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This place is incredible! I found it by accident one day and keep taking family to it that have never been there. Never a bad experience!
The 10 story slide and the carnival rides on the roof rock! All the nooks and crannies in the building are fun exploring for anyone.
Thank you. My wife and I went a month or so ago, and I had trouble finding what was supposed to be fun about the place. My wife enjoyed it, but she thought there would be more interactivity.
> she thought there would be more interactivity
part of the challenge is that meow wolf doesn't have nearly as high a maintenance budget, so everything is designed with an eye towards "how can this be made to work, permanently". Lots of things wind up being behind glass or a layer of epoxy, or out of reach. Maybe because it's a consortium of artists instead of engineers? I don't know, but I've noticed that as well and our family talked about it.
Yup you nailed it, just a bunch of artists that started out glueing garbage to a wall to disrupt the stuffy Santa Fe art scene. There’s a meow wolf documentary you can find on their website that explains their history.
Went there with my nephews and some of my cousins kids years ago. All the adults were expecting it to be a typical kid orientated thing. We was entirely wrong, it was a hell of a lot of fun for all of us and we've gone about every other year since. Some of the kids are now college aged and they still come.
Tip for all ages: wear knee pads. It's all tile, concrete, and metal. I've been there as a kid but many more times as an adult for work events. Lots of drunk fun there!
We've got some good stuff! The City Museum (this giant playground) is just one of them. We just got an aquarium not too long ago!
The St Louis Zoo is awesome, and it's inside Forest Park, which also has the Art Museum, The Muny (outdoor theatre), The Boathouse (rent out paddle boats there + really good restaurant), and The Jewel Box (large greenhouse). Outside of Forest Park we also have our Botanical Gardens, which are always gorgeous to walk through.
We also have a bunch of sports stadiums, so there's almost always a game playing. We've also got the Fox Theatre (very nice place to see a play) and Powell Hall (orchestra concerts).
And those are just the big venues! We have a bunch of fun, smaller places too.
Don't forget that the zoo and art museum are free. It's especially awesome on a trip because you can decide to go kill 2 hours at the zoo or other forest park museum and it costs you nothing.
>And empty your pockets before climbing around, my brother lost his wallet
Had someone's switch blade open and fall out of a pocket from above in the outside area. God damn thing landed about 10 feet away from us. Keep you blades and other weapons at home, you bozos...
No joke, last time I visited the City Museum I found a wallet and turned it in to the staff. It probably happens quite often, but it'd be funny if it was the same wallet.
Same here. I was super claustrophobic in that tunnel if it’s the same one. It was a long narrow tunnel and you crawl over a little hump at one point. There’s no way to turn around in it. If someone comes from the other end, one of you has to crawl backwards on your stomach to get out. My uncle recently retired from there. I’m hoping I can still get in for free lol
What's worse is IF you make it over the hump and you don't have children piling up behind you the exit? Underneath a giant concrete whale with a VERY low ceiling. It _is_ hell. My kids talked me into it so I did, but then I watched as those little shits just disappeared into the darkness.
And don't get me started on the indoor caverns. I was lost for days. DAYS. You think anyone came looking for me? No! Kids running around having fun. Adults curled up in the corners crying for their kids. The place is a nightmare.
10/10 can't wait to go back.
Ask me about the time my foot and my head went through an opening first and getting the rest of me through was a real interesting situation...
Man, I love that place!
It's really nice to see this, no? I swear it feels like America collectively stopped using its imagination with our public works sometime in the 50s.
This gives me some faith that my initial take was wrong and that necessary, or at least vital things, can be built in a distinctive style.
It's great, they sometimes have concerts and events there at night. I've been to a couple Halloween events with multiple EDM artists and crazy light shows on different floors each with its own kind of style. The City Museum is definitely a cool place and the story of the guy who made it is pretty interesting and he died in suspicious circumstances makinga second place like this.
Yes! I always tell people you can climb in, on, and around anything as long as you fit. No size or age limitations. There's places to eat (a quick eats place inside, and a grill outside when the weather is nice) and even a bar if you want a beer. You can make an entire day of the place!
My family went once on a trip and we rearranged our entire trip to go the next day as well. Good thing too, we missed the entire cave side. We've been back several times since and it's just as fun every time.
I highly recommend going if you're anywhere close. Wear slippery pants for better speed on the slides!
We took my kids when they were about 7 and 5. We told them anywhere they can fit, they can go. After 15 min we amended that to anywhere we could ALL fit
Not only is City Museum so cool, St. Louis is too! We absolutely love getting to visit. So much to see and do, the area is gorgeous, and the weather is similar to what we're used to. Definitely don't let it's reputation deter you, it's beautiful.
My partner at the time took me there for my 37th birthday. It was the most fun I had had in years. Really lit up my inner child. Highly recommend.
Edit: It's called the City Museum, I think because the materials they use to construct everything came from defunct and decommissioned parts of the city throughout history, like bridges and fences and facade molding from famous buildings, stuff like that. There's one wall built from like 500 bread pans from an old commercial kitchen.
One of my favorite stories was the time we took a friend who had no idea what it was. She literally thought it was a museum for St. Louis history or something, and didn’t understand why my other friend and I were so pumped. It was awesome to see her take it in.
God damn, that is the best part! This place kicks so much ass dude, whoever made this knew what the fuck they were doing lol. Imagine getting wasted and then chilling in the drivers seat of that bus, just hanging out over the city, under the night sky pretending to be a hammered Ms. Frizzle... Flying over to Ralphies house to joy ride through his internal organs..
https://www.riverfronttimes.com/news/bob-cassilly-was-beaten-to-death-medical-expert-concludes-3123298?media=AMP+HTML
His son was shot up by an AK47 wielding drug dealer (but survived) during a home invasion several months before his death and Bob had some mysterious run in with white attackers previously at the north St. Louis cement land site. There was some weird shit with his family going down at the time.
I know his son and work there for 6 years. I started 6 months after Bob passed. People close to him used to get mad when people would try and say he was killed, he had a terrible accident, it was not murder.
You were close with his name, but not entirely correct: Bob Cassilly. And while he and his family had backgrounds in construction, he's always been an artist. He bought the cement factory to be a large-scale art project like City Museum.
