I woke up on that second day in St. Louis feeling fabulous for three reasons: 1) the car was parked and I didn't have to touch it for the entire day 2) it was windy, but not raining (do they let you up in the arch if it rains? seems kind of like a lightning issue -- it's 630 feet) and 3) we had cake on the agenda for breakfast.
That would be gooey butter cake. I guess the bakery that makes it has been featured on the Food Network, but I read about it in a Family Fun magazine (in the very article on St. Louis that made love with the scheme and birthed this baby of a trip). The cake was indeed gooey and buttery and amazing. Can you tell from this blog that we try not to eat processed foods -- specifically processed carbs/sugars except on special occasions? The scheme has become one big special occasion and I'm bloated to prove it.
Though we were some of the only people on the street (so weird for us), we walked to the arch so we could be there when the visitors center opened at 9am. We passed some fountains... The Boy's instinct when he sees stairs is to run and run... The Girl's is to wait it out.
Okay, so this is what the water looked like in the fountain in front of the Old Courthouse -- where the Dred Scott trial happened:
Pink? Right? Well, just as my uncle's house isn't pink, that water isn't either. When I asked a security guard why the water was pink he looked me up and down like I was mold and said, "It's red." For the Cardinals. Duh.
We passed by the Old Courthouse (definitely want to take a tour of it someday, but there are only so many hours in a day). I thought that the kids would think it was a capital building and so asked after we passed, "What do you think that building looks like?" The Boy answered with a straight face, "The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial." I pulled a face and said, "Clearly you can read signs." The Girl thought this exchange so funny that she has repeated it several times -- laughing so hard you almost can't make out the words ("The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial").
Our first timed-ticket was to watch the Lewis and Clark IMAX movie. It was beautiful and interesting and exciting and sad. Maybe it was because I was tired, maybe it was because I have tried so hard on this trip to remind the kids to be kind to each other because they don't have any other siblings, maybe it's because I knew that within the hour I was going to be crammed into a little pod and shot 63 stories into the air, but I cried at the part when Sacagawea is reunited with her brother and the expedition is saved. She was one impressive lady -- doing everything those men did (and in some cases more) with a baby strapped to her back. My favorite part of the movie was after the group reached the Pacific and with winter coming they had to figure out where to stay and they took a vote. It was the first documented time in American history when a slave (York -- Clark's slave), and a woman (Sacagawea) voted.
On to our pod. We peered out windows on both sides at the top and stood on the keystone, and then boarded our return pod.
Once grounded we went to the old fashioned store and bought among other things, some cheese, bread, and sliced salami and went outside and ate it in the brisk Autumn wind. We have since talked about that meal and have counted it as one of our best. When I think of the arch now I'll remember my kids underneath it chasing a blowing, escapee receipt far and farther out on the grass, and then laughing, returning triumphant holding up the piece of paper. I shall also remember the weird braced-leg stance that they got into when they looked up at the arch from below because it made them feel wonky.
With a bag of salt water taffy in hand we boarded the Tom Sawyer.
We learned quite a bit -- the stones by the loading dock were placed a long time ago because people's horses were getting stuck; the relationship between trade and the river -- we watched a barge getting loaded with grain, and learned that a barge has to be loaded from one end first because if it's loaded in the middle it will snap in half... seeing one side so much lower in the water was kind of alarming... I guess a loaded barge sits 9 feet lower in the water than an unloaded one; each cargo ship that came to dock had its own distinct whistle so the merchants would know whether or not they needed to get down to the docks.
We learned that a brand new electricity plant had to be built to supply the fair in 1904, and even though it looks like a dinosaur it is still in operation.
We also learned that cinnamon and peppermint salt water taffy are the clear front-runners, both having earned five stars during our on-board taste test.
After regaining our land-legs we walked to Citygarden -- which is really cool. The kids loved that it's all free-love, so children are allowed to climb as long as they aren't destructive.
But the climbing-on-art-options here are oatmeal (and I mean no disrespect) compared to where we were headed the afternoon. The City Museum is by far and away the most impressive space for children that I have ever been to. It's probably a good thing that I left my phone in the hotel when we stopped for a potty-break, because perhaps I would have been too distracted and missed even more than I already know that I missed. It is enormous, having been built in an old shoe factory and every room is a surprise (here's another link -- the actual website is cool, but perhaps too much...). Yes, I went down the ten-story slide. Twice. I was kind of in a sticky spot -- the kids wanted to do everything, but sometimes the shoots and slides and tunnels would empty them out really far away... so when that was going to be the case I grabbed my handbag in front of me like an old woman and followed. Again, it was awesome to be there at an off-time for most families because it wasn't at all crowded. Anything the kids ran towards to do they did without waiting in lines or being bumped into by others.
On the roof there is an enormous praying mantis that overlooks a white mesh tube that has a slide in it. You walk up a ramp that is super high from the ground (obviously -- it's on the roof of a factory) to access the ladder that takes you up to the tube/slide. I could walk with my kids up the ramp and to the ladder, but because of the width of the tube, it seemed best that I not attempt the slide (ahem...).
And so I stood and watched my kids do something that made me dizzy. And they did it. And they lived. And they laughed. And they were proud of themselves.
We were not the only ones in the restaurant this time -- it was packed -- but we were the only ones not wearing Cardinals-red-not-pink. The food was still delicious, and we did another taste-test (two competing Cream Sodas). However, while we had a nice time, the magic wasn't there that had been present the previous night. Lesson: learn to be crazy-grateful for enchanted experiences because they are rare, and can't be recreated.
