Pippen Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 I'm hoping to do a field trip to the St. Louis area--most likely a long day trip and am interested in Lewis & Clark sites and Cahokia Mounds. If anyone here has visited these sites I would appreciate feedback on if they're worth the time, if they're both do-able in one day, how much time to leave for each. It would just be me and my 5th grader--no younger children in tow. :auto: Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in St Louis Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 How fun!:) A few years ago, I took my children here and it was amazing! We went for a special children's day they were having and I couldn't have been more impressed. On that website, click "events" and a myriad of activities will show up. I know there are quite a few sites in the area, but that's the only one I've visited. I'm embarrassed to say that even though I've lived in IL/MO all my life, I've never been to Cahokia Mounds! :tongue_smilie: I've just recently become a history nerd...before that I was just...a regular nerd. ;) I've been no help at all, but feel free to PM me if you have any other questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 Cahokia Mounds is incredible. Middle school is the perfect age for that too. Go on a semi/warm day. You can go to the Interpretive Center (kind of an indoor museum) and they have a bunch of interactive displays and a movie. You can also go out to Monks Mound, which is the largest man-made Cahokian mound - and you can climb up to the top. There is also a stonehenge-type-thingie made from logs...and they said the Cahokians used it to tell seasons. If you are looking for something like Lewis and Clark - there is the Lock and Dam in Alton - not too far from Cahokia, I guess. You can take a tour of the Locks and watch boats pass through. There is also a museum where there are displays about the river, a little Lewis and Clark stuff, the history of riverboats on the Mississippi, the ecology of the Mississippi, etc. I thought they had a riverboat replica that you could "drive" interactively, of course. When it gets warmer, you could head out to Fort Du Chartres and Modoc. That's off Route 3 south of Waterloo. I had heard about funny hours for Fort Du Chartres, but you can check online first... Fort Du Chartres is supposed to be really haunted - and they used to have the big Rendevouz there (not sure if they still have it). Lemme know if you have any more questions. I lived in that area for years (Columbia, Waterloo and over on the MO side). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2abcd Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 Cahokia Mounds will take a good part of your day. (Unless you go now-- it's pretty cold and you may not want to be outside exploring for hours.) This link has some other links, though some are inactive: http://www.greatriverroad.com/lewclark/lewclarksites.htm I've heard this site in St. Charles is really good, though we haven't been there: http://www.lewisandclark.net/ Camp River Dubois is neat... we loved seeing the life-size keelboat with it's cutaway to show the supplies stowed inside. Amazing how little stuff they had! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelle in MO Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 The Boathouse/Nature Center that was linked above is nice, but quite a ways from Cahokia--maybe an hour?--so you might have to choose one or the other, depending on where you're coming from. Chelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 Cahokia is wonderful. Great museum and archeological site. A must-see. We also enjoyed the Museum of Westward Expansion under the Arch. They had the Lewis & Clark Imax movie running there too. I would've liked to go see the site the other person linked, but it was too far for us to go in the time that we had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted January 31, 2010 Author Share Posted January 31, 2010 The Boathouse/Nature Center that was linked above is nice, but quite a ways from Cahokia--maybe an hour?--so you might have to choose one or the other, depending on where you're coming from. I'll be coming in from the north so that's good to know. Thanks everyone for the input! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted February 9, 2010 Author Share Posted February 9, 2010 I wanted to thank everyone again for the input! We'd hit Lewis and Clark in history last week so when we had a sort of clear day on the calendar I decided to pack it up, hit the museum and then get in whatever else we had time for. On the way down we watched (well, she watched--I listened) "PBS Lewis and Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery "and that was great because it filled the drive time and set the stage for the museum. One of the reenactors did the outside tour of the reproduction of the fort/baracks and that was interesting. Next we did quick stop at National Great Rivers Museum at the lock and **** since it was only 10 minutes away. I wished I had thought to call ahead as they only give tours twice a day (I think 10am and 1pm) this time of year, and I would have planned accordingly. We could go outside but not go up without a tour so it was hard to get a feel for the lock. Finally, we did make it to Cahokia. We were at Dickson Mounds in fall so I left this for last, knowing there would probably be a good deal of overlap. I was pleased to discover that the two sites really compliment each other. Dickson has many, many more artifacts representing a longer period, but getting a feel for the physical mounds was difficult because of the wooded terrain. Cahokia had fewer artifacts, more "how they lived" displays and the mounds were very evident. It was a long day, but definitely worth the trip. I love field trip days--we'll have to head south more often. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kls126s Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 Once you get further into colonial studies and westward expansion, there's a Daniel Boone homestead here that's open for tours too. It's west of STL, so it might a bit longer trip for you, but it's interesting. http://www.lindenwood.edu/boone/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 You HAVE to go to Cahokia Mounds! And bring a picnic to eat out at one of the tables nearest the largest mound! The museum is wonderful and they have a film to watch. If you can go when they have their Native festival that would be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelle in MO Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 So glad you had a good trip, Pippen! I agree w/Keri...the Daniel Boone home is great. It's probably 45-50 min. west of downtown St. Louis. Chelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in St Louis Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 I agree, there is some sort of festival/re-enactment that happens in the fall at the Daniel Boone house and it is really, really neat. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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