Went with daughter and 3 school age grandchildren. We were checked in by a super friendly employee…read moreGrace. She helped put on all of our wristbands and then gave us a quick intro. We saw her later at the carousel , and she then found my 6 year old granddaughter who got "lost" going from one awesome climbing labyrinth to another floor! This museum is well worth the $ . We spent 5 and a half hours here! There are hidden tunnels and just fantastic places to slide and climb. 5 stars plus!!!

The city museum was THE BEST part of our trip to STL. We had 4 adults and 2 children, and the cost…read moreof tickets was low enough to ensure it's not burdensome, and many people can participate. We parked in the attached parking lot, which was card only and very convenient. I bought a locker and knee pads, which made the time here much better. I highly recommend these add ons. This place is more like a giant jungle gym than a museum. City Museum has climbing opportunities for adults, and I felt like a kid again. It gave me a sense of wonder and exploration. I recommend going outside in the morning while it's not too hot. A lot of the outside is metal and rebar. This area was very nice because I didn't feel claustrophobic outside. I know we must have missed a lot because each nook and cranny had more to explore. I'm sure there's some places I missed because I couldn't fit and some I just didn't see. I found out after we left that one area allows you to go under the floor. This museum is not a place where you should wear shorts or a dress. I recommend long pants. I tore my jeans on a rivet, and it would have cut me up in other clothing. We had 1 adult with us who was handicapped, and she wasn't able to stick with us at all. There are elevators but it is not disability friendly. Overall 10/10 would return.

Elsah is a darling little historical river town on the great River Road…read more Yes, it is the small town that is home to Principa College, but there is so much more in this little town. The narrow streets are filled with uniquely designed homes and businesses. While you explore the streets, you can also dine at State Street Market on LaSalle, shop at Peace Works and stopping at the Village Museum is a must. So the next time you are headed up to Grafton or Pere Marquette State Park, I recommend you do a slight detour and check out the Village of Elsah.

Darling little historical town between Alton and Grafton. Perfect for a photography trip. General…read morestore & museum are fun stops to make on your walk through the quaint, time capsule of a town. Overall a fun & charming place to visit!

This little-known and hidden museum is located inside the supposedly haunted Mineral Springs Mall…read morebuilding in downtown Alton. Some say it is fitting, as Alton is known to be one of the Top 10 haunted places in the United States. The building itself was a hotel that opened over a century ago, and several paranormal sightings have been reported over the years. You can kind of get the idea once you set the foot in the place. Its only five dollars admission, and you get to learn a lot about, well, ways people tortured people for centuries. First off, this museum is not for everyone. There are some offensive and disturbing parts here, as one would sense. This is basically for the open-minded, and for those who have a keen sense of history. The museum is a bit small, but there are several things that await the visitor. The woman who operates this museum has apparently done so much research and collected so many artifacts about the 'torture' subject. You can definitely tell she had an enjoyable time doing this! The weapons/chambers/photographs are accompanied by several materials that talk about how people were tortured. The first paragraph usually explains how the device operated, and the history behind when it was used (like what time period and what country/continent). The always controversial topic of slavery (in most countries of all periods of time) is also explained here. I'd rather not give away too much. You may find the subject on torture interesting! When reading these, I had to put myself in these people's shoes. Whether they were the victims, or the people who lived under one supreme ruler who frequently used the torture devices on the folks under them. Some of these torture methods are still being used today in some parts of the world, sadly. If you make a weekend trip to Alton, check this place out. Unfortunately, the museum is not open during the week, just on Saturday and Sundays. Be sure to check the hours.

$5.00! This museum is for those who love "campy" things. I enjoyed it, in a way that I enjoy…read morevisiting Graceland without being an Elvis fan. If you are into this kind of entertainment than this is for you. Leave the kids at home though. Lovely lady will answer all your questions, and she drives a hearse! How could you not enjoy her museum knowing these facts?!

Very interesting displays of soda beverages!!! Also, the…read morepinball machines in the lower kevel were great fun! The old building is beautiful.

Bizarre nostalgic throw-back to sugar laced time before corn syrup drenched mixes arrived…read more I met a friend and his granddaughter in the basement to play retro-arcade games for a ser price fo a few hours. Kid and teenager me would have loved it... the sarcastic 10 year old wanted board games to improve her experience. After considering- I agreed. I would add some chess and checker boards and a few other board games. Or a few Atari games... The epitome was the McDonald's $1 double cheeseburger sign. I asked to order it: they didn't have cheeseburgers, all things are more expensive and everything is not as healthy. I am not wishing for cocaine Coca-Cola or other "medicine" in Dr Pepper. $1.50 for a can of soda is a big jump for a corn syrup from the nickel advertising of a sugar sweet memory. The epitome of the place was playing shuffleboard with the 10 year old. I was trying to play with a sense of touch. She was playing with the idea of creating a highlight reel of knocking my pieces off. I beat her because the idea of the game escaped her. To look back at Asteroids was a shock. Realized that it was just black and white, 2 dimensional game with only a few buttons to control it. Overall I walked still a fan of the glossed over experience. I remember being a broke kid wanting to play unrealistic games to escape from reality. Now I wish for the sugar rush I used to have.

This is a small museum worth doing once…read more Both screenings were very good. The ghost screening seemed like a real actor, crazy how good it was. One gallery wasn't open. We toured the rest and took less than an hour to go through it.