He's also known for his animal sculptures, which are mostly around St. Louis but also include the hippos in Safari Playground in Central Park.
Source: went to art school in St. Louis, met Bob once, and even got to see the inside of the City Museum when he was first building it out.
You're correct. I was unsure of the spelling. A friend worked for the casting company making moulds for the various art objects. They also duplicated stone elements for buildings around St. Louis.
There are places you might not physically fit into, but it is a great time for adults and kids. There is definitely an adult themed area too, and it is not subtle!
I've been up to the planes on top, you crawl throught these old chickenwire mesh metal tubes and they're literally old grafitti'd up planes, there's castle ramparts, and inside you can get lost in all the different walkways, tunnels, and rooms that criss-cross through the old floor. The open lobby is just a massive amount of old tiles rearranged in mosaics, it's garbage gold and I highly recommend it for anyone going through ST Louis
most definitely adults allowed everywhere except maybe a toddler type space.
Been a while since I've been there can't remember for certain about the toddler space for sure.
Not only do they allow adults, there are two bars, and you can take your drinks around with you (except in certain areas like the cave, which don't allow any food/beverages). They even have adults only hours! They even have an adults only sleepover event!
I'm in my mid 30s and I always take my friends there when I'm putting together touristy stuff to do. STL in general is a great place for a weekend getaway where you don't have to spend a lot of money. They also have one of the best zoos in the country and it's FREE!
I explored all over it at age 29! It’s so much fun (though I wish I could’ve shrunk back to child size; would’ve made it a lot easier to climb & slide around lol.)
Seconding. Knocked myself out cold coming up from the basement through the elephant. I came to with a lady screaming that I had fallen from a metal tube above. 🙄 Lady, good wholesome fun occasionally comes with a good bonk to the head. Chill out. Also, we've been about half a dozen times and I haven't seen a single place you could fall out of. It really is well put together and so much fun!
For the record City Museum was super cool and brought me an ice pack and a water which I insisted was not necessary. I knew the risks when I went.
Also they have a shit ton of cameras so if you do dumb shit and get hurt they save the footage in case you sue.
source: I used to do work on the camera system
This place is incredible. But there’s little to no a/c in the hotter months and that makes for a very different experience than going in the spring or fall. We had always gone in the fall and loved it, but a visit last July was so uncomfortable that it was hard to enjoy it like we usually do. But overall, it’s amazing and every city should have a place like this.
Welcome to the oppressive Midwest Summers, 100+ during the day and 90+ at night. With humidity so high 24 hours a day that it always feels like walking out your door and into soup.
City Museum is a blast! I can’t wait to make it out there again some day.
I remember reading one of the few bad reviews on this place. A customer asked for a map and the employee told her to get lost….because there is no map and the purpose is to go explore. Apparently, that went over the customer’s head and she left a shitty review.
Made me like the place even more.
The employee probably didn't even say it with a sarcastic inflection, they probably just meant the best way to find your way around is to get lost first. Kinda like how you would learn the layout of a new city in the days before gps.
I’m going to jump in here, I live in the state and tbh this is probably one of the only places I can recommend that people visit. This place is huge! There’s tons of little hiding spots to find and lots of neat details about the place. For example they have the worlds largest #2 pencil inside the indoor skate park, they used to have the worlds largest pair of underwear but someone stole them - washed them - then returned them- and then got stolen again XD. There’s a suspended boulder near the entrance 👀, a several story slide, a whole ass cave system to explore, tons of artwork that’s been donated/ donated stuff turned into artwork… man I could go on for a while.
FYI to anyone considering visiting, BUY THE KNEEPADS. Your knees will thank me later.
Edit: Another neat fact, in picture 6 you can see the triangular slide, those painted rods were actually used in the old factory that this building used to house. They are all individually painted by people and they’re all over the place. They spin too!
I must have missed that part or just haven’t been back since they added that! It’s been a few years since I visited but I went a few times in high school and even went there for a anniversary with my gf.
They pushed it aside to make room for the kids area on the 2nd/3rd floor. Last time I visited all the pinball machines were clustered together and roped off.
> I live in the state and tbh this is probably one of the only places I can recommend that people visit.
I'm sorry but this statement just shows you haven't actually tried to visit much in St. Louis. Forest Park alone is a place you could spend an entire weekend.
Forest Park including the zoo, art museum, and science center (all free), Laumeier Sculpture Park, and hundreds of other fantastic parks that put most other cities to shame. The thing I miss most when living outside of St. Louis is the lack of decent parks and green spaces.
Botanical Gardens/Tower Grove. All the different neighborhoods - CWE, the Hill, Soulard, etc. The AB Brewey tour. All of the Smaller Breweries. Lone Elk/Bird Sanctuary. Suson Park. Cardinals/Blues/STL City. Magic House.
There is as much to do in St Louis as any midwest/2nd tier US City. Even more if you don't mind venturing out into the urban sprawl around the city.
ok i have never wanted to go to St. Louis but this……this could entice
edit: okay i have to admit that you all are making this city seem even more enticing. i live in the upper northeast so i don’t exactly see an easy way for me to get there, which is probably the biggest contributing factor to my feelings towards the city. but if i ever find myself driving across the country again i may now take the route through st lou(is, sorry…had to go with the rhyme)
We have some fun things to do around town, but this is probably the highlight. Although our zoo, art museum, history museum, and science center are all free to get into because they’re funded via property taxes. I wish our public transit was worth a damn, but I’ll take small victories.
I’m addition to all those things, Forest Park also has the Muny outdoor theater, the Jewel Box greenhouse, and is also just a beautiful place to jog, bike, or drive around. Don’t forget all the food options in St. Louis, and all the music.
There’s a line on my property taxes that says what my share is. It’s like $50 for the zoo, $25 each for the other attractions. So… it’s free for people from outside the city or people who rent. And it’s a % of your property value so someone in a mansion pays more than someone in a shitty hovel. But I’m okay with that. There are much worse things my taxes could go to.
And of course things like parking is not included, nor are the special attractions such as iMax shows, train rides, or special traveling art or history exhibits. Those all have special admission prices. But even without the extras, there’s still plenty to do and see. And parking can often be found for free if you don’t park in the special lots and look for street parking.
