My trip recaps are coming to an end! I’m thrilled to finally be covering my weekend trip to St. Louis, Missouri, with my college best friend, Kelsey, to see Niall Horan (formerly of One Direction) and also enjoy some girl time in the city. I do miss my “usual” content I know you all expect, but thank you for allowing me the chance to share these trips. I do learn so much more about the world and myself with each trip I go on, and I thank God for each one with its ups, downs, memories, and lessons. I enjoy being able to document that here, too.

St. Louis shouldn’t be *quite* as long of a recap as the others, including my latest recap to Nashville. It will still be two parts/posts with about 200 images per post, and this time, I’ll save my final lessons/reflection for the end. This first part covers our drive down to St. Louis, going to the actual concert, exploring the city some, and touring a nearby CAVE! The second part will cover some more exploration and shopping after visiting Meramec Caverns before we went to the Gateway Arch, and it will conclude with what we did Sunday before driving home, which was mainly the Missouri Botanical Garden.

It was a wonderful trip! I cherish my time with Kelsey, and I was blessed to get to hang out with her a lot last summer after I graduated. She just graduated this spring since I graduated a year early, and I hope we can do some more fun things this summer. I feel very blessed I’ve gotten to go on a trip with everyone I love. We had this concert planned for over a year! Kelsey wanted to see Niall and enjoys concerts, and I wanted to see him, too, because I love One Direction, and out of all the guys, Niall is my favorite to still listen to now. When searching for tickets, Kelsey wanted to pick a spot we could make a little trip out of, and originally, I think she was looking at some place in Alabama or another somewhat random state before deciding on St. Louis, and I’m SO glad that’s where we ended up going—I wrote years ago about having the Gateway Arch on my bucket list!

I’m going to include a table of contents again so you can read or skim at your leisure based on what is most interesting to you. I do share more details than I expect anyone to care about so I can document for my own memory, so definitely hop around as you want.

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Table of Contents

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Day 1: Driving to St. Louis & Niall Horan Concert

Kelsey Picks Me Up at My House

Kelsey arrived at my house around nine in the morning and I, as usual, was running late, so she got to come in and say hi to my family and pets! I really appreciate her picking me up and driving us around the city. I had no clue what to expect for city driving and had only driven in Des Moines at most, so I didn’t want to take that on yet without having more experience. Actually, a few weeks before this concert, I did go up to the Twin Cities for the first time for a concert with my cousin, but technically, I was on the outskirts of the Cities, and that was actually traumatic enough because there ended up being several accidents and traffic backed up all the way to Albert Lea, which is not usually busy at all, with bumper-to-bumper traffic the rest of the way and pouring rain. But anyway!

Kelsey came from Ames, where she was staying and working over the summer, and I came home from working up in Okoboji again and staying with my grandparents in Estherville. It was closer for Kelsey to pick me up on the way down since we’re an hour south of Ames.

Kelsey ended up changing outfits before we went to the concert, but she told me from what she saw on TikTok, people were wearing either red or yellow, I believe, for his latest album cover. I don’t own any red despite all the pink I have, but I do have some yellow, so I wore this cami and some cute but comfy sneakers.

Driving from Iowa to St. Louis

And we’re off! It was about ten in the morning when we left. Kelsey took care of most of the timing, which I was also grateful for. She made an awesome playlist for us to listen to on the way down with a bunch of her favorite Niall songs I hadn’t heard and more similar pop hits. We have similar taste in music, and I found tons of new favorites, especially of Niall’s! I’m so glad she made that playlist because I only knew a couple of his solo songs, but I fell in love with so many more he played that night!

I recognized where we were until we passed Iowa City. I really haven’t been east of Iowa City. The drive was about four to five hours, and I didn’t realize that St. Louis is literally right on the Illinois border, so we had to go east and then south. For some reason, I thought it was straight down. It wasn’t too eventful of a drive until we got into Missouri to see some new sights, but I felt like the drive did go pretty fast. Between the music and our natural conversation, it was nice; I love talking to Kelsey. We always have plenty to talk about and have so much in common.

I could cross Missouri off my state bucket list! We crossed the border right around noon. It was nice four-lane driving.

Stop in Wayland

I don’t know this town from Adam; that’s where the photo is tagged at. We needed to get gas at the Flying J off the interstate here.

