As we woke up, it was brought to my attention by the ‘Weather Channel’ that it was to be 109F (42C) and 65% humidity. That didn’t sound pleasant! We decided to try and stay indoors as much as possible today…
Morning
Standard breakfast and off out the door we went. The hotel we stayed in provided an airport shuttle which kindly dropped us off at the terminal connected to the train station so we could make our way into St. Louis.
The train journey in and out of St. Louis was long enough. We had booked to stay at the airport for ease with the onward flight. However, this extra travel was starting to take its toll. Megan was getting grumpy, so we let her entertain herself on the iPhone. The lady beside us was happy enough as she found a new game to download, thanks to Megan!
Due to the weather, we decided a day indoors was the way forward. St. Louis’ City Museum was our first pick for the day. We felt every bit of the sun and humidity as we walked to the museum. Not one person was seen as it was that warm at 10 am.
We didn’t know what to expect from the City Museum. However, on arrival, we soon realised this wasn’t any ordinary museum! It was chaos (in a good fun way.)
This museum isn’t the sort you walk around with your child at your side and look at the exhibits. This was a place for kids to run free and enjoy themselves. Megan was disappearing down rabbit holes below our feet and appearing 20 feet above our heads a few seconds later.
Thankfully, you could buy a beer in the museum. It was the only way my nerves were going to settle and stop me from repeating “Where is she?” every ten seconds. Thankfully there were no tourists from outside of the USA, so when we shouted “Megan!” it wasn’t hard to pick up her shouting back in her Northern Irish accent.
The initial plan of staying indoors and cool wasn’t working. Megan returned, beetroot red and boiling. A Slushie wasn’t enough to cool her down, so she went with a coke and Slushie combo. Parenting at its finest!
Megan had a great couple of hours exploring the museum. We could have spent a lot longer, but time waits for no one. We left and made our way in the direction of the Mississippi for a riverboat tour.
Afternoon
It was getting hotter and more humid. Megan was losing it big time as we walked down the road. We decided to call into a restaurant for something to eat and cool down in the air conditioning. I didn’t get its name and can’t find it on google, but it was a Mexican, and the food was beautiful.
While the riverboat tour didn’t look too far, it was too warm to walk the entire distance, so we got an Uber. When I say this I mean part of the way, the driver said it would take him forever to get to the riverboat, so we were better to get out at the Arch and walk. We didn’t save much time out of the sun on that drive!
After about 15 minutes of walking, we finally arrived at the jetty for our tour. Several tours were leaving, so the jetty was very busy. Everyone was crowded around the only fan to get some cold air. The topic of “Swamp butt” came up and this intrigued Megan so much that she asked for my phone to use google for a minute…
The original plan was to sit on the upper deck and enjoy our time on the river. However, like most people sitting indoors was the preferred option, so we grabbed a seat close to the air conditioning and sat back with a beer as the boat pulled out.
We love a good boat tour, and this one was no exception. The boat took us along the river in both directions. We heard the story of St. Louis and how it has developed over the years and got to see the area from a different perspective.
Evening
Unlike us, we had nothing planned for this evening. We headed to the hotel for a FREE drink during happy hour, but we missed that by one minute. Instead, we went to Megan’s favourite BBQ next door and had a lovely meal.
The weather was starting to turn, and a storm was heading our way. We spent the evening looking out the window for some lightning. However, we saw none. We watched a movie, and all went to bed exhausted. I guess with the amount of travelling we have done, an early night was the best thing for us.
Today was the hottest and most humid weather we have experienced. An absolute fortune was spent on water to keep us healthy and hydrated. Our next two places Nashville and Vegas are only going to be hotter :-(.
Thanks for taking the time to read about us travelling across the USA.
The Lewis family.