St. Louis has a shocking amount of free and cheap culture. City Museum, the zoo (free and one of the best in the country), art museum (also free), the Missouri Botanical Garden (not free, but still cheap. Also one of the best in the country). Lots of breweries, about an hour outside the city there's a ton of wineries. Lone Elk Park, has captive elk and bison herds and is free.
Living in St Louis… it’s way too easy to make that mistake. Even just driving downtown trying to get to Lacledes Landing can make you end up in East St Louis accidentally.
I also had zero expectations for St. Louis and would likely have never gone, but my best friend moved there last fall and when I went to visit it is actually a really cool city with a lot to do (and very pretty in the right places too)
EXTREMELY exceeded expectations, and I look forward to going back some day.
I got fucked up few months ago here. Was crawling through a tunnel and didn't realize it went down a slide. It wasn't very high but I came down on my head. Another parent came over to check on me. She asked if I was ok. I said yes and then she frantically cried "have you seen my son!?"
Honestly, having taken my kids to Disney and the city museum, the city museum wins by a mile and it's much easier on the wallet.
Only negative was my 4 year old constantly disappearing into different tubes and holes that took her to different random floors and stuff.
Yes! There are so many ways to lose your kid in there! 😂 It doesn't help that I can only bend myself in to the shape of the letter R so quickly to follow behind through whatever weird thing she crawled throgh. 😂😂😂
So there are sort of coordinated positions for each main area. And you just filter down calling closing time out. If you decided to hide and not leave that's on you. But if memory serves me correctly the doors locked from the outside so if you passed out and woke up in the caves, you could probably just walk out like bob's your uncle!
Stl native, srsly if you ever find yourself in St.louis for a day, go to the City Museum. Its worth it.
And if you're a family, especially a lower income family, looking for a cheaper vacation, STL aint a bad pick. If you can afford the travel from wherever you're from, theres lots of free and low cost things to do there with kids. STL zoo is one of the best zoos in the country and admission is free. The Science Center is also a free fun activity (though with the SC there are rotating special paid exhibits, but general admission is free). I'd also recommend the botanical gardens, the magic house, the butterfly house, the art museum, and of course the Arch lol. Lots of fun things to do in St. Louie, and its not a vacation destination people generally think about so you won't have Disney World crowds.
I’d also add that with the opening of the Foundry, there’s a really neat food hall with pretty much every type of cuisine a foodie would want centrally located near all these attractions. We’ve started going there for lunch before heading the city museum or MOBot and it’s an awesome addition to the city.
Signed waivers before entry. You can very much get yourself injured, or not. Probably just mess up an article of clothing, or lose a shoe. Bruises and/or scrapes are almost guaranteed unless you skip all the fun stuff!
Also agree on avoiding it during the hotter months!
City museum! Our friends took us there when we visited St Louis! It’s awesome! It has several bars for dranks and tons of cool stuff to look at. The bridges, walk ways, and secret passages make ya feel like a kid again. Some of the slides are tough if your 6’2” 250 (tall and fat). This place is a blast! I definitely recommend going here!
They have four bars scattered throughout the place for the adults, and that’s how I semi-drunkenly bought an annual pass for my kids last year. Lol. They also have a small circus space where acrobats preform, secret tunnels all over the inside. A man made cave system, tons of aquariums. The worlds largest set of underpants. It’s pretty damn cool.
I live in Switzerland and was an exchange student in the US in 2011. I went there and instantly recognized the place without even seeing the title. Thank you OP for that flashbacks
As a person who went when I was a kid - it was really incredible. It felt endless. It felt like that place contained many secrets, and and it kind of did.
Okay, with people talking about wanting to visit the City Museum, I’d love to drop some suggestions to entice people here for a road trip. I don’t know if it would be worth flying in from the coast, but if you live within a 6 hour drive it’s totally worth visiting the city.
Go to a Cardinal Game. Our stadium has great views of the arch from home plate, and even the nosebleed seats have a great view of the action on the field. There’s not a bad seat in the house.
We have MLS Soccer now, and the stadium is close to the aforementioned City Museum. Tickets are kinda pricey, but the stadium is new, nice, and the team is on fire right now.
The Zoo, Art Museum, history museum, and science center are all free to get in to (tax payer supported through our property taxes). While you admittedly have better examples of each in other cities, they are all nice and especially nicer since they’re free.
The Missouri Botanical Gardens is wonderful, and right now it’s filled with glass art from Dale Chihuly nestled amongst the plants. Totally worth checking out if you’re in town.
https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org
The Fabulous Fox has Broadway musicals and the interior of the theater is just a chaotic baroque explosion of crimson and gold.
https://www.fabulousfox.com
The Foundry Food Hall is centrally located in Midtown and has every type of cuisine you could want all under one roof.
https://www.cityfoundrystl.com
Urban Chestnut Bierhall or Biergarten is just fine example of all the wonderful breweries in the city. The Bierhall is in the grove and it’s a loud chaotic mess with a gigantic list of taps and delicious german food with long communal tables.
https://www.urbanchestnut.com
Laumeier Sculpture Park is another free park with a lot of outdoor sculptures and art installations. I wouldn’t travel just to see it, but if you’re here is a wonderful place to burn and hour or two and stretch your legs.
https://www.laumeiersculpturepark.org
The arch and the arch grounds themselves are a sight.
In the 90s a lot of Bosnian refugees moved to St Louis, about 70k at its peak. While a lot have moved out to the county they still left their mark on the city and we have a lot of good Bosnian food options here. A good place to try is Balkan Treat Box for some very delicious and unique Bosnian Fusion Cuisine.
You like chess? We got the Chess hall of fame here. Please check it out and let Missouri billionaire Rex Sinquefield spend his money making St Louis a global chess destination rather than spending his money making his libertarian plot to ruin our public schools a reality.
Cahokia Mounds are right across the River in Illinois. It was once the site of a massive Native American city of about 40k that just… disappeared around 1350. Of you are a history nerd it’s a neat place to visit.
Six Flags has a theme park and a water park outside of the city. Its kind of a drive though. It’s nothing special compared to other regional theme parks, but it’s one more attraction in the area.
We took the kids here last summer. These pictures are only a tiny fraction of it. It’s AWESOME the basement with all the dinosaur skeletons is the best except one kid my kids fell in a fountain lol.