Stop in Canton for Steak ‘n Shake

About a half hour later, we decided we were hungry and monitored the GPS for nearby fast food. We were playing it by year as far as where to eat, and I was hoping we could find some new or unique places we don’t get frequently in Iowa. Kelsey wanted to try Steak ‘n Shake, and I was down for that! This was located off the interstate in Canton, which seemed like a cute town.

We ate inside, and it was a cool vibe! It reminded me of In-N-Out, which I miss dearly, possessing similar colors and branding. We both got their chicken tender meal with a shake; I think Kelsey tried Snicker’s, and I stuck with my Reese’s peanut butter cups.

It was so, so good—the shake, the chicken, the fries, even though the fries looked different with how thin and small they were!

As we kept driving, we started to see some rock walls lining the road, reminding me of Ontario! Gosh, that seems like so long ago I went up there…my family still goes, and I still don’t. 😂 I do not give a crap about fishing!!

We were on the interstate for a while before the GPS took us on some interesting but scenic, curvy highways eventually connecting to another four-lane. I thought this little house by the road was so cute!

We found this ginormous mansion back in the middle of nowhere! At the end of this series, so in the next post, I’ll share an update on my writing and life post-graduation from college, which took place last May. At the time, I did not have a full-time job, though it certainly wasn’t from trying to get one. I went back to Okoboji to intern with the company I’d been working for again to at least make some money and buy me some time, so seeing displays of wealth especially made me wonder all the more what people do for a living to afford…anything! Especially in the middle of nowhere! They must’ve gotten their jobs before the economy went to crap.

Pretty much right after crossing the border, we saw TONS of firework stores off the side of the interstate. I’m not talking about little stands; I’m talking full-blown stores dedicated to fireworks. At one point, I think there were three right next to each other. Then, further in, we saw this superstore! What is it with people in this state and fireworks? We didn’t even know it was legal to have them after the Fourth. They used to be illegal in Iowa, I think, but now they’re not around the Fourth. I don’t know all the laws surrounding them, but it was crazy how many stores there were.

Living my best life with leftover Dr. Pepper and my shake!

Around 3:00, it started getting busier as we got closer!

We started passing through some suburbs and then a big bridge over the Missouri River. I don’t think I’d ever seen the Missouri River before, but I remembered it from a Lewis and Clark presentation I gave back in middle school.

It is one big river! It looked like it might’ve been flooded when we went over it, too. I know northwest Iowa had a ton of flooding due to insane amounts of rain last summer, and it really put a damper on things up in Okoboji. I didn’t have to work as much, which wasn’t the worst thing in the world, honestly; I still had some time to focus on writing and other fun activities.

This is in Chesterfield. Traffic started to pick up, but I didn’t think it was too bad. Kelsey did good, and I felt like I would’ve done fine, too.

I always think it’s fun seeing different things and environments, like this huge hospital in the city. It’s crazy to imagine how life can be different in a big city versus a more rural area like where I’m from. I like seeing different buildings and architecture.

As we got close to the city, we saw these street names on bridges like this that reminded me of a racetrack style. Kelsey booked us an Airbnb in one of the neighborhoods of St. Louis, which is where we stopped first to drop off our stuff. The concert itself was in more of a suburb of the city—Maryland Heights.

We started seeing skyscrapers!! I didn’t think the traffic got too bad. I thought it was a little busier than Des Moines but not by much and that I probably would’ve been fine driving it. I’m thankful Kelsey did, though.

Arriving at Our Airbnb

We made it to our Airbnb a little after 3:30. Kelsey handled the booking for that; we got it super cheap, but it definitely wasn’t flashy. I think the title even included something like “Bare Bones,” and it was. I won’t go so far as to say it was ghetto because the neighborhood did seem nice enough and cute, just older, and it got great reviews, she said, but it was definitely bare bones. You’re getting what you paid for. I don’t want to say anything bad about it, though, because the lady who rented it out was SO sweet and appreciative even though we only communicated via text, and it served its purpose just fine. We weren’t in it much, anyway.

It was this building you see pictured below, which kind of looked like an academic building or small apartment place. I think there were other rooms you could rent out, and there were multiple levels, but our room was on the first floor pretty much right off the entryway. Luckily, the door was heavy and secure. We passed lots of cute, small houses under sweeping green trees. I thought the neighborhood was very cute.

