Tuesday, September 15, 2015

What I did on My Summer Staycation

Remember going back to school and the first thing your elementary teacher had you do was write an essay about your summer vacation? I certainly do and since this was one of the best vacations I can remember I decided to do just that for my blog readers. So sit back and have an armchair view of - - WHAT I DID ON MY SUMMER STAYCATION--




Im not a good traveler so most vacations are Staycations, most are for the most part enjoyable, relaxing and well to be honest pretty boring. So this year I had a brainstorm and decided the best thing to do would to become a real tourist, only in my own hometown. Since I live in the greater St. Louis Metropolitan area there were many choices but I also didnt want to run myself ragged.
So welcome to
WHAT I DID ON MY SUMMER STAYCATION

St. Louis is loaded with fun things to do whether you're a year round resident or your just visiting and I decided that checking some of those off my list was a great way to spend my summer vacation. One great thing about taking vacation the week of Labor Day is that after the Monday holiday all the kids are back to school, the Malls, theatres and retail shops are not crazy busy. And if youre lucky the weather has taken a turn towards the cooler.

One of the most fantastic things about all the things I
ll mention today is that they are entirely FREE!

Some of you may know that St. Louis was the location for the 1904 Worlds Fair which was held in our fabulous world class Forest Park which opened in 1876 and totally revamped for the fair. The only permanent building built for the fair opened as The Palace of Fine Arts and today is Our St. Louis Art Museum.

1904 St. Louis Worlds Fair Palace of Fine Arts

 The statue of St. Louis, French, King Louis IX stands at the front of the museum and keeps a constant vigil over patrons. The Art Museum houses some fantastic permanent displays, artifacts and paintings and has a collection of more than 33,000 works and often is the sight of special exhibitions. For current and upcoming exhibitions click the link-http://www.slam.org/Exhibitions/current.php

   

The lawn in front of the museum is called Art Hill and in the winter it's the first place kids and adults go for first class sledding.



For a leisurely relaxing lunch we headed over to The Boathouse. Since the park opened in 1875 boating has always been a popular pastime on the lake in Forest Park. Today you can rent a paddleboat to cruise the lake and on Thursdays in summer you can enjoy a Moonlight Paddleboat Picnic. The current structure was erected in the early 2000s. For more information about the Boathouse click the link-http://www.boathouseforestpark.com/






The next stop on our Forest Park tour was the Missouri History Museum. The museum opened in 1866 and has been in its current location The Jefferson Memorial building since 1913 built with profits from the Worlds Fair.
The History Museum has many permanent exhibits like Seeking St. Louis and The 1904 Worlds Fair. Plus a continuing revolving door of exciting temporary exhibits as well.
Click the link for more information about The Missouri History Museum-http://www.mohistory.org/
 



The last historic stop on my staycation was the world renowned Cahokia Mounds. The pre-Columbian site located at Cahokia was a once thriving Native American community between 600 and 1400 AD and the largest Mississippian culture north of Mexico. There are at least seven permanent excavations going on at anytime at the site from all over the world. The current museum opened in 1989 and houses a fantastic lifelike display of what Scientists think life was like for these folks plus many artifacts found at the site. Cahokia Mounds is a National Historic Landmark and is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The Cahokia site also has a wooden structure called Woodhenge which was used to make astronomical sightings. Patrons can access the museum and Monks Mound, the largest earthen structure at the Cahokia site. For more information click the link-http://cahokiamounds.org/








So do you like to travel or are you more of the Staycation variety like me?





13 comments:

  1. Truth be told, I've been living in the outskirts of Nashville and I still have to fully explore the city. I'm ashamed! however, I have hit the main attractions, but I want to be a "city rat" in that I want to visit locales instead of the expected tourist traps

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    1. Yeah I hear you Braine, and that's exactly what I did last week!
      Thanks for commenting

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  2. That sounds like an awesome staycation, Debbie! That's all I've been able to do the last few years because of the herd. Mine are usually "boring" stay home and read until I can't stand it (never!) and eat and play online and not feel guilty about any of it. lol I really shoudl explore my city more. Hmmm. Thanks for the pictures! Love em :)

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  3. Looks like a wonderful art and history visit in beautiful surrounds. I like staying home, but do venture out now and then to places so going to Melbourne in a few days. One of my sisters and her husband is having a fantastic time at the moment around Italy, Greece, Turkey - from their pictures and video on FB I have envy but not sure that would actually want to go. Just not that fond of planes!

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    1. Hi Kathryn, thanks for commenting. Hope you have a fun trip to Melbourne!! And Wow I'm glad you sister and brother in law are having fun on their vacation!

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  4. I think this is such a fabulous idea mostly because I think when we live somewhere we take a lot for granted and don't enjoy all that we should.
    I love this!

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  5. Fantastic staycation Debbie. I am embarrassed to sat we have driven through St. Louis oodles of tines even grabbing a hotel there but I have never explored the area. It sounds like there are tons of places to explore

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    1. There are and the next time you do email me because meeting you is on my bucket list :)

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  6. Fantastic staycation Debbie. I am embarrassed to sat we have driven through St. Louis oodles of tines even grabbing a hotel there but I have never explored the area. It sounds like there are tons of places to explore

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  7. What a great Staycation, Debbie! You know I live in Orlando and there are lots of wonderful places to visit (free or nominal price) that have nothing to do with theme parks. I discovered many through my son's field trip days, exciting trips of landmarks and parks. Like the St. John's River natural wastewater plant, Fort Christmas, Sanford Zoo, and I also went to St. Augustine! All beautiful locations. There are more places, I just have to find time ;-)

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    1. I know you do Lorelei, and isn't it great to just spend some time exploring our own backyards instead of travelings vast distances? thanks for the comment sweetie!!

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