.

 

I've now moved over to the other entrance gate, to get a straight on picture.

This one also took my breath away. . just amazing.

 

and this is absolutely by KAWS (one of the signature style pieces)

 

Benefit of the gallery being closed, is that I could get unobstructed pictures.

 

there were a few other pieces in here, way in the back , that I wasn't able to see, but very much enjoyed what I could view from outside the gate.

Remember that hole in the wall that doesn't look like something one should go thru?

 

when you step thru it, you are BETWEEN the buildings, and looking up, you see the large spirals of the 10 story slide (on the left) and the 5 story slide (behind me). . and in between? multiple spiral staircases that may, or may not go to either of them. including a short one that brings you to a platform between them.

 

There were also multiple spiral staircases that came up to the platform we were on from below - which I assume is where the caves connect to the slide complexes. I greatly appreciated the climbing we saved, as Nick wasn't able to do much on the spiral staircases (other than the slight one that brought us here), so he sat here on the 4th floor platform while I went and rode the 5 story slide 3 times.

 

it's a pretty tight spiral, so it was mainly banging the side every few seconds, and desperately trying not to get spun around backwards - as they are pretty steep.

 

but i was laughing the ENTIRE time. I'm serious when I say, I crawled out the bottom, and immediately started climbing the Spiral staircases back up to ride again.

 

worked up quite the sweat!

stepping directly between the two slides and looking up: 10 story on left, 5 story on right.

Looking down from the exit to the slide, there's some theming down here too. . very spooky.

and very well lit, as the sunlight from above doesn't really reach this far down into the space bewteen the buildings.

our white boy "Straight Outta Compton" moment.

 

c'mon. . you HAVE to take this pic.

After a few rides on the "big" slide, I was already sweaty, so told Nick I think it's time to attempt the outside.

 

so we headed back down the steep stairs to the 3rd floor, on our way to the outside on the 2nd floor.

 

this is from the 3rd floor, looking down onto the top of the main stairs going to the 2nd floor (where, of course, there's another Mosaic). The "rollers" on the handrails? all actually rolled, and were hella fun to activate as you walked past them. there's even a slide on the 3rd (the entrance would be on the upper left and one floor up from this pic) that surrounded by a "triangle" of rollers, so you can reach out and roll the rollers the whole way down from the 3rd floor into the main lobby.

 

(I did ride this slide to close out our night, but was so sweaty, got stuck quite a bit, so had to use the rollers to "nudge" myself down. . LOL).

Stepping into the outdoor area, and looking up to get this shot of the school bus on the roof (which, again, I didn't go to on this trip. . . next time!).

Luckily, in addition to all the outdoor towers/slides/climbing activities, there are also two old amusement park trams mounted on either side of the 2nd floor outdoor area. So I put Nick (and my shoulder bag) into one of them, and headed off to explore the outdoor fun for a good 30 minutes).

 

that slide to the left of Nick was the only slide (besides the 10 story one) that was not open on the day we were there. the entire complex the slide came from - above the firetruck - was blocked off with caution tape. From the state of the slide, it looked lie it hadn't been utilized in a long time.

 

I did ask the employees stationed at the top of the Dragon Slide if that one was in process of being removed, and she said that in all the years she's been working at City Museum, she's actually never seen that one open. so she doesn't think it's going away, but she also doesn't think it will ever be open.

 

so I guess it's just "art". . . which is an idea that I love. A slide to nowhere that you cannot ride. LOL

 

this pic I took of Nick is from the turret of one of the "castle" towers.

I made my way up to the top of the tower. . well, almost to the top. The hatch to get to the top looked a bit too narrow for me to want to attempt it! so I was happy with the "next to top" level.

 

I actually didn't even think I'd get that far, as some of the entranceways are super tiny - but I found a "bypass" that let me go down the side of the entranceway and in thru the back! I really love that there are no clear directions. Just GO. EXPLORE. HAVE FUN.

 

great place.

about to go on the suspended bridge that goes from one Castle Tower, to the more rustic, Medieval Castle Tower -- where you get to the top by climbing 12" stone steps clockwise around the inside of the tower. This is the way to get to plane 1 from prior pics.

That's Plane 2 behind me. only way to get to that one (and I thought, the Dragon Slide) was to go thru the metal net habitrails. So I wasn't gonna do that - again, I was worried I was gonna get stuck, and not be able to go back because of all the kids that kept coming up behind me. I kept stepping aside to let them pass in places where able, but you can't do that in the mesh habitrails!

 

still. . I got FAIRLY close to it.

see? OMG

 

but I did it. . I scootched on my butt, and squeezed thru.

 

in the cockpit is the connecting mesh habitrail to go to the 2nd plane, but nope, did NOT go that way.

 

Instead I went out the pilot's door, and along the top of the crane.

 

then up the wobbly ladders, to take the mesh spiral up to the Dragon Slide.

 

where the sweat I had worked up made for a "stop / start" slide. . . LOL but it was really, really fun!

ok.. got into the 1st plane, from the Medieval Tower climb.

 

this is the face one makes, when one realizes that the only way to proceed is forward.. . and the hatch ain't exactly . . .. 'large'

Holy Crap. . but WHEEEEEEEE!

