Zoo and Science Center— FREE?? And Gold Mine = St. Charles, MO

Way to go St. Louis for publicly funding the zoo and science center!  They were better than comparable things in Salt Lake, and FREE!  And actually the weather was a little chilly but perfect for the zoo- the animals were lively.

We all love elephants!

And penguins!

Emma bought a stuffed giraffe with her souvenir money, and introduced it to the real giraffes.

Now pause the zoo for Science Center pictures:

We found this map with our next trip on it!  Eclipse 2024!!

 There were some really fun interactive exhibits 

Emma with the gorillas, there was a cute baby one. and Maris with the elephants.

Probably the coolest animal experience we have ever had- this bear was super friendly and wanted to come right up to us!

And then Whitney had her Spirit Animal moment!! There were literally 50 people crowding around trying to see this bear, and it spend a solid minute just with Whitney!

They seriously bonded, it was, as Whitney would say, Precious!

talking and connecting with a Grizzly Bear!

Emma with the elephants, and an awesome butterfly.

Also we found several GEMS across the river from our hotel, in St. Charles. 

First, this Calzone place, Sauce on the Side.....?!!?? SO good. 

Then we randomly stumbled upon this store....and fell in love!!

Buff City Soap is now me and Whitney's favorite.

We also went to this amazing Nacho place in St. Charles, Elevated Nachos, it was really good! They had delicious dessert nachos too. And this pic of Eric is from a Shake place we stopped at the first night- they had a shake called the Rico El Suave!

A different day in downtown- this incredible BBQ place!!!

And last but not least, enjoying the Missouri river shore, and sunset at a lake near our hotel.  We sought out sunshine anytime we could, as a break from the coldest spring ever in Utah!