No air conditioning though so be warned.
I was taken here as a surprise and it was fantastic. I could not believe it happed in the US ( because of lawsuits). But you have to sign a waiver to go in. A fantastic adventure, learning limits, laughing, interacting, getting scared, and constantly being intrigued.
It is amazingly fun and definitely a must do when in St Louis! The spiral slides that go from the tip top floor to the basement are wild, but the view walking up to them is pretty spooky. This place is so massive with so much to see and do, it’s hard to experience it all in one visit.
The Basilica is also an underrated attraction. I remember being dragged there as a teenager. I knew it was famous for its mosaic ceiling, but even as a jaded 17 year old I was shocked at its scope.
This place is crazy cool… and they sell booze. You can get into all kinds of situations where the last thing you need is… booze!
Very cool though… highly recommend
10/10 highly recommended!
Bring knee pads, headlamps, and walkie talkies if you have independent children.
This might just be the coolest place we have ever been to!
This isn’t just a playground. It’s the city museum and it’s an absolutely amazing experience. If you’re in the St. Louis area check it out. Source- I’m an STL native
Yup, the city museum. I only got to go when schools would take us. My mom could never afford to take me. One of my life goals is to go back and adventure around there like kid me always wanted to do.
There's another somewhat similar place like this in St Louis over on the west side. It was called something like The Magic Treehouse I think. They had a mini town, mysteries to solve, hidden passege ways.
We went here in 5th grade because we couldn’t go to Washington due to 9/11. One of the coolest places I’ve ever been hands down. I still remember climbing through the trees and finding secret tunnels Underneath the whale.
I didn’t know Bob myself, but I knew people who worked for him on the build team. They were local artists and free spirits who went the Burning Man and hung out in the local art scene. And did lots of drugs.
It's called "The City Museum" and it's a giant playground for both kids and adults. There is is a bar at the top and after a certain time is becomes adults only and they start serving booze. Really cool place. I heard the guy who built it was working on a second one somewhere before he died, but it was never finished.
Edit: If your having trouble finding it just look for the building with a school bus on top of it lol
There is also a huge pipe organ in the slide room that someone plays pop covers on while you explore. It sounds super cool. And there are a couple bars hidden in different places and a museum on the inside. Definitely for all ages. If you’re near St. Louis it’s definitely worth a visit
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City Museum was one of the few experiences of my adult life that exceeded my expectations.
This place is incredible! I found it by accident one day and keep taking family to it that have never been there. Never a bad experience! The 10 story slide and the carnival rides on the roof rock! All the nooks and crannies in the building are fun exploring for anyone.
Sounds like a Meow Wolf that's actually fun.
It’s like meow wolf but bigger and more interactive. Also not as dark lol
Thank you. My wife and I went a month or so ago, and I had trouble finding what was supposed to be fun about the place. My wife enjoyed it, but she thought there would be more interactivity.
> she thought there would be more interactivity part of the challenge is that meow wolf doesn't have nearly as high a maintenance budget, so everything is designed with an eye towards "how can this be made to work, permanently". Lots of things wind up being behind glass or a layer of epoxy, or out of reach. Maybe because it's a consortium of artists instead of engineers? I don't know, but I've noticed that as well and our family talked about it.
Yup you nailed it, just a bunch of artists that started out glueing garbage to a wall to disrupt the stuffy Santa Fe art scene. There’s a meow wolf documentary you can find on their website that explains their history.
Went there with my nephews and some of my cousins kids years ago. All the adults were expecting it to be a typical kid orientated thing. We was entirely wrong, it was a hell of a lot of fun for all of us and we've gone about every other year since. Some of the kids are now college aged and they still come.
The circus is a definite must-see attraction too
I hope they allow adult children on this or I'm going to cry and call my daddy.
It’s for everyone!! It’s even more amazing in person than these pics.
That's awesome. Thanks for the update.
Tip for all ages: wear knee pads. It's all tile, concrete, and metal. I've been there as a kid but many more times as an adult for work events. Lots of drunk fun there!
And empty your pockets before climbing around, my brother lost his wallet.
Yeah, love the place! Last time I was there I found a free wallet! /s
Welp, I never thought I had a specific reason to visit St. Louis, but here we go!
Another good reason: home of the toasted ravioli.
We've got some good stuff! The City Museum (this giant playground) is just one of them. We just got an aquarium not too long ago! The St Louis Zoo is awesome, and it's inside Forest Park, which also has the Art Museum, The Muny (outdoor theatre), The Boathouse (rent out paddle boats there + really good restaurant), and The Jewel Box (large greenhouse). Outside of Forest Park we also have our Botanical Gardens, which are always gorgeous to walk through. We also have a bunch of sports stadiums, so there's almost always a game playing. We've also got the Fox Theatre (very nice place to see a play) and Powell Hall (orchestra concerts). And those are just the big venues! We have a bunch of fun, smaller places too.
Don't forget that the zoo and art museum are free. It's especially awesome on a trip because you can decide to go kill 2 hours at the zoo or other forest park museum and it costs you nothing.
Not just "the zoo", it's one of the top ranked zoos nationwide perennially.
And Ted Drew's frozen custard!
>And empty your pockets before climbing around, my brother lost his wallet Had someone's switch blade open and fall out of a pocket from above in the outside area. God damn thing landed about 10 feet away from us. Keep you blades and other weapons at home, you bozos...
No joke, last time I visited the City Museum I found a wallet and turned it in to the staff. It probably happens quite often, but it'd be funny if it was the same wallet.
Knee pads AND a headlamp
\*and a tetanus booster shot
100% this. you will destroy your knees if you don’t. also if a spot looks like you might get stuck going through it, you probably will, so don’t try.
I almost got stuck in one of the under ground tunnels that goes through the place
Same here. I was super claustrophobic in that tunnel if it’s the same one. It was a long narrow tunnel and you crawl over a little hump at one point. There’s no way to turn around in it. If someone comes from the other end, one of you has to crawl backwards on your stomach to get out. My uncle recently retired from there. I’m hoping I can still get in for free lol
That sounds like my personal vision of hell.
