St. Louis

[DietCokeLover]

We are thinking of going to St. Louis in August for a few days. Other than the zoo, what are some things a 3.5 yo and a 2.5 yo would enjoy doing there? Also, anyone have a recommendation for family friendly place to stay? We'd prefer something more than a traditional hotel room.

[mousemom]

We haven't been yet with DS, but the Magic House is supposed to be a very nice children's museum. There are usually BIGI admission coupons available online. Grant's Farm is fun, although you may not want to go see more animals if you're doing the zoo already. They do have the Budweiser Clydesdales there though, which are beautiful to see. The Missouri Bontanical Garden has a Children's garden. In addition to the zoo, there's other fun stuff to do in Forest Park - like paddle boat rentals and the turtle playground. The Science Center is in Forest Park too, but I haven't been there, so I don't know how much they have for little ones.

If you want to be centrally located and have some extra space, the Drury Inn & Suites Forest Park and the Hampton Inn & Suites Forest Park are probably good bets. We've also had good luck and saved money by staying further out at the Hampton Inn in Westport, but it's not a suite hotel and requires more driving around.

[jerigirl]

The Science Center is fun and FREE (for general admission)!!! They also have the Build a Dino (build a bear) store there.
http://www.slsc.org/content.aspx?id=488

The zoo is free general admission also!!! We went last summer with DS and nephew (14 months at the time) and did the $10 safari pass for each person (except DN). That included the train, children's zoo and the carousel. (we skipped the 3D movie and motion simulator.) We thought that was a good deal.
http://www.stlzoo.org/yourvisit/hourspricesdirections.htm

[DietCokeLover]

Thank you both! I was just reading about the Magic House, so will now have to look into the science museum.

We are thinking of a 3 or 4 day trip so we want to have something fun for each day without pushing it too much with two toddlers.

[jerigirl]

Did you see this page?
http://www.magichouse.org/visit_packages.htm
I don't know if this works rate and location-wise, but might be something worth checking out.

[deenass]

St. Louis in AUgust is humid and HOT, like sticky sweaty (from morning until night - humidity does NOT go away when the sun goes down.

I lived there for 7 years and loved it but know what you are getting into.

I didn't notice your kids ages, but the Arch is fun to visit and make a trip to Ted Drewes for custard (a local favorite).

Try and stay at a hotel with a pool b/c you will likely wnat to cool off a bit (even at night it's fun to go for a swim!)

Also - during the summer, the MUNY at Forest Park has fabulous outdoor musicals which cna be fun (again depending on the age of your little ones).

[crl]

Ted Drewes. Yum. And the Italian food on the hill is good. I like the Botantic Gardens. What about a Cardinals game? The Muny is also great, but would depend on how your kids are at sitting still and being quiet for performance. I haven't been to St. Louis (well, except the airport) in a long time, but we used to go when we were kids.

Catherine

[groundhog74]

Most everything has been mentioned. I also like the Butterfly House in Faust Park, there is also a cool carousel there.

[cmo]

We went last year, and the kids absolutely loved the City Museum. DH & I liked it, too! We stayed in the Drury Plaza, one block or so from the arch. They had a 1-bedroom suite that worked out great. There is a bedroom, plus a little living room with a pull-out couch that the kids slept on. They had a nice (smallish) pool, free breakfast and snacks too! There are several Drury locations in the area --- just make sure you get one of those suites!

[ray7694]

We stayed at the Hampton Inn Forest Park. It was much cheaper and we wanted the two ajoining rooms so when the little ones went to sleep we had a separate living room. They also have free dinner. We went to Six Flags, City Museum, and the Zoo.

[saleenl]

Everyone else has pretty much covered my favorites, but I would add:
South City: Missouri Botanical Gardens + free wading pool and playgrounds in Tower Grove Park. Lots of nice places to eat lunch around there, too. The food at the Botanical Gardens is so-so. If it is a Saturday, there is a super awesome farmer's market with live music and lots of families with kids right next to the wading pool. So much fun!

Forest Park: Zoo - be sure to get free tickets to the Zoomagination Station. Free and indoors - nice if it's hot out. We prefer to enter through the North Entrance because there is more free parking near it and it is less busy. Plus, it is where the Zoomagination Station is located. The nicest playground - the Variety Wonderland - in Forest Park is near the History Museum. It is adjacent to the visitor's center that has nice restrooms and a little cafe. It also has an area with lots of brochures that is staffed.

Magic House: Always fun and always crowded. Definitely go first thing in the morning. You can eat in Kirkwood - I recommend Kaldi's Coffee.

There are several attraction coupon sites:
https://wwwc.druryhotels.com/content/vacationsavings.aspx
http://www.familyattractionscard.com/

This is new, really nice, and conveniently located - Drury Inn & Suites Near Forest Park: https://wwwc.druryhotels.com/PropertyOverview.aspx?Property=0136

Hampton Inn and Suites Forest Park also a good choice: http://hamptoninn.hilton.com/en/hp/hotels/index.jhtml?ctyhocn=STLHLHX

I live here so feel free to PM me with questions.

[DietCokeLover]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I am starting to get more excited about it.

Saleenl, thank you for your offer to PM you. I will probably take you up on that!

[smilequeen]

Drury hotels are a really good deal. If you want to splurge I highly reccommend the Four Seasons though. We stayed there with the boys right before we moved back here. They are always so great to kids and the pool area there is so much fun, with a really cool view.

I think most people hit the good spots.

Definitely The Magic House. I would highly reccommend lunch at Pi if you do that (awesome, awesome pizza).

Also definitely the zoo, plenty of indoor stuff to cool off b/c yeah, it's typically really hot in August. Although, honestly, last summer was amazingly nice here.

City Museum, Grant's Farm, Science Center, and The Botanical Garden are also awesome. My kids absolutely love the children's garden at the Botanical Garden. Eating on the hill and at Ted Drewe's are great choices :)

If you have a train lover...the Whittle Shortline Railroad store is a fun side trip as is the Transportation Museum. We have a lot of train days in my house :) But those are smaller and farther out in the suburbs.

[saleenl]

I didn't know that Pi had expanded beyond the Loop! I second Pi as an excellent choice but be warned that their pizzas are closer to Chicago-style and their thin crusts are pretty crunchy. My son doesn't consider them to be pizza and won't eat them, but he can be super picky.

http://www.restaurantpi.com/

[jerigirl]

I forgot that someone had recommended this to me previously. I haven't been yet to comment.

http://www.fitzsrootbeer.com/