We got a bit of a late start today. Josh and I shot a wedding yesterday in Washington, MO, so we got home pretty late. I was hoping to be on the road by 10 am, but I didn’t even get up until 10 am, so that was pretty much not possible. We finished packing, loaded up the car, picked up the kiddos, and headed to Quik Trip. It’s kind of become our little family tradition to make a pit stop at our Quik Trip before heading out of town.
We finally got out of town, and drove, and drove. The drive went SO slow… I think it’s because we made the drive to St. Louis on Friday and then back home Saturday night. We made pit stop after pit stop for potty breaks and finally decided to stop at Nostalgiaville. We pass it every time we drive through St. Louis, and today, we decided we had to go.
We didn’t even know what Nostalgiaville was, but we were tired of seeing the roadside signs 
For the record, it’s a gift shop full of memorabilia from the 50′s & 60′s… think Betty Boop, I Love Lucy, Coca-Cola, etc. We looked around for a bit and then got back on the road.
We rolled up in St. Louis about 6 pm and decided to head to the Gateway Arch. You may remember that the last time we visited the Arch, it was freezing outside and the kids were not having it. We walked around outside for a bit, then decided to head inside so we take the tram ride to the top.
We bought our tickets, wandered through the gift shop and museum, and then got in line for our tour. It’s supposed to take about 20 minutes to get through everything and to the ride up. We waited about an hour and a half. The kids were getting pretty antsy, and I was getting pretty annoyed at having to wait so long.
It was FINALLY our turn and we took the 4 minute tram ride to the top of the Arch. The kids were amazed at the view! Their favorite thing was being able to see the Cardinals game from up there. We spent literally about 5 minutes up there and then caught the tram back down. Then we loaded up and headed to stay with our friends Maria and Alex. We’re hoping to get to DC by Tuesday night, so we’ve got some driving to do tomorrow!
In honor of our last family road trip of the summer, we are giving away one of our Adventure in a Box: Road Trippin’ kits! You’ll notice we now have a snazzy little red flag in the top left section of our blog (if you’re viewing this post in a blog reader, you might want to click to our actual blog to check it out!).
You can register for our blog rewards with your Facebook account by clicking on the red flag. You earn points by sharing our blog posts via Facebook and Twitter and by liking us on Facebook and commenting on our blog. Every time you earn 1000 points, you get one entry into our drawing for a free Adventure in a Box: Road Trippin’! It keeps track of your points automatically and the contest ends the day after we get home from our trip.
Reviews:
Nostalgiaville – 2 stars: Worth a stop if you or a loved one LOVES Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, or Betty Boop. Otherwise, skip it.
Gateway Arch, St. Louis, MO – 2 stars: We had SUCH a bad experience that I have to give it 2 stars. I honestly would have rated it 1 star, but the kids really thought it was awesome. We ended up waiting an hour and a half instead of the 20 minutes they said it would take. I know it’s because they just ran behind throughout the day, but they should be upfront about the wait.
