On Saturday morning we had to get the big boys off to the basketball facility, which was about 20 minutes away from the hotel. That meant a 40-minute drive back into the city--not ideal, but not the worst thing considering there could have been traffic or something on top of that in a lot of cities. Luckily Craig and Jacob were able to get rides from teammates over the course of the day, so we were free to pack our day full and come get them after the last game in the evening.
Carter and I headed into the city toward the Missouri Botanical Garden, which was hosting a Chihuly exhibit! I was so excited when I realized it overlapped with our trip there. At first when I saw it posted I was like, oh, that would be cool to see, but it took half a second for me to realize I was probably going there, and another half a second to realize it was opening a couple weeks before we were supposed to be there! After that, I was desperate to make this trip work!
Our arrival didn't go as smoothly as I'd hoped. I noticed that the streets were parked pretty full as we entered the area, and then we got into the parking lot and it was clear this was going to be a challenge. The lot was full with lots of cars circulating. It was almost impossible to be first in line to get a spot that was opening up, but we tried for a while. I was getting really frustrated--we didn't have a ton of time to squeeze in our two activities for the day, so I started worrying we'd run out of time if I didn't find something soon. Finally I pulled my phone out and Googled alternate parking, and sure enough, there were two lots down the road. I have no idea why they didn't have signage or people directing us there, but that would have been helpful. It meant a little more of a walk, but only a little over a block, and we really had no choice!
We finally got in, and this beauty greeted us!
The nearby greenhouse had pieces very similar to what was in the greenhouse at the Biltmore exhibit in 2018.
The gardens themselves were beautiful even without a Chihuly piece in sight.
But as usual, the Chihuly pieces were so beautifully nestled into the plants.
You know you have a good kid when he volunteers to sit on the bench without you asking!
I wish we would have had more time to check every single flower and garden, but the botanical garden looked HUGE on the map and I was worried enough about getting through it all in a timely manner. But I couldn't help but check out these multicolored roses!
These floats were just so playful!
And I always love the boats, and this one was so lovely!
A closer look...
We wandered through the iris garden quickly and saw this beauty.
This is, of course, The Sun! It was so stunning!
There was a Bavarian garden, and once again Carter thought we needed a selfie outside the little chalet!
I feel like I've seen reeds like these everywhere, but there were a lot here!
I loved these blue and green ones because of their little spiral on the top!
These reeds were in the zen garden. I loved the raked sand around them. It was appropriately peaceful.
These were across the way. They were beautiful and so big!
Further ahead there was a koi pond with a bridge full of feed dispensers. They were giant and swarming around the bridge!
I was happy I brought my real camera if only because I could zoom in on the most perfect lily pad flower ever.
This float boat was so beautifully placed with the bridge in the background.
Again, a closer look...
This one was in the boxwood garden. If you look close, there are polka dots on the white pieces. When the sun shone through them they were extra pretty.
The Chinese garden had these. Note the extra shiny ball clusters on the far right.
I wish this picture did justice to how pretty the flowers were at the base of this one. They were so colorful!
This succulent garden was amazing.
We loved this cute little raccoon fountain!
They had some sheep artwork that was meant to be sat on (a sign said so), so of course Carter hopped on!
There was a large domed greenhouse back near the front and we finally got to go in. There were giant plants in there, towering over Carter!
There were a few of these scattered among the plants.
It took me a while, but I finally noticed this chandelier high above everything.
Once again, the colors of the macchia were so beautiful!
These were in a giant bed of succulents, but there were others in what looked like swamp sludg. But I think it may have been a different plant that just looked like the top layer of swamp.
Of course Carter had to go into the tree!
I had been looking forward to seeing this one. The Chihuly social media pages posted a picture of this one and I was obsessed with the colors. So bright and beautiful!
Back outside there was a desert-scape where the Chihuly pieces fit perfectly.
Inside another smaller building were pieces like this.
Hanging from the ceiling there were cool, rainbow-colored neon pieces. They looked a little like fireworks. I would have loved to see them at night lit up. I'm hoping they post some night photos--and at least now I'll be able to appreciate where everything is!
...and then we were off to City Museum...with a lunch detour! I couldn't find much in the area so we settled on Arby's, but then along the way we went past a Raising Cane's Chicken! That was the place I had tried when we were in Joplin and I knew Carter would love it, Texas toast and all, so we went through the drive-thru, got our lunch, and ate along the way to the museum. Worked out perfectly! We parked in the lot to take a couple last bites--turns out there was a cheaper one on the other side (arg) but given the time constraints, I was eager to get in and start checking out the museum so I had to let it go! We had a museum to conquer, although I think it conquered us a little too! But it ended up being one of the coolest, craziest, most unexpected places I have ever been to, and it needs at least one post to cover all that we did. Stay tuned!
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