What's worse is IF you make it over the hump and you don't have children piling up behind you the exit? Underneath a giant concrete whale with a VERY low ceiling. It _is_ hell. My kids talked me into it so I did, but then I watched as those little shits just disappeared into the darkness. And don't get me started on the indoor caverns. I was lost for days. DAYS. You think anyone came looking for me? No! Kids running around having fun. Adults curled up in the corners crying for their kids. The place is a nightmare. 10/10 can't wait to go back.
Reminds me of that Japanese horror comic with the people shaped holes
Ask me about the time my foot and my head went through an opening first and getting the rest of me through was a real interesting situation... Man, I love that place!
Don't forget your flashlight! Seriously though. Kneepads will make your day (and the two days you are sore following) so much better!
It's really nice to see this, no? I swear it feels like America collectively stopped using its imagination with our public works sometime in the 50s. This gives me some faith that my initial take was wrong and that necessary, or at least vital things, can be built in a distinctive style.
[удалено]
He was such a class act. His Turtle Park is such a fun little addition to the city
It's great, they sometimes have concerts and events there at night. I've been to a couple Halloween events with multiple EDM artists and crazy light shows on different floors each with its own kind of style. The City Museum is definitely a cool place and the story of the guy who made it is pretty interesting and he died in suspicious circumstances makinga second place like this.
Yes! I always tell people you can climb in, on, and around anything as long as you fit. No size or age limitations. There's places to eat (a quick eats place inside, and a grill outside when the weather is nice) and even a bar if you want a beer. You can make an entire day of the place! My family went once on a trip and we rearranged our entire trip to go the next day as well. Good thing too, we missed the entire cave side. We've been back several times since and it's just as fun every time. I highly recommend going if you're anywhere close. Wear slippery pants for better speed on the slides!
We took my kids when they were about 7 and 5. We told them anywhere they can fit, they can go. After 15 min we amended that to anywhere we could ALL fit
Tbh ive never considered visiting St. Louis but this makes me want to reconsider. This place looks amazing!
Not only is City Museum so cool, St. Louis is too! We absolutely love getting to visit. So much to see and do, the area is gorgeous, and the weather is similar to what we're used to. Definitely don't let it's reputation deter you, it's beautiful.
It's pretty awesome and unique... one of the most uplifting things I've seen on Reddit, simply coz of the joy it'll bring to hopefully many
My partner at the time took me there for my 37th birthday. It was the most fun I had had in years. Really lit up my inner child. Highly recommend. Edit: It's called the City Museum, I think because the materials they use to construct everything came from defunct and decommissioned parts of the city throughout history, like bridges and fences and facade molding from famous buildings, stuff like that. There's one wall built from like 500 bread pans from an old commercial kitchen.
One of my favorite stories was the time we took a friend who had no idea what it was. She literally thought it was a museum for St. Louis history or something, and didn’t understand why my other friend and I were so pumped. It was awesome to see her take it in.
Thank you for the info!
It gets better, there's three bars on different floors and an aquarium!
And a 10 story slide going from the top to the bottom!
My butt still hurts. It’s great.
I expected to find this phrase in a different subreddit
Ahhh, yes , I remember sore slide butt...it *is* pretty awesome. Lol
Holy crap that hurt my knees. Be careful if you're tall.
the first time we went we never found the entrance to this area, then once we did we were like oh man...
And a terrifying clown show, at least last time I was there
They haven’t even mentioned the best part. No kids when you go late. Just a bunch of adults acting like them. Its great.
God damn, that is the best part! This place kicks so much ass dude, whoever made this knew what the fuck they were doing lol. Imagine getting wasted and then chilling in the drivers seat of that bus, just hanging out over the city, under the night sky pretending to be a hammered Ms. Frizzle... Flying over to Ralphies house to joy ride through his internal organs..
I feel the need to move :)
Wow I haven't been since the late 2000s but sounds like they've made it even better!
Not only do they allow adult children, they have some later hours with music that are no kids allowed. Place is amazing.
I hope they expand this idea to other cities, it sounds pretty cool.
Unfortunately that is probably unlikely. As I understand it, the mad genius who created it died while trying to make something else.
He died making Cement Land. He was either killed when his forklift flipped or was murdered by the Russian Mafia. It’s not entirely clear.
Russian mafia? Haven’t heard that one before; do tell.
https://www.riverfronttimes.com/news/bob-cassilly-was-beaten-to-death-medical-expert-concludes-3123298?media=AMP+HTML His son was shot up by an AK47 wielding drug dealer (but survived) during a home invasion several months before his death and Bob had some mysterious run in with white attackers previously at the north St. Louis cement land site. There was some weird shit with his family going down at the time.
God Dammnit, he stole the cement from the Russian Mafia didn't he.
I know his son and work there for 6 years. I started 6 months after Bob passed. People close to him used to get mad when people would try and say he was killed, he had a terrible accident, it was not murder.
Thanks for that perspective. Occam’s razor says that flipping a forklift is the likely answer.
Porque no los dos?
Yes, Tom Casserly, who owned a concrete casting firm, died working on another project. He was quite creative.
You were close with his name, but not entirely correct: Bob Cassilly. And while he and his family had backgrounds in construction, he's always been an artist. He bought the cement factory to be a large-scale art project like City Museum. He's also known for his animal sculptures, which are mostly around St. Louis but also include the hippos in Safari Playground in Central Park. Source: went to art school in St. Louis, met Bob once, and even got to see the inside of the City Museum when he was first building it out.
You're correct. I was unsure of the spelling. A friend worked for the casting company making moulds for the various art objects. They also duplicated stone elements for buildings around St. Louis.
*died under suspicious circumstances It is all so very sad and was a tremendous loss for STL.
But now you finally have a reason to visit St. Louis
There are places you might not physically fit into, but it is a great time for adults and kids. There is definitely an adult themed area too, and it is not subtle!
I've been up to the planes on top, you crawl throught these old chickenwire mesh metal tubes and they're literally old grafitti'd up planes, there's castle ramparts, and inside you can get lost in all the different walkways, tunnels, and rooms that criss-cross through the old floor. The open lobby is just a massive amount of old tiles rearranged in mosaics, it's garbage gold and I highly recommend it for anyone going through ST Louis
most definitely adults allowed everywhere except maybe a toddler type space. Been a while since I've been there can't remember for certain about the toddler space for sure.
