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St. Louis Laughs

Lots Of Fun Attractions To See In Gateway City

Fidget and Shadow lumber along to the delight of admirers at a behind-the-scenes visit to the St. Louis Zoo.

I came. I saw. I stepped onto a Segway. But not before I got a new driver's license!

The folks at the St. Louis Science Museum, where the Segways hang out, insisted on it.

All they had to do was take my picture (it was wonderful, in the way that all such photos are), and give me a training session.

Among the other stand-up scooter newbies in my group, I was a bit slow. But eventually, I got the hang of how to stand, how to lean, how to use the handlebars, how to get on and -- most importantly -- how to get off.

Soon I absorbed these skills and was on my way to explore a bit of Forest Park, a 1,293-acre park that is about 500 acres larger than New York's Central Park.

This was a lot of fun, and just the first adventure in a four-day visit to St. Louis.

Next it was on to Magic House, a children's museum. The day was winding down on the day of my visit, so most of the real kids were on their way out the door with their real parents.

Still, there was time to put on a purple paint apron and create a work of art.

I asked the adult on duty for advice.

"I just say 'Use your imagination,'" he said.

So I did.

Carefully, I swiped three green arcs across a sheet of white paper (think stems), followed with blobs of red, blue and orange tempera (think blossoms). They were not in a vase. They just hung in space.

Perhaps the most successful part of this exercise was that I got only one stray red smear on the white paper, and only one red smear on me.

In the construction area, I played with white plastic tubes and pondered the principles of pipefitting.

Time ran out before I could climb into the giant sandbox. (Just as well. The adult in me does not like sand in her shoes and socks.)

Magic House is expanding. A 25,000 sq. ft. addition is under construction, with a public opening Dec. 14. New features are to include a light-filled Victorian conservatory, more gardens and new exhibits.

Kids of all ages like ice cream, so we invariably gravitated to Ted Drewes iconic ice creamery, where the flavors have zany names -- Fox Treat, Dottie, Terramizoo (a reference to the University of Missouri) and dozens more.

Some us succumbed to Cardinal Sin -- a concoction of rich vanilla ice cream, decadent chocolate syrup and succulent red cherries (in reference to a cardinal's hat).

Another popular spot is the Missouri Botanic Garden, the oldest public garden in the United States, which celebrates its 150th birthday next year.

The 79-acre Garden highlights themed children's play areas; Japanese, Chinese, English and German gardens; a geodesic dome sheltering a tropical rainforest featuring endangered species; and ponds where you can feed the carp. A tram helps you get around to see it all. Artistic spaces include the Milles Sculpture Garden, with seven light-footed bronze figures flitting about, and four glorious glass installations by Dale Chihuly.

Forty colorful sculptures created by Niki de Saint Phalle will continue to populate the Garden through Oct. 31. Playful eye-poppers include buxom females in bodacious swimwear, a trumpeter in a jazzy coat and a menagerie including lions, serpents, an alligator and a cat. The Missouri History Museum is a user-friendly institution -- accessible, entertaining and fascinating. Historical characters from early-day St. Louis come to life in 20-minute programs in the galleries.

Here's an example:

"I must tell you, you would not like the fur trade," says Marie Therese Choteau, as portrayed by museum staff member Elizabeth Picard.

"You must be willing to trade with the English!" she adds. On their own, kids can play old-fashioned games and try on old-time costumes.

A special exhibition "Lee and Grant," through Sept. 14, tells the story of Lee and Grant's professional and personal lives in St. Louis prior to the Civil War. Maps, correspondence, household items and tools are on display.

At the end of the exhibition, some visitors, including a young visitor named Sara, expressed their opinions in a book.

"I liked this exhibition and wished I had more time to spend. "I am not so fond of history, but I like looking at art and the clothes."

The St. Louis Museum of Art is a work of art in itself -- inside and out -- and its galleries are a visual feast. There's everything from George Caleb Bingham's "Jolly Flat Boatmen in Port" to Monet's water lilies to Max Beckman's German Expressionism.

Among the museum's areas of noteworthy depth are pre-Columbian art, ancient Chinese bronzes and European and American art of the late 19th and 20th centuries. A number of tours, including family tours, are available. Admission to the Museum of Art is free.

St. Louis is famous for its zoo and for former director Marlin Perkins and his Wild Kingdom TV program (which many of us watched as children).

Try to allow a full day for the zoo, which includes some 800 species and more than 18,000 animals -- everything from prairie dogs and peacocks to snow leopards and lowland gorillas.

Penguin and Puffin Coast is a popular hangout for Humboldt, rockhopper, gentoo and king penguins and for horned and tufted puffins. It's also popular with visitors. A Behind-the-Scenes visit with the penguins (available to the public) was the highlight of my zoo experience.

Our small group collectively swooned over penguins Fidget and Shadow.

Not to be missed are Fragile Forest, home to the big apes, and Hippo Harbor, another cool place.

Sleepovers are an option for those who don't get enough of the zoo during the day. But don't plan on much sleep. The animals like to let their hair down after hours.

Want to run away and join the circus? Start by taking instruction offered by St. Louis Circus Day Foundation.

But first, see the circus itself. The performers are a dozen or so children and youth (not professional in the commercial sense) who have come to the circus arts to learn skills in life itself.

The eclectic troupe performs juggling, acrobatics, contortions, balance acts, hoop diving and trapeze work with skill and Žlan.

After the circus was over, I tried juggling, walking a tight rope and balancing an upright peacock feather in my hand. I can tell you right now that I'm going to be keeping my day job.

The circus group performs at the eclectic City Museum, formerly a shoe company and warehouse. As a young man, Tennessee Williams worked here as a clerk.

City Museum is an attraction in itself -- something like a festival marketplace, with restaurants and shops, sort of a four-story art museum -- with mosaics on the floors and four giant fish mouths spouting water. Salvaged architectural and sculptural elements pop out everywhere. Extremely popular is a series of coils suspended in space through which kids clamber to assorted destinations, including an airplane high above the ground.

Machine rollers painted in every style and color form railings on staircases and a slide to slide noisily down.

"Does that hurt your backside?" I asked a little girl just hopping off the roller slide.

"A little, but not much," she replied bravely.

There's even a shoelace factory, which is a nice tie-in to the building's former use. Somehow all the varied elements make City Museum a cohesive whole. I found St. Louis to be a sprawling playground -- attractive to what might be called the swing set, but also to visitors who are young at heart.

And I'm not kidding about that.

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