The Flooding and the City Museum

Yeah, the flooding this year has been pretty crazy. We're not really at any immediate risk here, as the city is built on much higher ground than the areas up and downstream that are seeing a lot of problems, but it was interesting to head downtown yesterday to check it out up close at the arch grounds. The picture above shows a stairway that used to access a sidewalk now underwater. It's especially impressive when you know that sidewalk ran next to a road, which was in turn bermed by grass and a gradually terraced brick wall leading down to a sandy bank on the river where years ago we parked our picnic blanket to watch the fireworks over the river with thousands of other people. I can't even estimate how far down that is now, but you can see from the sign below where the water is on what used to be the road down there. I certainly hope nobody is parking there still, and doubt the trail sees many bikers these days! It will be quite a while before the water recedes and the old landmarks are visible again. Even some of the riverboat casinos have had to close because their entries are buried. Such a loss. ;-)

After checking out the water we headed over to one of my favorite attractions in Saint Louis, the City Museum. This place is technically a museum, because everything used in it was/is salvaged from the City. It's whimsically decorated with old gargoyles and building facades and is very industrial in nature, but beautiful and historic at the same time. The building itself used to be a shoe factory and they've done very little with the exterior, but the place really should be surtitled "The world's largest playground". The picture below is from an area outside the museum but accessed from varous floors inside. The museum is the building with the bus on top, and the two bodies you see at the top of that spring-type bridge are my Izzie and Erick. This was actually as far as they made it across because at some point they realized just how high they were and just couldn't do it. I can't say I blame them. But the area is really cool. You see the old airplane that's part of it, and there's a crane, a bird's nest and a million clever ways to crawl, climb and slide. All this and a giant ball pit at the bottom? It's amazing. And this is just the outside.

The next picture is kind of crazy, but I've rotated it twice on my computer and for some reason it's not saving. So stop, turn your monitor to the left, and then look at it. This is the heart of the museum - the old conveyor system used in the shoe factory. They've left it all intact, and gone so far as to create a system of winding stairways and slides out of it. I couldn't get pictures of the kids here because of the steep angle of the chutes, but this was really fun! I also really enjoyed just seeing the history and imagining this factory bach in its heyday. Another part of the museum has working shoelace machines used during WW2, and I'm surprised at how interesting even those were! Anyway, I tell you, that's why this place, dirty and old as it is, is so amazing. It's fun and fascinating all at the same time - a great combination.

From the delivery system we headed down a level to explore the caves. Someone went to a LOT of work carving these out, because most of the walls were actually crocodiles, big cats or dinosaurs, and the kids climbed in and out of their mouths. It's a little scary for adults because when your kids disappear in one side it's hard to tell just where they'll come out, so it's hard to keep track of them, but it's a kid's paradise.

See the teeth here? Erick's ahead of Izzie... I opted out of this one myself. I didn't realize how claustrophobic I can be... I'd never make a good spelunker.

Following the caves we found the "skateless skate park" where the kids summoned up even more energy to climb up and down the sides and run around the concrete forms until their hands and bottoms were literally black! What's more fun than a really steep makeshift slide? I mean, they make them at home all the time from tables and couch cushions - this was right up their alley.

A little stop by the curiosities room, where Izzie found a penny in an old machine and browsed the corn dog collection and the alien Elvis baby, and we were off again.

Toddler town was all but empty, so we spent quite a while hanging out in there. The kids had their own private ball pit and roller slides, along with a corner couch and some great books to read should they actually tire at some point (they didn't). The picture below of the ball pit isn't the best of the kids, but I thought it was kind of fun to show some of the museum once again. It really is all made from a kind of "parts is parts" attitude and "I wonder what we can make from that scrap?" And it's amazing!



After toddler town it was getting late, but the magic show was just starting, so we stayed just a bit longer to check it out. The guy was hilarious and the kids got a real kick out of the tricks. The "levitation" was a little weak, but the others were pretty good! I'm always easily impressed with those things, as I was never able to figure out the basic party tricks myself. :-)

Finally, a long ride down the three-story slide and we were out the door! Tired and hungry we headed home, and the kids slept REALLY well almost as soon as their heads hit the pillows. Thanks to whoever had this fun idea for a museum, to whoever funded it and to whoever made it a reality. It's unique and wonderful, and we had a great time!