This is the front view. We drove around the block once trying to find a place to park; we were able to park in front of the big garage it had next to the entryway door to unload, and then the lady texted Kelsey that we could park on the streets nearby.

This was right across the street from where we were staying. We were around Lindenwood Park for the neighborhood.

This is the street we were on.

This was when we went around the block. It seemed like a cozy enough neighborhood.

Here’s the back of the building as we circled around. There was a hotel downtown in the heart of the city that had rooftop hot tubs and breathtaking views I really wanted to stay in, but it was more pricey. I think it’s fine we didn’t spend that much for this trip, and it would’ve been more out of our way getting to the concert or anywhere else.

We entered through the black door right beside the garage, which led to a hallway to our room and a staircase. There were some magazines on drawers outside in the hallway, too.

Walking into our room, this is what it looked like, which was how it appeared in the photos. It was kind of a strange, eclectic mix of things, to say the least. It was big, and there were several beds. There were two actual beds on frames near the left of the room, and then there was a mattress next to the second bed made with comforters and sheets and everything and a couch on the right that could serve as another bed. I wasn’t overly impressed, but again, I knew that going into it. We brought our stuff in and then parked Kelsey’s car on the street in front of a Mexican restaurant that looked cute right beside it.

I laid on every bed to test them when we got there. The one on the left was way too hard for me and felt like it was set on a brick wall, and I think it might’ve actually been brick holding it up, and the second bed was too bouncy and firm for me as well, like if I laid on it, I’d pop right back up rather than sink into it. Kelsey took that bed because she likes it firmer, and I don’t know if I gave her much of a choice, haha; I wanted the one with the mattress on the floor because it was softest, and I loved the comforter because it reminded me of one my grandma has at her house I love.

We had time to chill for a little bit before we needed to leave for the concert. Kelsey got changed and did her makeup, and I laid in the bed I claimed. The weird green light reminded me of a cannabis shop, I think I told Kelsey, and gave the room a weird vibe, which you can see reflected on me below! My bed was very comfy. It felt nice to just lay down in the air-conditioned room between the crisp sheets.

While Kelsey was getting ready, she climbed on the desk beside her bed, which was basically a sheet of glass over these concrete stands, to open the curtains of the window over it to let in the natural light.

We got ready to grab dinner on our way to the concert. I was dressed already and ready to go!

Since the heat was in full force, I brought one of my “pretty” ponytail holders with a bow in case I wanted to put my hair up.

Kelsey and I have matching shoes!! There was a nice mirror by her bed.

This was the little fence they had outside with greenery we had a good view of from our window. I’m grateful it was so warm, I didn’t need to worry about getting cold! The weather was gorgeous the entire weekend, so I thank God.

On Our Way to the Concert & Eating at Chick-fil-A

I saw some more things that looked interesting, such as this church that I believe was also a school. It fascinates me to think of how other people live, like if I’d went to a private school or grew up in a city. I like seeing different things like that.

I still couldn’t tell you exactly what neighborhood we were in, but the Chick-fil-A sign said Hampton and Chippewa, and I thought it was so cool they had the Gateway Arch!

This was cute!

I think these were real flowers at our table.

This was a nice Chick-fil-A! I loved the little dangling balloons with cows in them! Chick-fil-A never disappoints.

Wayyy out on the horizon, you can see the downtown of St. Louis, including a brief glimpse of the Arch, but we weren’t going there yet.

Niall Horan Concert

Right around seven, we made it to Maryland Heights! It wasn’t too far of a drive. The concert was outdoors by a casino with an amphitheater, which I saw at Treasure Island in Minnesota when I went to see my cousin this summer. People could sit on the lawn and either see him for free or less money than we paid, but we actually got to sit in chairs, which I was grateful for. The setup was awesome. We were so excited to see this sign!

I don’t think it was too bad finding parking. We had to walk a long ways to the concert, but that was fine. The landscape was beautiful! I was very excited for this concert; out of all the people I’ve seen, which isn’t a ton, I probably cared about Niall the most. He did not disappoint.

As we got checked in, there was a big perimeter around the amphitheater with vendors and concert merch. Kelsey wanted to check out the clothes, so we did that and had to wait in line for a bit. I complimented this girl on her sparkly hair pictured below; I need to buy that spray! She had body glitter, too, that was subtle but shimmery.

