I was originally planning to go on my Christmas vacation (December 2022) in Miami, Florida but I decided not to go, because of the cyclone arctic bomb. Numerous flights were delayed/canceled due to weather conditions across the country around the Holiday Season. I had to transfer my plane to Minneapolis to get to Miami, and Minneapolis was one of the airports that was hit hard by the weather. I hate delays, cancellations, being stuck in the airport, dealing with too many people for reimbursements, etc, so I changed my plans: avoid Christmas time and my travel destination. Closer to the end of the year, I decided to travel to St. Louis, MO.
St. Louis, MO: Downtown STL
Gateway Arch National Park
I've wanted to visit Gateway Arch so badly! It was the last day of 2022 (Dec. 31. 2022) when I was here, so it felt more special :D At my old workplace, there used to be a photo of the Gateway Arch in the lobby, so each time I walked in and out of the office, I've been thinking 'One day, I should visit this place, because it is so cool' and I felt so happy to be physically here to see the arch!
This is one of my favorite photos of the arch! The weather was perfect and I think I got a good capture of the arch!
Forest Park
I loved my visit at Forest Park, because it was a nice public park that is actually bigger than the central park in New York! Inside the park, you can find the Missouri History Museum, Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis Science Center, and Saint Louis Zoo! I highly recommend this place if you are in STL! Definitely worth a visit :) Below are photos I took at the Saint Louis Art Museum. They had artifacts from all over the world, which was eye-opening and inspiring.
Contemporary Art Museum (CAM), St. Louis
Moving onto a different museum! This museum is free to public, and is located in the heart of the downtown area. Definitely worth a visit even if it was not in the Forest Park area where most of the tourist attractions were. I visited CAM in the late afternoon after I finished exploring the city, and I was so glad it was still open. See below for what I saw at the museum!
Collinsville, IL: Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site
I didn't know ANYTHING about Cahokia Mounds,, until I read in the "Atlas of Sacred Places" published by National Geographic few days before visiting Collinsville. This place is a UNESCO designated place, and it's where Cahokia tribes lived here. What a perfect timing that I read about Cahokia Mounds, otherwise I wouldn't have been exploring this place. I didn't know this place even existed so if I haven't read anything about this place, I wouldn't have gone to this place. Plus, there were nice hiking trails inside the historic site, so that was great too! Great place to learn history, new culture and do a nature walk in the same place!
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