Categories: Museums & Galleries

St. Louis City Museum

Author: Alecia Warren

For Kids and Family

The attractions at the City Museum are so unique, there's something for everyone in the family to enjoy. The inside of the museum itself is a sculpture, like pieces of a behemoth jigsaw puzzle that fell out of their box and stuck together. There are constant twists and turns around every corner that may lead you to the dark pits of a dragon's lair, or the teetering top of a glass tower overlooking the bustling St. Louis traffic.

Children under 16 must be accompanied by a chaperone. Dress appropriately for slides and tunnels!

Address: 701 N. 15 th St., St. Louis, Mo 63103
Phone: 314-231-CITY (2489)

Hours:

    Sunday: 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
    Monday: Closed
    Tuesday: Closed
    Wednesday - Thursday: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
    Friday: 9 a.m. – 1 a.m.
    Saturday: 10 a.m. – 1 a.m.

Here are a few examples of family-friendly attractions:

MonstroCity is a jungle of spare parts from every hunk of machinery man has concocted: fire engines, airliner fuselages, and much more that's simply beyond recognition. Adults will feel a pang of envy watching their children scurry through the two airplanes (found abandoned in St. Louis), and hearing them laugh as they race to the heights of the scrap sculpture.

But no worries, mom and dad (and older siblings). There's plenty of room for you, too, inside the giant, wrought-iron Slinkies. Just remember not to look down when the St. Louis breeze teases your hair through the side openings. These metal bridges dangle dizzyingly high above the parking lot, so conquering this collection of clutter is for the courageous alone.

Of course, there's always the Baby Bob Ball Pit safe and sound on the ground, where little ones can dive and swim through thousands of rubber balls.

Leave behind the monster city for a Lilliputian version, the Tiny Train Town Model Railroad. This dauntingly detailed miniature city boasts an intricate network of toy trains, which dart in and out of weathered brick factories and zoom past rocky cliffs dotted with tiny cottages. For those with a sharp eye, every detail will seem so real they'll hold their breaths waiting for tiny citizens to peek out from the buildings' half-drawn blinds.

There's another train, the City Express, that little ones under 48” can jump on every hour, as well.

In a series of deep, Enchanted Caves, distant screams echo through the walls, and you know why as you collide with smirking dragons peering out from all angles. The maze of caves is another mystery—its walls and staircases bulge with massive fangs and leathery limbs mashed together in one hulking mutation. Dim lights flicker from stalactites as children duck and hide behind their scaly surfaces. Countless adventures are waiting to be discovered here.


For Grown-Ups

Adults may desire slipping away from the funhouse floors for a taste of more subtle mental stimulation. Directly below the children's refuge from reality is the adult variety.

Cabin Inn the City

While screams and shrieks rage above in MonstroCity, below sits the Cabin Inn the City terrace, where the quiet hum of music and conversation mingles with clinking glasses.

Like the materials strung around MonstroCity, the Cabin is another recycled piece of Missouri. Built in the early 19th century on a remote Missouri farm, the log cabin once housed Daniel Boone. The cozy construct was transported to its location in the City Museum in the mid-‘90s, where it now offers a full menu of wine and beer against a backdrop of frontier decorations.

Regulars stream in and out of Cabin Inn the City throughout the afternoon, but the hideaway draws its biggest crowds on Friday and Saturday nights, when its doors stay open until 1 a.m.

St. Louis natives and tourists alike congregate for CM in the PM, often taking their drinks out to the brick patio seating outside. Candlelight wavers dimly inside, where the twenty-something crowd mills around tables and art pieces, laughing above live musical performances. A fire pit is lit on the patio to warm chilled fingers and singe marshmallows during the winter. It's the easiest time adults will ever have roughin' it.

The cottage is ideal for parents to steal a moment together while the kids play in the MonstroCity or aquarium, and a quiet change for twenty-somethings weary of yelling themselves hoarse in smoky nightclubs.


For Something Extra: The World Aquarium

The World Aquarium, home to more than 10,000 creatures, is a new development provided by the St. Louis Children's Aquarium. The spacious layout and informal atmosphere prompts kids to play and enjoy the learning experience. All exhibits are sized so that adults and children can view them together.

Admission: $6
Phone: 314-647-6011

Hours:

    Sunday: 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
    Monday – Thursday: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
    Friday: 9 a.m. -11 p.m.
    Saturday: 10 a.m. – 11 p.m.

After the guided tour provided with an aquarium ticket, families are free to venture in and out of the aquarium while exploring other sections of the museum. Located on the second floor, the World Aquarium's design alone is worth the additional entrance fee. Massive columns lining the Grand Hall look like they're wrapped with coral. Tour groups move quickly to dodge jets of water shooting up from the floor. Giant clamshells and animal sculptures guard the entrances to tunnels and castles where kids play and hide. A glass slide shoots straight down the middle of the shark tank, taking visitors as close to the predators as they'll ever be without swimming in the ocean.

Massive tanks located throughout the floor contain undulating bodies of sharks and neon green eels rippling through rainbows of coral. When feeding hour arrives, crowds throng around the glass as sharks and mammals rip into their meaty meals. Those with sensitive stomachs mill around tanks that are home to fuzzy alternatives, cooing over rabbits, guinea pigs and raccoons that scurry through wood shavings. The most crowd-pleasing creature of all, however, is the albino, two-headed rat snake. Adults and kids alike swarm around the tank with bulging eyes and involuntary shudders.

These are but the backdrop of the aquarium's many hands-on exhibits. In one corner, a little girl gently strokes the sand-colored shell of a skate-board-long sea turtle, squealing as an aquarium professional helps her pick it up. All the while, another employee describes the creature's life span and living habits.

Turtles aren't the only creatures open to direct introductions. Visitors bend over shallow tanks and wrinkle their noses as they stroke the soft surfaces of sting rays scooting through the sandy water. Braver people dip their hands into a tank to stroke small sharks.

For families looking for a memorable experience in St. Louis, the World Aquarium is brimming with possibilities.

Check out places of interest near St. Louis City Museum:

City Museum
701 N 15th St., St Louis, MO 63103

The City Museum is a zany, fun-filled place where imagination and surprises know no bounds, and inspiration blossoms where inner child and inner artist meet. Baffling architectural attractions are made of salvaged materials—including old chimneys, pieces of bridges, and construction cranes—that were gathered from all over St. Louis. This fun and funky museum invites visitors to explore caves, walk through a life-size whale, be in a circus, zoom down a 3-story slide, or climb through giant slinkies.

St. Louis University Museum of Art
3663 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63108

The St. Louis University Museum of Art offers some of the finest collections of art available in the midwest, with permanent works from Andy Warhol, Tom Huck, Max Ernst and others.

The World Aquarium
701 N. 15 th St., St. Louis, MO 63103

The World Aquarium, home to more than 10,000 creatures, is a new development provided by the St. Louis Children's Aquarium. The spacious layout and informal atmosphere prompts kids to play and enjoy the learning experience. All exhibits are sized so that adults and children can view them together.