Our day started at 10am when we left the hotel and traveled to the Gateway Arch in downtown St Louis. While there, we stepped into the visitor center which had a museum about Westward Expansion (constructed in 1965, the Gateway Arch was built as a symbol of westward expansion- it's a reminder of the link between the east and the west). The museum was pretty interesting complete with animatronics so real, they looked like they were seeing into your soul. It was creepy. They also had a gift shop where I got postcards (for you, mom...).
After the arch, we made our way to a restuarant, the Tap Room... as you can probably guess, they are known for their beer selections. They make all of their beer at the location! Their burgers were also awesome, and I heard their mussles are not to be missed. If you're ever in the area, you need to check it out.
There's nothing better than running around like a five-year-old after you have eaten your body's weight in food at The City Museum. I will muse about this pplace for the next five minutes and TRY and explain how spectacular and cool it was. The pictures I took will never do it justice- it HAS to be experienced. I will try my best, though. The City Museum is one of the few places in this world where there are virtually no rules. "Housed in the 600,000 square-foot former International Shoe Company, the museum is an eclectic mixture of children’s playground, funhouse, surrealistic pavilion, and architectural marvel made out of unique, found objects. The brainchild of internationally acclaimed artist Bob Cassilly, a classically trained sculptor and serial entrepreneur, the museum opened for visitors in 1997 to the riotous approval of young and old alike. Reaching no farther than municipal borders for its reclaimed building materials, City Museum boasts features such as old chimneys, salvaged bridges, construction cranes, miles of tile, and even two abandoned planes!" In addition, the museum also houses enchanted caves which lie underground (and can only be found through certain crawl spaces!) There were also about a dozen slides that led to different floors including a 10-story slide that you had to take spiral stairs to (about 150 steps; my thighs were BURNING). There was ALSO a half-pipe course that we parkour'd through. It was SO HARD to leave this place, but alas our time had come to an end after two hours of running around.
After nap and relaxation time at the hotel, we went to the Chocolate Bar on Park Avenue. This restaurant sounds exactly like what you think! It's all desserts. YES DESSERTS. For the sake of inducing jealousy, I shall tell you what I ordered: A grilled cheese complete with pesto, roasted tomatoes, gruyere, cheddar, and mahon cheeses; a Bailey's brownie sundae, and a glass of Moscato. It was one of the most decadent meals I have ever eaten.
THAT WAS MONDAY.
I would end it there, but we had a snow day yesterday!!! Another day off... how magical. Yesterday consisted of pampering, shopping, and all around female bonding time. It's amazing how much one can spend when tempted with so many wonderful stores. I also got my hair cut (nothing special... just had to get the chlorine cut out of my hair from all the swimming I have done in the past couple months).
Today was also nothing spectacular but we DID have two shows today with awesome audiences! It also happens to be our last night in Missouri so we decided to celebrate a great stayby going out to a nice dinner. We went to a sushi restaurant called the Drunken Fish which had some of the best sushi I have ever tasted (I got the spicy tuna rolls but I was also brave enough to have begged for a taste of Lo's White Tiger rolls which were recommended by our waiter; and boy, were they good!) After dinner, Lo (our tour guide for all things St. Louis) had one more St. Louis specialty for us to try: The Gooey Butter Cake. I think if everyone tried one of these, the world would be a much happier place. Paired with a double espresso, I was ONE HAPPY CAMPER. These delighful treats are a mixture of butter, cream cheese, sugar, LOVE, HAPPINESS, and some other things, and can come in a variety of flavors. We went to Park Coffee on Park Avenue (right down the street from Chocolate Bar). Park Coffee offers about 76 different varieties of Gooey butter cake AND they deliver worldwide! SO GET THEM. http://parkavenuecoffee.com/content/gooey-butter-cake <<<There's the link in case you want more info.
Congratulations if you made it this far in the post! Tomorrow ends our time in St. Louis and I am sad to see it go but we had some awesome shows, really wonderful food, and some experiences I will never forget. We will start tomorrow with a double show day and then we travel to Joliet, Illinois for a THREE SHOW DAY on Friday.
Our tour goes on. Til next time, faithful followers.
Laura
An artsy representation of the arch. Yes, I took this myself! Thanks, instagram! Follow me @melchioreo
My roommate and castmate, Dakota and I at the arch.
The Tap Room!
Like I said, the picture doesn't do it justice but the entire building is devoted to this museum! And the outside is just a huge jungle gym!
My castmate, Kane, in one of the two abandoned airplanes at the museum.
My blog would not be on its way to awesome without proof of my love for elephants.
Giant whale that you can walk through to get to another corridor.
HUGE dragon slide and another view of the outside jungle gym.
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