St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station

A trip to St. Louis was usually a fun adventure. This Wandering Wednesday did not disappoint when we chose the St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station.

Aquarium’s Beginnings

In 2012, George Bauer, a former native of DeSoto, Missouri, and a friend and business partner, Robert O’Laughlin, purchased the old Union Station building at 1820 Market Street and transformed it into a fantastic playground for all ages to enjoy.

Mr. Bauer, grew up on a farm in DeSoto and attended a one-room grade school. He graduated in 1949 from DeSoto High School. My mom was also a 1949 DeSoto High School graduate and remembered George to be a very smart young man who was at the top of their class.

In addition to the building purchase the Union Station venture cost Bauer and O’Laughlin 187 million to build and renovate the interior of those grand old stone walls which served people from all over the world. At the turn of the century the only way to travel from the east to the west coast by train was to pass through St. Louis’ Union Station.

Tickets for Aquarium

Our visit was a wet and chilly day and our choice of an indoor adventure was perfect. Single day tickets or annual passes could be purchased for a fun-filled day with the fish.

The entrance to the aquarium was steeped with history and great imagination. We boarded  a Missouri Pacific Railroad passenger car and “traveled” all the way to the bottom of the ocean. With the towns rushing by outside our windows, my stomach became a little queasy and my head a little dizzy as we zoomed past the old St. Louis buildings and the Arch. Once we hit the ocean, bubbles filled the windows for an underwater adventure. It was quite a cute concept.

Unique Fish = Fun

Onward to the fish. The Aquarium was filled with many unusual little guys with strange habits. We were tickled by Doctor fish who sucked the dead skin off our fingers as we dangled them in the water.

We were spit on by the Archerfish. The attendant rolled a red ball on the end of a stick in fish food, dangled it high above the water and the spitting began. It looked like it was beginning to sprinkle right inside the building. When we realized the rain was coming from the fish it wasn’t quite as refreshing. Those little fish were great shots as they spit at the food to knock it into the water for a tasty bite.

We petted stingray which felt like fuzzy rubber as they lazily lay in their moving stream of water.

Sea Urchin Galore

Our fingers were squeezed by a purple sea urchin. Those little urchins looked like a bumpy purple rock, but when touched wrapped themselves around the object touching them. He must have been playing opossum with me because he never moved when I touched him, but he liked Dan and Renee.

The Jelly fish were a little hard to touch. As my hand approached, they floated away, but I can say I was finally successful.

North American Otters

We watched as two Aquarium attendants fed three North American Otters, Sawyer, Thatcher and Fin. Their sweet innocent faces were masks for their fierceness and danger. We learned they could bite through a steel-toed boots. Yep, they meant business when they said scat!

Shark Canyon

Shark Canyon, a 250,000-gallon tank, was chucked full of different types of sharks, stingray, sea turtles, pork fish and grouper along with many other species. They were not only fun to watch swim around the tank, but relaxing as they silently floated by. I just needed sand and sun and I would have been a happy camper.

St. Louis Wheel

Along with the Aquarium, Union Station held a multitude of other fun places to explore and enjoy. A 200-foot-tall Ferris Wheel called the St. Louis Wheel changed the St. Louis skyline when it was added to the mix. For an additional cost, a family could climb into an eight-seated gondola and slowly creep toward the heavens for a spectacular view of hundreds of buildings which made up the great city of St. Louis. A person could see about 20 miles on a clear day. No telling what can be seen from the top of the world.

St. Louis Rope Course

The St. Louis Rope Course towered above the grand room. Two little girls and their dad were working their way around the room. The girls had no fear, but dad had enough for all three. Notice I’m not reporting on my being way up there either.

There were many more places to explore around Union Station and hotel rooms were available to those wanting to stick around and play the next day, Go check out the new attraction in town.

Food in St. Louis

Following our fishy adventure we drove over to the Old Spaghetti Factory for lunch. It had been quite some time since we ate there, but the memories of previous dates and younger love flooded back as we stepped through those old doors.

The beautiful brick walled entrance was accented with large stained glass windows and lots of dark wood trim. An old wooden bar stood guard near the corner and the beautiful Victorian furniture had a story to tell if they could only whisper in my ear. The curved staircase was impressive. It made me want one, but I don’t know where I would put it.

The building had once housed the Christian Peper Tobacco company in 1874. In 1819 the Missouri Hotel stood on this site and in 1786 Clamorgan-Chouteau House withstood the harsh winters, hot summers and flooding springs on this site.

We celebrated Renee’s birthday with an excellent meal of spaghetti and mizithra cheese smothered with brown butter, spinach tortellini and meat lovers treat. Yum and Happy Birthday! Our Italian lunch made me smile as I waddled from the room.

Ice cream in Arnold, Missouri

We topped off our day of celebration with no sugar added strawberry ice cream sundaes from Cold Stone Creamery in Arnold. We had such a fun day.

Thanks again to Mr. Bauer and Mr. O’Laughlin for their great idea to preserve Union Station by transforming it into a fun, family playground.

If you had 187 million dollars, how would you spend it?