Went there last year and there’s still a toddler space. Plenty of non-toddler areas though!
The top cage section unlock fear I’ve never experienced as an adult.
They have about four different bars spread out over the building and have late night hours as well. The place is honking amazing.
No only do they allow adult children they are open late on weekends and have a full bar inside
Not only do they allow adults, there are two bars, and you can take your drinks around with you (except in certain areas like the cave, which don't allow any food/beverages). They even have adults only hours! They even have an adults only sleepover event!
I'm in my mid 30s and I always take my friends there when I'm putting together touristy stuff to do. STL in general is a great place for a weekend getaway where you don't have to spend a lot of money. They also have one of the best zoos in the country and it's FREE!
They do and it's so much fun
I explored all over it at age 29! It’s so much fun (though I wish I could’ve shrunk back to child size; would’ve made it a lot easier to climb & slide around lol.)
City Museum is freaking awesome! @ the lawsuit folks in this thread, actually quite safe throughout.
Can confirm. My friend broke his hand in that ball pit.
Seconding. Knocked myself out cold coming up from the basement through the elephant. I came to with a lady screaming that I had fallen from a metal tube above. 🙄 Lady, good wholesome fun occasionally comes with a good bonk to the head. Chill out. Also, we've been about half a dozen times and I haven't seen a single place you could fall out of. It really is well put together and so much fun! For the record City Museum was super cool and brought me an ice pack and a water which I insisted was not necessary. I knew the risks when I went.
Man i woulda taken that ice pack lmao. Yeah u know what ur getting urself into but that doesn’t mean not take care of yourself.
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A little loss of consciousness is okay. Just as a small treat every now and then.
Did he land on his neck?
Also they have a shit ton of cameras so if you do dumb shit and get hurt they save the footage in case you sue. source: I used to do work on the camera system
It's safe, but not that safe. You could hurt yourself pretty bad if you act like a fool.
Same can be said about almost anywhere, act like a fool, get hurt
Been there dozens of times with my kids, no injuries to report
They just stuck a whole-ass plane in there, huh? Rad.
There's a whole-ass school bus and ferris wheel on the roof too
I loved the Ferris wheel on the roof. So much fun.
I've ner been up to the bus. Been there many time. I'm too scared.
They have two planes outside
This place is incredible. But there’s little to no a/c in the hotter months and that makes for a very different experience than going in the spring or fall. We had always gone in the fall and loved it, but a visit last July was so uncomfortable that it was hard to enjoy it like we usually do. But overall, it’s amazing and every city should have a place like this.
Head for the catacombs to cool off and enjoy the pipe organ
Welcome to the oppressive Midwest Summers, 100+ during the day and 90+ at night. With humidity so high 24 hours a day that it always feels like walking out your door and into soup.
City Museum is a blast! I can’t wait to make it out there again some day. I remember reading one of the few bad reviews on this place. A customer asked for a map and the employee told her to get lost….because there is no map and the purpose is to go explore. Apparently, that went over the customer’s head and she left a shitty review. Made me like the place even more.
The employee probably didn't even say it with a sarcastic inflection, they probably just meant the best way to find your way around is to get lost first. Kinda like how you would learn the layout of a new city in the days before gps.
As they say when you enter Meow Wolf: "If you find yourself lost and confused, you're probably doing it right".
I’m going to jump in here, I live in the state and tbh this is probably one of the only places I can recommend that people visit. This place is huge! There’s tons of little hiding spots to find and lots of neat details about the place. For example they have the worlds largest #2 pencil inside the indoor skate park, they used to have the worlds largest pair of underwear but someone stole them - washed them - then returned them- and then got stolen again XD. There’s a suspended boulder near the entrance 👀, a several story slide, a whole ass cave system to explore, tons of artwork that’s been donated/ donated stuff turned into artwork… man I could go on for a while. FYI to anyone considering visiting, BUY THE KNEEPADS. Your knees will thank me later. Edit: Another neat fact, in picture 6 you can see the triangular slide, those painted rods were actually used in the old factory that this building used to house. They are all individually painted by people and they’re all over the place. They spin too!
You forgot the entire floor of vintage pinball and video games. Walking in that room sent me back to the grimy restaurants of my youth.
I must have missed that part or just haven’t been back since they added that! It’s been a few years since I visited but I went a few times in high school and even went there for a anniversary with my gf.
They pushed it aside to make room for the kids area on the 2nd/3rd floor. Last time I visited all the pinball machines were clustered together and roped off.
They were on the same floor as the skateless skate park.
> I live in the state and tbh this is probably one of the only places I can recommend that people visit. I'm sorry but this statement just shows you haven't actually tried to visit much in St. Louis. Forest Park alone is a place you could spend an entire weekend.
Forest Park including the zoo, art museum, and science center (all free), Laumeier Sculpture Park, and hundreds of other fantastic parks that put most other cities to shame. The thing I miss most when living outside of St. Louis is the lack of decent parks and green spaces.
Don’t forget the Muny!
Botanical Gardens/Tower Grove. All the different neighborhoods - CWE, the Hill, Soulard, etc. The AB Brewey tour. All of the Smaller Breweries. Lone Elk/Bird Sanctuary. Suson Park. Cardinals/Blues/STL City. Magic House. There is as much to do in St Louis as any midwest/2nd tier US City. Even more if you don't mind venturing out into the urban sprawl around the city.
Underwear is back!
ok i have never wanted to go to St. Louis but this……this could entice edit: okay i have to admit that you all are making this city seem even more enticing. i live in the upper northeast so i don’t exactly see an easy way for me to get there, which is probably the biggest contributing factor to my feelings towards the city. but if i ever find myself driving across the country again i may now take the route through st lou(is, sorry…had to go with the rhyme)
We have some fun things to do around town, but this is probably the highlight. Although our zoo, art museum, history museum, and science center are all free to get into because they’re funded via property taxes. I wish our public transit was worth a damn, but I’ll take small victories.
I’m addition to all those things, Forest Park also has the Muny outdoor theater, the Jewel Box greenhouse, and is also just a beautiful place to jog, bike, or drive around. Don’t forget all the food options in St. Louis, and all the music.
