By living in the same place your whole life you sometimes forget how great your city can be. Take the time to get out and explore the city you live in. My sister and her boyfriend came back to visit after a year in Alaska and she wanted to show him around the town she grew up in. They came to town just in time to experience new places added to St. Louis. Recently a new restaurant, an aquarium, and a ferris wheel opened up to the public. I was fortunate enough to be able to take off work and explore these new places with my family. Fashion for these two days needed to be comfortable because we were walking a lot but I still wanted my outfits to be fashionable for all the photo opportunities. I wore a lot of my Christmas gifts for these outfits to be honest. The jeans, teddy jacket, and hat were all gifts that I couldn't wait to wear.
First Stop: The St. Louis Arch
For as long as I have lived in Missouri I have only been on arch grounds maybe two times, zero times that I actually remember because I was too young. I didn't know that there was a museum inside with the history of the city and the arch. There were multiple rooms with different years that I walked through with my dad learning about the history of the city and how the arch came to be. While my sister and her boyfriend went up into the pod inside the arch my mom, dad, sister, and her boyfriend went outside to take photos. My sister's boyfriend took all of my photos and I loved how they turned out. It was a very beautiful day. It's hard to believe that it was December in Missouri and I was walking around in short sleeves and jeans. Once they were done inside the arch they came down to meet us to take some more photos and then head to lunch.
Second Stop: The St. Louis Zoo
The zoo is one of my favorite places to go in the summer and fall. I love animals and the St. Louis zoo is the best zoo that I have been to. During the winter the zoo has Christmas lights set up that people can come see after the sun sets. I have never been to the zoo lights before so this was fun to experience. The temperature outside dropped quite a bit so I added a teddy coat to my outfit. It was very crowded in the zoo for this event but we were still able to see everything. I'm just happy the penguin house was sill open because that is one of my favorite parts. The lights and decorations that the zoo put together were amazing and it was cool to see. My boyfriend joined us after he was done with work and it was nice to have this experience with him and we were able to get some cute photos together.
Third Stop: The Wheel
Heights are not my thing so I experienced this tourist attraction from the ground. I stayed on the ground with my mom and dad while the rest of the family rode the ferris wheel. I was expecting them to be gone for a shorter time than they were. They got to go around about 5-7 times which was a good amount for the price. I was cold standing and waiting because I thought it was going to be a warm 45 degrees but I was mistaken it was quite chilly. Luckily there were standing heaters placed all around so that people could stay warm. I did wear the same jeans as the day before but they were super comfy okay. This day I paired them with a long sleeve crop shirt, adidas shoes, and a scarf that my sister's boyfriend's mom let me borrow for the day since it was cold. It was really cool to see the wheel all lit up a night time.
Fourth Stop: The Soda Fountain
This was a new restaurant that opened up at Union Station. It was still opening week but we somehow didn't even think that the wait time to eat there would be absurd. We went there after we finished up at the wheel to check-in and they said the wait would be 2 hours... 2 HOURS!! We were all already hungry so that didn't bode well for anyone. However, my little sister really wanted to eat there so we added our name to the list and kept exploring Union Station. The Soda Fountain also has a candy store inside which we walked around in for a little bit. By the time we ate there it had been 3 hours and it was almost time to head to the aquarium because we had bought tickets for a certain time. Luckily, the food came out very quickly after we ordered it. I ordered a fried chicken sandwich with a side of fries. The food was really tasty. They also has crazy milkshakes that have a lot of added things on top like cupcakes or cinnamon rolls. My sister and her boyfriend got one to split. I'm glad we were able to see what all the hype was about this new restaurant in our city.
Fifth Stop: The Aquarium
After we finished our lunch/dinner we headed to the aquarium to get in line. Once our time came we were able to enter the aquarium. A large group of people were ushered into this one room that had amazing animations all over the ceiling and walls. After standing there waiting for other people to come in we were then moved to another room that they said was a "train." My mom was freaking out because she didn't know what was happening and didn't want to get on a train. Spoiler alert there was no real train and we just sat on benches that mimicked a train and watched a video about Union Station. I couldn't watch most of the video because it gave me motion sickness but I'd imagine it would be cool for little kids. The best part of the aquarium was the part where you could pet sting rays. I could've stood there with the sting rays all day and night. There were some cool interactive machines that taught you more about all of the fish and species inside all of the tanks. I wish there was more to see at the aquarium but it was really cool to have one in the city that I grew up in.
All in all it was a great two days in the city with my family. We got to experience a lot of things in two days and we had lots of family time that was needed after not seeing my sister for so long. I hope you all take time to explore your city and spend time with your families.