I did put my hair up pretty much right away. It was hot! I fidgeted with that for a while; I’m not the best at putting my hair up, especially when I can’t watch what I’m doing in the mirror, but I had Kelsey help me make sure the bow was showing on the elastic band, and I think it turned out pretty good. She put her hair up, too.

Next, we waited in line to get an awesome photo op with this big chair they had you could stand in with a poster of Niall in the center!

The amphitheater was up over the hill, and I couldn’t believe my eyes at the people scattered across the lawn and at all the seats before the stage!

As I mentioned earlier, we did have seats, so we walked down the hill to the amphitheater and grabbed some photos and videos of it all. The sun began to set, which created a beautiful glow.

I couldn’t believe all the people on the lawn!

The opener, Del Water Gap, a quirky band from New York, was still playing. Kelsey knew a couple of their songs from TikTok, and I liked a couple of them.

We took our seats that were closer to the back than the front, but we were near the center of the stage and still had a great view. There were lots of TVs with close-up views. We were right under where the roof ended.

They did have huge fans, so that helped with a breeze! We thought the singer for Del Water Gap was crazy running around the stage in suit shorts and a jacket. He finally took the jacket off but still had on a white button-down shirt. You could see him glimmering in sweat even from the TV.

We were thrilled to finally be here!! It felt surreal for me to see someone as famous as Niall. It doesn’t seem like he’s quite as famous now as some of the other One Direction members like Harry Styles, but he was massively famous back in their day and has sustained that fame for years. My gosh, I remember having the biggest crush on Harry back when I was, like, nine.

I thought the audience definitely consisted of mostly women, so I didn’t plan on finding my husband here.

The view was so pretty around and behind us while the sun set. It was a perfect summer concert!

Finally, a little before nine, we saw these eyes come over the stage…and knew Niall would be out soon!! I pulled up a recent lineup of his tour to have an idea of what songs he would sing. It looked like he would play a bunch of my favorites, and he did! I’ll share some of the songs he played, including the ones I love most, throughout the images I took of him and the stage setup.

His concert was titled “The Show” after his latest album, though he played songs from each (I believe at the time of writing this, he has three solo albums). The graphics, as such, were a tad vintage and cinematic, and they were great. As the curtain came up, everyone cheered, and the band began playing. Niall greeted us quick before jumping in to singing “Nice to Meet Ya,” which is a song I grew to like.

Here’s Niall!! It was surreal to see him. He’s all grown up! He doesn’t look too much different from how he used to in One Direction, except his pale blond hair got much darker, and I think he got tanner and more filled out. He actually wore cowboy boots and had a little country style going on! He’s definitely attractive, though I never had a full-blown crush on him. He’s still very wholesome, though, and I always thought he was the most wholesome member in the band. I’m really glad that hasn’t changed—at least as far as I know.

I adored One Direction when they first became popular, with “What Makes You Beautiful” one of my faves. But after their sudden rise, I moved on and didn’t really follow them throughout their next couple albums. Then in high school, long after they were no longer together, I got back into them and rediscovered all their music I missed, and now they’re one of my favorites. I always thought if they came back and did a reunion, I would love to see them in concert. Unfortunately, if you do follow pop culture or music, I’m sure you heard the news about Liam, one of the other members, and that he died… That is so sad. In high school, actually, I kind of developed a new crush on him, and I used to pray for his salvation. I really hope he was saved.

Anyway, out of all the solo artists, the one I do like the most now in terms of their music is Niall, so I’m super grateful I got to see him! And the tickets were only $100!

Niall sounded just as good in concert as he does on radio, and I don’t think that about everyone. Compare that to the Morgan Wallen concert I went to a few weeks before this, where I paid an ungodly $500 FOR ONE TICKET (you can blame my cousin for that, she’s the one who wanted them haha), and I did not think he sounded as good. I still enjoyed him, but I don’t think anything could’ve impressed me for that amount of money. Even the songs I didn’t hear or immediately like of Niall’s, hearing him sing them live made me like them more. And I loved the different stage themes!

My zoomed-in photos still aren’t the best quality. I saw some people in front of us had cameras that allowed them to zoom in almost five times, I think, and still looked pristine! I don’t think Apple phones are the way to go with camera quality, honestly. I keep upgrading waiting for it to be a new level of perfect, and it just isn’t, especially recently. I’m only on the 14 now, so MAYBE it’s finally improved…but I give up.

