What is there to see in Missouri and Illinois?
I absolutely love St. Louis and the surrounding area. There is so much to see.
Laumeier Sculpture Park
This park is free and open all day from 8am until 30 minutes after sunset. There are many sculptures scattered about the green hills. You can walk amongst them or walk the many trails throughout the park.
There were many people here enjoying the vibe of the park and appreciating multiple artists work.
Limited workshops are available to purchase at specific dates and times. You can check out the calendar here if you’re interested.
Meramec Caverns
Meramec Caverns are phenomenal. It’s a huge area with zip lines, river boat tours, camping, hotels, kayaks, and of course, the caverns. If you follow the road to the end, there’s a ton of parking available in front of the Caverns. You can purchase tickets online or at the site. The line to get in is first come first serve, even if you have a specific time. Tours leave about every 15 minutes.
After giving your ticket to a guide, they will take you through the caves. I don’t want to give too much away…so I’ll just say that there are some pretty fun surprises! There are ramps and handrailings the whole way, and one section of stairs that you have the option to skip. The cave formations were breathtaking.
Crushed Red in Kirkwood
We past this nice area on our way to the caves, and decided we needed to eat lunch here on the way back. Neither of us were sad about this decision. The Yukon gold steakhouse pizza was one of a kind. I loved the, “this pear is on fire” salad. Though, if I could live today over again I would have gotten more spiced pear and no bacon. We ate outside and enjoyed every second.
Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site
This was a great little stop to think about the past. The civilization that lived here, and left very little behind, was the largest pre-columbian settlement north of Mexico. The park has a few grassy Mounds on either side of the road and a reconstructed time apparatus known as woodhenge. The visitor center explains a lot of what scientists know (and speculate) about the people that lived here long ago.
You can take stairs up one of the Mounds and get a good look at the surrounding area.
Horseshoe Lake
This lake is a ten minute drive from the Mounds, so we had no choice but to see it. It’s apparently a great fishing, kayaking, biking, camping and hiking spot, but we just drove around so as not to get eaten by mosquitoes. This is an oxbow lake that used to be connected to the Mississippi a long time ago.
Missouri is a gorgeous state. We’re sad we will be leaving it tomorrow, but are grateful for the memories!
Those sculptures looked so wild! Hopefully one day I can contribute a piece.