Nick even got a pic of me as I got up after coming out the bottom.

That face is a combination of happy and embarrassed.

 

see that super steep brown/grey thing behind me? That's the steepest slide i encountered at City Museum.

it really is almost straight down 1 story drop.

 

It comes from the firetruck area above, and after looking to see if there's a way to get up there without the Mesh Habitrails, I found a "net spiral walkway" that got me up there.

 

but the moment I sat on the edge and looked down? I regretted it. I ALMOST backed out, it was that scary.

 

Certainly not the longest slide, but it was the steepest. But I was here. I WANTED to do it, despite my nerves.

 

So I forced myself to slip my butt off the edge and went!

Coming back inside after having all that fun outside, I told Nick I wanted to ride the "roller slide". .so he headed down to the lobby, and I went up one floor to get in the now short line for the roller slide.

 

it was well after 8pm by this time, so the main lobby area had really cleared out. but in this pic, you get a fantastic view of the banisters full of rollers on the main stairs from the lobby to the 2nd floor.

From the line for the Roller Slide, I noticed this closed off room at the top of the stairs leading to the slide.

 

not sure what it was (an office for the staff maybe?), but I liked the stone work on either side, so took a picture.

after riding (and getting stuck a bit. .LOL) in the Roller Slide, I met Nick at the bottom in the lobby, and asked him if he was still up for exploring a bit.

 

He was still doing ok, so I talked him into attempting the Caves from the 1st floor, since we hadn't gone into them really - the entrance to them was behind the big whale he had sat on hours earlier while waiting for me in the treehouse slide complex.

 

what cinched it for me wanting to give it a shot? the mosaic jellyfish.

and the trail of fish mosaic leading into the caves. . .

The caves are impressive as hell - you can't even tell you're in a building!

 

and there are cool sculptures (with some interesting lighting effects) everywhere you look.

 

like this SUPER COOL dragon (and nekkid people on the wall behind him, that I guess he's guarding)?

 

there are all kinds of pathways, and rock "slides" here in the caves too, tho we were kind of limited due to Nick's balance - it likely wasn't' a good idea to get him in here, but did my best to navigate him to the "flat-est" option avail.

all kinds of cool sculptures, stalagmites, & design work in here

and as noted, with some really effective lighting effects.

 

all kinds of hidey-holes too.. we passed several groups that were hiding and "popping out" to scare the crap out of their friends/family.

it's a bad pic because of the shadows from the lighting, but even the "small" stuff, like this Geode, was really well done.

Levels upon levels at City Museum. . even in the caves, there were walkways above and to the sides of us wherever you looked.

 

it was really quite confusing, and Nick was getting concerned (and agitated) the further we went into the maze to try to find the way out.

he's cussing me out under his breath here, as the easiest path at this particular juncture, was to go UP. . so he had to do uneven, curving steps.

 

but this actually DID lead us to an exit out onto the 2nd floor landing (near the steps)

and this scary sculpture thing. . . LOL

We were beat, as it had been a long, long day.

 

but, of course, we HAD to stop into the gift shop (where I went to the teeny tiny 2nd floor, up those steps) to look down and get this pic of Nick - and the Mosaic (!!) that's in the gift shop.

 

it was actually a little frustrating trying to get this picture, since every one that came into the gift shop, saw Nick, then looked directly up at me/camera. sheesh.. . but after a moment was able to get a decent picture, even if he's not the only one in it

 

It's a very large gift shop, selling a lot of very cool, some "educational" and some "Spencer Gifts" level stuff.

 

they had a bunch of shirts on sale, as well as magnets, and puzzles, and chatchkis. They even sold unique (to us at least) soda flavors, so went ahead and bought some sort of vanilla/orange Sprite type drink.. even saying to the lady at the counter - this is a bad idea, I'm sure I'll like it for a swig or two, and then it will be too sweet for me. and she giggled and nodded (and sure enough, it was way too sweet for me, and after a few sips, it got re-capped and stayed in the room fridge until we threw it out on checkout on Monday).

 

So we made our purchases, thanked the staff, and headed out.

it was late, but still surprisingly not dark out yet. So I went to the side of the building to get a pic of this guy that I hadn't noticed on the way in.

slightly better angle of the Dragon (?)

Not sure what this is even, or if it's abandoned. But I liked the way it bridged the City Museum building and the building across the street, so took a snap of it.

standing at the Trolley Stop waiting to board, snapped one last pic of the City Museum as we waited for the Trolley to show up.

 

we hadn't actually ridden the entire route, so planned to ride a full circuit, keeping an eye out for anything we could stop to grab a bite to eat, before turning in, as tomorrow was gonna be a full day as well (Six Flags St. Louis)

the City Museum wristband, with the disclaimer.

 

we had a fantastic time (if you couldn't tell), and i highly recommend it. . but buy your tix online. huge timesaver.

[Canobie Coaster]

Great report! I love those near vertical slides and all the funky climbs.

[bert425]

Great report! I love those near vertical slides and all the funky climbs.

 

glad you're enjoying following along.

 

as I noted, one can really work up a sweat but we had such a great time there.