After the first set of songs, he stopped to talk to the crowd for a few minutes. He is so cute and silly with a strong Irish accent, where he’s from. He’s very appreciative and conversational. He said he wanted us to bring the best and worst versions of ourselves to the night but just not get arrested. 😂 He also commented on the heat, which was heavy even as the sun went down, and he was wearing blue jeans with a button-down shirt over a white tank! He said not to post any weird sweat stains he might get on the internet, haha.

He just looks sweet. I think the other solo members got Hollywood-ified or whatever you want to call it. Like Harry, the most popular one now, is…different. I still like some of his songs, but he’s quirky now indeed. I was never a huge fan of Zayn on his own; he seemed a little more ghetto to me, which probably isn’t nice to say, but just too edgy for me. Louis never got that level of popularity, I don’t think, and I haven’t really listened to any of his own music. I did like Liam for a time, but he was raunchy on his own. I’ll give you two popular song titles of his that will describe it all: “Strip That Down” and “Bedroom Floor.” Yeah, I really don’t recommend looking those up, although OH, my gosh, just writing that brought back memories from those days when I was into him…

I think Niall played every song I liked. He played “Cross Your Mind,” which is one of my FAVES that I heard thanks to Kelsey’s playlist. I still listen to that when it comes through on my shuffle every time all these months (ha, almost a year…sorry) later. Then, he strummed his guitar for a few moments while everything else was quiet and talked to the crowd. He griped about the heat again, which was funny, and about needing all our energy for the next song. He also took the time to express his gratitude for each of us as fans regardless of how we found him, and I was right—I just listened to the video of him talking, and he has been making music for 14 years as of last summer. He said he loves us all! So there we go, Niall Horan said he loves me. Love you too, Niall.

Then, my favorite endearing quote from him was after he finished all the mushy-gushy stuff, he said in the cutest, most nonchalant tone, “It’s energy time.” I told Kelsey that’s what I’m going to say to myself every morning after my alarm goes off. I haven’t done that, but I should try it. I don’t think it would work.

Then, the music came on, and it was the intro for my ALL-TIME FAVORITE song of Niall’s, the one I’ve known and loved for years before this: “Black and White”! I want that in my wedding. I tried to record most of my favorite songs.

He played “This Town,” which is one of the first songs I liked of his as a solo artist. I first heard that back in middle school! Some of my other favorites are “Heartbreak Weather,” “Dear Patience” (we all know I need that one…), “Mirrors,” and “If You Leave Me.” He also plays a song from One Direction at each of his concerts, and judging by his previous lineups, he’d done “Stockholm Syndrome” and “Night Changes.” I like both, but “Stockholm Syndrome” is my all-time favorite; it’s such a bop. And he played that!! I have a video of me screaming to it because I don’t sing along to songs—I scream them.

Even at night, it was so pretty with the moon out!

He does a segment during each show Kelsey also saw on TikTok where he’ll look at and respond to some of the signs people make for him. That was cool! We weren’t close enough to be noticed with anything like that, and we hadn’t made any, but I think it’s nice he stops to recognize some of them.

It wasn’t a super long concert—it ended around 10:30. It was so good, though—probably my favorite concert I’ve ever been to along with Luke Bryan we saw in Vegas. I’m glad it didn’t keep us out super late, either, so we could plan the next day.

People, including us, jumped over this guardrail or tried to crawl under it to get further into the parking lot without going out of our way. We hopped over it both times, and I was just barely tall enough to do that without getting stuck.

Driving Back to Our Airbnb

It took some time to get out, but it wasn’t too bad, and we weren’t in a hurry. It was fascinating to see nearby big office buildings and peek inside if they had lights on or see what companies were there. I was still looking for a full-time job, and Kelsey would be the following year. I don’t know if I’d want to live in St. Louis, but Kelsey has been applying there now.

The traffic wasn’t too bad as we drove back to our Airbnb, either, which was nice.

Day 2: Exploring St. Louis & Shopping + Meramec Caverns Tour

When we got back, we chilled and were on our phones talking to each other for a bit before bed, but we were tired! We didn’t stay up too late. I don’t remember what all exactly we did, and I’m pretty sure it was the night after the concert that I tried to finally look at and get tickets to the Gateway Arch. It was either the night before or this morning, but that was one of the things we wanted to do most since it’s iconic, and I, personally, didn’t know if I’d want to make another trip to St. Louis just to visit the Arch. In light of knowing I wouldn’t come back, then, I didn’t want to miss it, but we thought we waited too long, and all the tickets for Saturday were booked!! I wanted to cry, but I told my mom and she said we could still find some other things to do for fun, which I knew.

