Midwest Attractions: St. Louis

You know it, you've seen it, the home of the Cardinals, Blues and Rams...the city on the Mississippi, Gateway to the West, all that stuff. 

We took a quick jaunt to visit the city of St. Louis a weekend or so ago, and while there we visited the famous Arch, taking the ride up to the top.  We also visited two caves about an hour west of the city, Meramec Caverns and Onandaga Cave.  We went to a really unique "museum", called the City Museum, which was more of an indoor/outdoor/rooftop urban playground, and we saw the Basilica Cathedral, which is a gorgeous example of Byzantine architecture right here in the Midwestern United States. 

Oh, and we got to see a "Naked Bike Ride".  Which could have been funny, but ended up being more annoying than anything since it made finding parking near the restaurant we were determined to dine at almost impossible.  (Plus, in my view, the folks who were riding naked probably shouldn't have been...)

Last, we stayed at the Union Station Hotel, a Doubletree by Hilton hotel, where a shopping mall and a grand hotel are built into the old railroad station.  Pretty cool all by itself, with a very nice room.

I enjoyed the caves the most, followed by the City Museum.  My kids liked the slides, passageways, catwalks and man-made caves at the City Museum the best. 

I may (or may not, depending on my mood) post in more detail about some of the individual attractions.  It should be noted that there is more to do than just what we did. 

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