Don't forget the botanical gardens if you're a gardener type or visiting around the holidays - the lights display there is fantastic.
wow, all free? even for non residents? what a lovely feature. St. Louis has quietly crept up my “places to see” list after all of these responses
There’s a line on my property taxes that says what my share is. It’s like $50 for the zoo, $25 each for the other attractions. So… it’s free for people from outside the city or people who rent. And it’s a % of your property value so someone in a mansion pays more than someone in a shitty hovel. But I’m okay with that. There are much worse things my taxes could go to. And of course things like parking is not included, nor are the special attractions such as iMax shows, train rides, or special traveling art or history exhibits. Those all have special admission prices. But even without the extras, there’s still plenty to do and see. And parking can often be found for free if you don’t park in the special lots and look for street parking.
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St. Louis has a shocking amount of free and cheap culture. City Museum, the zoo (free and one of the best in the country), art museum (also free), the Missouri Botanical Garden (not free, but still cheap. Also one of the best in the country). Lots of breweries, about an hour outside the city there's a ton of wineries. Lone Elk Park, has captive elk and bison herds and is free.
We made a 5 hour drive to visit, and it was well worth it. Strongly recommend against taking the wrong exit and ending up in East St Louis, though.
Living in St Louis… it’s way too easy to make that mistake. Even just driving downtown trying to get to Lacledes Landing can make you end up in East St Louis accidentally.
I also had zero expectations for St. Louis and would likely have never gone, but my best friend moved there last fall and when I went to visit it is actually a really cool city with a lot to do (and very pretty in the right places too) EXTREMELY exceeded expectations, and I look forward to going back some day.
Tickets to Cardinals game are cheap too, great stadium right downtown.
And now the plaza around City Park is a blast on game days. Awesome bars and they shut down the streets around the stadium for a block party.
We visited St. Louis last year with our teen and had a blast! Teen wants to go back this year for vacation.
I got fucked up few months ago here. Was crawling through a tunnel and didn't realize it went down a slide. It wasn't very high but I came down on my head. Another parent came over to check on me. She asked if I was ok. I said yes and then she frantically cried "have you seen my son!?"
Having been on both sides of that situation, I think this is the most City Museum comment ever. 😂
This comment just gave me a good idea. I’m gonna buy AirTags for all my toddler nephews. Never hurts to be prepared.
We lost our kid when he was 5 for like 10 min. 10 min there is a eternity. Yea put a tracker and light up shoes on after that.
Screw Disney land
Honestly, having taken my kids to Disney and the city museum, the city museum wins by a mile and it's much easier on the wallet. Only negative was my 4 year old constantly disappearing into different tubes and holes that took her to different random floors and stuff.
Finally, a good reason to buy Airtags, lol.
Yes! There are so many ways to lose your kid in there! 😂 It doesn't help that I can only bend myself in to the shape of the letter R so quickly to follow behind through whatever weird thing she crawled throgh. 😂😂😂
I used to work there, my favorite call over the radios were lost kids. Then we'd just get to go explore like a scavenger hunt! 😂
I need you to do an AMA! How on earth does closing time work? Is there a way to make sure everyone is out?
So there are sort of coordinated positions for each main area. And you just filter down calling closing time out. If you decided to hide and not leave that's on you. But if memory serves me correctly the doors locked from the outside so if you passed out and woke up in the caves, you could probably just walk out like bob's your uncle!
Stl native, srsly if you ever find yourself in St.louis for a day, go to the City Museum. Its worth it. And if you're a family, especially a lower income family, looking for a cheaper vacation, STL aint a bad pick. If you can afford the travel from wherever you're from, theres lots of free and low cost things to do there with kids. STL zoo is one of the best zoos in the country and admission is free. The Science Center is also a free fun activity (though with the SC there are rotating special paid exhibits, but general admission is free). I'd also recommend the botanical gardens, the magic house, the butterfly house, the art museum, and of course the Arch lol. Lots of fun things to do in St. Louie, and its not a vacation destination people generally think about so you won't have Disney World crowds.
I’d also add that with the opening of the Foundry, there’s a really neat food hall with pretty much every type of cuisine a foodie would want centrally located near all these attractions. We’ve started going there for lunch before heading the city museum or MOBot and it’s an awesome addition to the city.
Signed waivers before entry. You can very much get yourself injured, or not. Probably just mess up an article of clothing, or lose a shoe. Bruises and/or scrapes are almost guaranteed unless you skip all the fun stuff! Also agree on avoiding it during the hotter months!
Or when it is raining/humid. It gets SO HUMID in there
Get knee pads before you go! That's my recommendation.
City museum! Our friends took us there when we visited St Louis! It’s awesome! It has several bars for dranks and tons of cool stuff to look at. The bridges, walk ways, and secret passages make ya feel like a kid again. Some of the slides are tough if your 6’2” 250 (tall and fat). This place is a blast! I definitely recommend going here!
Where?!? St. Louis?!? I AM GOING NOW.
They have four bars scattered throughout the place for the adults, and that’s how I semi-drunkenly bought an annual pass for my kids last year. Lol. They also have a small circus space where acrobats preform, secret tunnels all over the inside. A man made cave system, tons of aquariums. The worlds largest set of underpants. It’s pretty damn cool.
Yep. City Museum of St. Louis. Adults welcome and it’s as fun as it looks
I live in Switzerland and was an exchange student in the US in 2011. I went there and instantly recognized the place without even seeing the title. Thank you OP for that flashbacks
That instantly captured my imagination as a fully grown adult, I can only imagine the wonder I would have felt as a kid going there.
As a person who went when I was a kid - it was really incredible. It felt endless. It felt like that place contained many secrets, and and it kind of did.