The museum is 20 years old & is being renovated. The theater was closed…read more We started by walking through Lincoln's early years starting in his log cabin. We saw his law office. We moved through his campaign & debate. We visited his White House & we were in the midst of the turbulent times he faced. We ended in Ford's Theater, his funeral & tomb. I didn't realize that the funeral train took 15 days and more people saw him as a dead president then as a live candidate. We spent time admiring Lincoln's 40,000 artifacts. Here we saw his personal items, Mary's clothes, the Emancipation Proclamation, correspondences, The New hologram film from the library was beautifully done. The gift shop was enormous and fabulous.

Gorgeous mansion in a section of Quincy where you see a few blocks of absolutely gorgeous mansion-…read moretype homes that are amazingly maintained! Beautiful woodwork and furnishings. Some docent provided information, as well as self guided tour .

Beautiful place! Some original furniture & clothing pieces, other period pieces donated from…read morenearby. Very nice place to stop and learn some local history.

Museum is cute and I got a good deal on Groupon for my whole family. We happen to visit during the…read moreTom Sawyer festival which may the experience more fun. It's not accessible for wheels due to all the stairs, and some of the spaces are small, where you get to walk into the rooms; but it was a good place to cool down in the heat and learn about history and Tom Sawyer. I toddler did walk into the windows, a couple times that separate the historic items from the walk spaces, but he is fine. I definitely recommend a stop for anyone in the area to learned about Mark Twain in that time.

A different and very interesting look at the life of Mark Twain…read moreWhile visiting Hannibal, we decided to visit the Mark Twain Museum located just down the street and south of the Mark Twain Boyhood Home. I would definitely recommend seeing both because, even though they cover much of the same history, they present the life of Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, in very different ways. The Boyhood Home lets you actually walk through the places connected to his childhood while this museum, instead, uses a large number of well-done displays and interesting artifacts to tell the story of the different parts of his life. The exhibits take you from his early years and stories through his time working on Mississippi River steamboats and his travels overseas. They show many of these experiences eventually became part of his writing. There are some interesting and unique items on display that were important in his life, which helps make him seem like a real person rather than simply the famous author we know from his books. Be sure to go upstairs while you are there. There is some very nice artwork on the upper floor along with additional exhibits that would be easy to miss if you only looked around downstairs. We spent quite a bit of time going through the displays and found it to be an excellent companion to the Boyhood Home. Overall, it was well worth the visit and added considerably to our understanding of both Mark Twain and Hannibal. If you are interested in the author, his books, or American history, I would definitely recommend visiting both museums. After you're finished, I also highly recommend walking across the street to the chocolate shop for a treat. Enjoy!

Both a History of Benton and Franklin County History both Good and Bad Worth the entry fee.read more

This 1905 Franklin County Jail Museum is a very interesting walk through Benton's history…read more Featuring one of the last public executions in Illinois of Charlie Berger, this museum has original noose, weapons, newspaper articles and other historical documentation. When you walk into the house, you enter a beautiful, classic early 1900s home. A very welcoming home with reconstructed living room and kitchen. Prepare to be surprised! It is only when you near the back of the house that you find the white, rusted heavy iron door. Open this door and you enter a cold, dark realm that even Tim Burton couldn't recreate. Perhaps a hundred years for rusting and paint chipping contributes to the overall gloom. These are the prison cells that inspire modern day fiction. All the windows have bars. And the view from the outermost window is of the gallows. These gallows have been recreated in the position they originally stood. There are multiple rooms of cells which you can enter and take photos of. Don't use the toilets, though. They are a bit old. :) Escape back into the semblance of normalcy of the house and head upstairs to take in additional Benton history. The normal bathroom is up there: very clean. When the Beatles FIRST came to America, this is where they played. The museum curator stated that she was a young girl when they arrived: "We had no idea who they were...They weren't known in America at the time, but we all hurried to get a look. We didn't end up seeing them though." There is civil war paraphernalia and an autographed photo of town local John Malkovich. I highly recommend this location! The curator is very knowledgeable and friendly. The location is a few miles off the nearby highway.

A visit to St Louis wouldn't be complete without a visit to the art museum. With free admission,…read morethis is an absolute gem and revered establishment. Parking is free, and VERY crowded around the museum. Occupancy was nearly 100% (both in parking lot and lining the street) on a Monday at 11am! I was lucky to get a spot just as someone was leaving. I returned today and enjoyed 18th century Europe, some Roman artifacts, Egypt, and the coin collection, to name a few. Every time you visit, you will discover something new, or re-discover something you haven't paid attention to previously. For example, the coin collection informed me that coins originated in Turkey. If I recall correctly, their Turkish coins on display were from the 1st century B.C.

I'm not from the St Louis area but this is still my second visit to the St. Louis Art Museum. This…read moreis truly a premier art museum with a diverse variety of exhibits, including an outdoor sculpture gardens. It's located in beautiful Forest Park and the views of the park from the front entrance are great. The building itself is an architectural gem. We spent over 2 hours here and only scratched the surface.

Great experience!! Super interesting artifacts & the interactive exhibits were so neat. Definitely…read morerecommend!

I never knew this place was here. My kiddos truly enjoyed this amazing little gem! This is total…read moremust see! There is a video that you watch at the end of the tour and it is hands down incredible. When the young lady was telling us stories, I got goosies and tears in my eyes. I have even more respect for Astronauts and now my youngest son wants to join the Space Program.