Great Balloon Race

Every Sept. there's the Great Balloon Race in Forest Park. This is the night before the race. It's become another crowd pleaser when they light the balloons for the Balloon Glow.

They haven't had it by any of the pools in quite awhile. It's still a neat scene, but not quite the same without the reflections.

Science Center

This use to be the planetarium in Forest Park. Now it's connected to the Science Center, via a walkway over Highway 40, and acts as a museum, of sorts, for air travel throughout the ages.

Across I-64 and connected by a walkway over the highway to the "planetarium", is the Science Center.  It has over 750 exhibits and is over 300,000 square feet.  It is among the largest of its type in the country.  According to the Association of Science and Technology Centers, it is one of the top 5 science centers in the United States. The first building, the Planetarium, opened in 1963. In 1991, a major expansion increased the size of the facility seven-fold, adding a main building and Omnimax theater across Interstate 64 from the Planetarium.  Admission to the Science Center is free, although there is a fee for parking by the main building (not by the planetarium) and for special exhibits and the Omnimax shows. 

One of the permanent exhibits is the life like dinosaurs.

They also have special exhibits from time to time, such as the very popular Star Trek exhibit.  It was interesting seeing the Trekkies show up in costume!

You can even have your wedding there!

Forest Park

 
Another of our Gems of St. Louis is Forest Park. It officially opened to the public on June 24, 1876 and is one of the largest urban parks in the United States. At 1,293 acres, it is approximately 500 acres larger than Central Park in New York. Within the park is a world class zoo, golf courses, fishing ponds and fish hatchery, ice rink, tennis courts, bike paths, gardens, ponds, museums, and much much more---most of which are free atractions within the park:

Science Center

Great Balloon Race

Jewel Box

Korean War Memorial

 Art Museum

Walking around the park

St. Louis Zoo

Post-Dispatch Lake

World's Fair Pavilian on Government Hill

The Muny

Missouri History Museum