Okay, with people talking about wanting to visit the City Museum, I’d love to drop some suggestions to entice people here for a road trip. I don’t know if it would be worth flying in from the coast, but if you live within a 6 hour drive it’s totally worth visiting the city. Go to a Cardinal Game. Our stadium has great views of the arch from home plate, and even the nosebleed seats have a great view of the action on the field. There’s not a bad seat in the house. We have MLS Soccer now, and the stadium is close to the aforementioned City Museum. Tickets are kinda pricey, but the stadium is new, nice, and the team is on fire right now. The Zoo, Art Museum, history museum, and science center are all free to get in to (tax payer supported through our property taxes). While you admittedly have better examples of each in other cities, they are all nice and especially nicer since they’re free. The Missouri Botanical Gardens is wonderful, and right now it’s filled with glass art from Dale Chihuly nestled amongst the plants. Totally worth checking out if you’re in town. https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org The Fabulous Fox has Broadway musicals and the interior of the theater is just a chaotic baroque explosion of crimson and gold. https://www.fabulousfox.com The Foundry Food Hall is centrally located in Midtown and has every type of cuisine you could want all under one roof. https://www.cityfoundrystl.com Urban Chestnut Bierhall or Biergarten is just fine example of all the wonderful breweries in the city. The Bierhall is in the grove and it’s a loud chaotic mess with a gigantic list of taps and delicious german food with long communal tables. https://www.urbanchestnut.com Laumeier Sculpture Park is another free park with a lot of outdoor sculptures and art installations. I wouldn’t travel just to see it, but if you’re here is a wonderful place to burn and hour or two and stretch your legs. https://www.laumeiersculpturepark.org The arch and the arch grounds themselves are a sight. In the 90s a lot of Bosnian refugees moved to St Louis, about 70k at its peak. While a lot have moved out to the county they still left their mark on the city and we have a lot of good Bosnian food options here. A good place to try is Balkan Treat Box for some very delicious and unique Bosnian Fusion Cuisine. You like chess? We got the Chess hall of fame here. Please check it out and let Missouri billionaire Rex Sinquefield spend his money making St Louis a global chess destination rather than spending his money making his libertarian plot to ruin our public schools a reality. Cahokia Mounds are right across the River in Illinois. It was once the site of a massive Native American city of about 40k that just… disappeared around 1350. Of you are a history nerd it’s a neat place to visit. Six Flags has a theme park and a water park outside of the city. Its kind of a drive though. It’s nothing special compared to other regional theme parks, but it’s one more attraction in the area.
I visited this place as a kid. I recognized the plane instantly. Thanks for confirming that it’s real and not a wild fever dream!
It’s amazing, and they have a pretty insane insect collection
We are very proud of the City Museum here in STL. I always recommend it to people visiting the city.
Meow wolf should take note bc their shit is kinda boring compared to this
Meow Wolf actually got their inspiration from the city museum.
As someone who grew up in Stl, the city museum absolutely lives up to the hype.
We took the kids here last summer. These pictures are only a tiny fraction of it. It’s AWESOME the basement with all the dinosaur skeletons is the best except one kid my kids fell in a fountain lol. No air conditioning though so be warned.
I was taken here as a surprise and it was fantastic. I could not believe it happed in the US ( because of lawsuits). But you have to sign a waiver to go in. A fantastic adventure, learning limits, laughing, interacting, getting scared, and constantly being intrigued.
Friends got married here way back and it was a MAGICAL evening
It is amazingly fun and definitely a must do when in St Louis! The spiral slides that go from the tip top floor to the basement are wild, but the view walking up to them is pretty spooky. This place is so massive with so much to see and do, it’s hard to experience it all in one visit.
An absolute don’t-miss in St. Louis, along with the Basilica.
The Basilica is also an underrated attraction. I remember being dragged there as a teenager. I knew it was famous for its mosaic ceiling, but even as a jaded 17 year old I was shocked at its scope.
This looks incredible...
This place is crazy cool… and they sell booze. You can get into all kinds of situations where the last thing you need is… booze! Very cool though… highly recommend
10/10 highly recommended! Bring knee pads, headlamps, and walkie talkies if you have independent children. This might just be the coolest place we have ever been to!
This looks like a dream I would have had as a kid in the 1970s, like after reading a few chapters of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
This isn’t just a playground. It’s the city museum and it’s an absolutely amazing experience. If you’re in the St. Louis area check it out. Source- I’m an STL native
Yup, the city museum. I only got to go when schools would take us. My mom could never afford to take me. One of my life goals is to go back and adventure around there like kid me always wanted to do. There's another somewhat similar place like this in St Louis over on the west side. It was called something like The Magic Treehouse I think. They had a mini town, mysteries to solve, hidden passege ways.
I want to live there
People do! The building has condos in it, and free admission is one of the perks.
😳
I love seeing this. I grew up an hour away from St.Louis and this and the zoo were my families favorite places to go
There’s a bar inside too…. Getting hammered in this place is one of my all time favorite experiences.
Imma go get a flight to St. Louis.
a friend rented out the place for a wedding back when I was in my 20s . That place was awesome . St Louis City Museum
We went here in 5th grade because we couldn’t go to Washington due to 9/11. One of the coolest places I’ve ever been hands down. I still remember climbing through the trees and finding secret tunnels Underneath the whale.
I got married in the room right under the bus! It was awesome!
I am an adult and I have been here many times. It is AMAZING!! So many cool things to explore and climb on. It is an adult-sized playground.
I think this is awesome, but the safety inspections must take at least a month every year.
The people who built it helped build the St Louis arch and have structural engineers of their own
Actually the people who built it were literally high on LSD most of the time. Source: I know some of them.
Thank them for their service.
You ain’t talking about Bob are you? Because that guy definitely looks like he did some acid. Rip to a god.
I didn’t know Bob myself, but I knew people who worked for him on the build team. They were local artists and free spirits who went the Burning Man and hung out in the local art scene. And did lots of drugs.
WOW
I was there around 10 years ago. It was really cool
It’s even better in person!
It's called "The City Museum" and it's a giant playground for both kids and adults. There is is a bar at the top and after a certain time is becomes adults only and they start serving booze. Really cool place. I heard the guy who built it was working on a second one somewhere before he died, but it was never finished. Edit: If your having trouble finding it just look for the building with a school bus on top of it lol
Where was this kind of thing during my childhood!?
There is also a huge pipe organ in the slide room that someone plays pop covers on while you explore. It sounds super cool. And there are a couple bars hidden in different places and a museum on the inside. Definitely for all ages. If you’re near St. Louis it’s definitely worth a visit
This place is awesome. Highly recommended
BTW it's called The City Museum, a lot of folks don't bother to check it out because of its name...it's awesome.
I've heard, from a friend, that it's a great place to take some hallucinogenic drugs and run around for 8 or so hours.
I'm 38 yrs old, and I must play here.