We started our Missouri leg of trip in St. Louis.  We rented a flat in downtown for our 4-night stay and gave us more flexibility of walking to the majority of the places we wanted to visit and to also give us a break from the normal hotel room.

Day one we had time for lunch before we arrived at our rental so we went to His & Hers BBQ in O’Fallon right outside the city, recommended by our son Tyler who was here a few years ago for work.  It was delicious, again forgot to take pictures.  We arrived at the flat late afternoon and just relaxed and caught up on our laundry.

Day two walked to Gateway Arch National Park, my goodness what a sight!!!  The Arch is in the middle of the park right on the Mississippi River.  The height and width of the monument is the same exact size(630ft) but it looks much higher.  Neither one of us went to the top, I don’t do heights and Mike opted out because of the long line.  Weather was beautiful and sunny so we walked a lot of the city most of the day.  Worked our way towards Busch Stadium area and then through City Garden Park on our way back to the flat.  There were a lot of children/families in the park playing in the fountains! That afternoon we took another “long” walk to St. Louis Horseshoe Casino, not much luck for either of us.  On our way back we popped in the local grocer and purchased some food for dinner.

Day three was baseball day!  It was an afternoon game so we were up and out early to tour the surroundings of the stadium as well as the inside.  We arrive at least 30 minutes before gate opening to experience the atmosphere outside, but on this particular day it was very crowded and the lines at the entrances were very long even 30 minutes prior opening.  Upon entering we each received a powder blue Pujols jersey.  It was both adult and children’s giveaway day, which was pretty cool.  When we were in Cleveland we met 2 couples from St. Louis, one of the gentlemen works at Bow Tie Bar inside the stadium so we had we popped over to say hi.  The stadium was electric because of the crowd, we enjoyed the famous Freddy’s smashburger and cheese curds prior the game.  Happy Hour was $5 Busch beer cans up until 1^st pitch, so of course Mike had a few(I’m not a beer drinker). Beautiful game day with an awesome view.  That evening before dinner we walked just a block away to Hotel St. Louis for a rooftop drink.

The majority of the day four was raining so we had to find something indoors.  We ended up at Union Station and the St. Louis Aquarium.  The aquarium wasn’t large but had enough to see and do.  The best part of the aquarium was a train ride in the very beginning.  It was a virtual ride which took you through the town of St. Louis and then eventually flew through the town.  It even went underwater into the Mississippi River and traveled through time to the Gulf of Mexico too. It was a great experience, but anyone that knows me I did close my eyes a few times. 

The second leg of our Missouri adventure took us to Kansas City.

Day one in Kansas City we visited the Historic City Market.  The market was not as what we expected, it was different from the majority of the markets we have visited on this trip.  This was more of an open block of shops, bars, stores, etc.  There were overhangs to walk under and nothing was really outside, it was more of a half inside/half outside type feel.  Most of the places were closed since it was a Monday, but we did get some sweet treats at the Italian shop. After the market we made a quick stop at Boulevard Brewing Company for Mike to sample some brews. Boulevard Brewing is the largest specialty brewer in the Midwest!  Mike really enjoyed their dark beers.

Then off to the World War I Museum and Memorial.  Some of the pictures here show a few of the items they have in the Museum.  One of the pictures is shell casings that they carved to make them decorative, they were absolutely beautiful. There are many decorated envelopes from an artist father who wrote his son during the war.  All of them with different with caricatures of war, family life, military life, patriotic pictures, etc.  The memorial itself stands 217 feet high and was built in 1926. The top picture is from one of the viewing decks looking towards the KC Union Station which is where the2023 NFL Draft was held. The open lawn area is where the fans stood and the building in the middle is where the stage stood.

Day two we relaxed in the morning/afternoon prior the KC Royals game.  Arrived a bit early however there was not one statue, plaque, etc. outside the stadium.  I think this maybe our least favorite stadium so far, we were not very impressed.  Usually behind home plate in the front of the stadium there’s a stadium name sign but here there wasn’t one.  The picture of us in front of the stadium name was actually the 3^rd base entrance, the only entrance with the name of the stadium.  It was $1 dog night as well as powder blue Kansas City basketball jersey giveaway.  This stadium is over 50 years old and really shows it’s age it really needs some upgrading.  They are trying to build a new stadium in the city but from what we heard it probably won’t happen.  There are water fountains in the outfield, a full children’s play area with a carousel, miniature golf, a field to play on and a few other play areas as well.  KC Royals Hall of Fame is and indoor museum with a lot of memorabilia located in left field and was very impressive. The outfield area was by far the best part of the stadium. This was the first stadium that has a Chickie & Pete’s and fruit kabob stand!  The worse part for us is that it was right next to KC Football Stadium and it was very hard to even take a picture of it, still hurts!

On to the next!!!