Later, though, either that morning or afternoon, I checked again, and there were several more openings at the end of the day! I know I mentioned in my travel wishlist how I’d love to go in the Arch at night, and I did think that would be cool, but I saw they’re only open until five or six, so there’s no way to do that. I think it might’ve been this morning that I checked again and was pleasantly surprised. Either way, I got us both tickets, so thank God!! I was so grateful we’d get to check that out while we were here. We also had some ideas of other things around us we wanted to check out in between, like malls and places to eat. What else, haha?!

There were some other tourist attractions, like this big museum/railroad station downtown, but that all cost money and a lot of time, too, so we’d have to pick and choose, especially factoring in driving time. I’m happy with everything we got to do, though. To end this part of the post, I’ll recap our morning activities and tour of Meramec Caverns, some nearby CAVES we got to see, and then save the rest of what we did, including the Gateway Arch, for the next post.

Getting Dressed + Breakfast at Southwest Diner

The bathroom was very minimal. I didn’t take pictures of it because it was very plain and a tad unsavory. Everything was clean enough, but I was glad I could get through the weekend without showering. Kelsey did once and said it was fine. I slept great on my little bed! I was worried I might roll off it since I’m used to sleeping in a full bed, but I don’t think I did, haha, and Kelsey said I didn’t wake her up.

For my outfit, I told you I’d be wearing the adorable and WAY too expensive Lilly Pulitzer set I bought in Nashville! It was cute and fashionable while still very relaxed and comfy for our activities.

Kelsey also wore a cute but chill outfit. We stepped outside to beautiful sunny and warm weather again! It was already hot, but I wasn’t hating that. Kelsey found a cute place for us to grab breakfast/brunch, as I think we skipped lunch eating big here. It was about 11 when we headed out.

Here’s where we parked in front of a nice-looking Mexican restaurant! We talked about getting dinner there one of the nights, but unfortunately, we ran out of time.

These trees are gorgeous. We didn’t travel far to this diner, either; it was in our neighborhood.

We ended up right in Ellendale, which was not far from where our Airbnb was. It was busy! We parked on the streets and barely found room there and still had to walk to the restaurant.

It wasn’t the most polished neighborhood, but it didn’t look completely sketchy either, and there were TONS of people eating here. It was a cute little place but kind of right by/under one of the main roads, contributing to its older look.

This is where we parked.

We walked in, and it was packed! There might have been a wait time, but luckily, a small table for the two of us opened up, so we got seated pretty quickly.

We both thought it was adorable! The theme carried throughout the entire restaurant, and the staff were friendly.

Kelsey got some French toast, and I wanted some protein opting for their cheese omelet and hash browns. Just looking at this photo makes me hungry. It was so good, and it was actually very cheap, too! I definitely recommend them if you’re in this area.

There was so much cute western decor that reminded me of Texas or Montana.

There was a patio and this cute cut-out we got pictures with near the back!

Shopping: St. Louis Galleria Mall and The Vault Luxury Resale

After that, we drove around to do some shopping and exploring. I had my mind set on a few places: The Vault, which evidently is a popular chain of luxury resale stores, and a big shopping center nearby that had all our favorite stores. We both were trying to save money and be cautious about spending, and I actually was this time. I was almost a little disappointed to walk home with nothing but souvenir items! That’s okay, though. I’ve realized there is pleasure in saving money, too, for big things I want like beauty treatments or trips down the line. Being able to pay off debt and loans is satisfying, too—it gives you more money TO spend on fun items. Plus, every year after coming back from college, I’d say I didn’t need to shop anymore because there was no space in my room, and then I still would once I went back and over the summers. So I’m finally getting to that point where enough is enough, and I’m ready to prioritize other things.

Going into the shopping, I had some items in mind I would buy if I found them, but I didn’t. Still, it was cool to explore. I saw more cute houses as we strolled through the neighborhoods.

I was super excited and overwhelmed when we arrived. This mall is HUGE! The size of the Macy’s and Nordstrom was insane, and those are department stores we don’t have in Iowa.

It was really pretty and chic inside, and there were so many levels! It seemed bigger (and nicer) than the Mall of America! It was impossible to really shop everything, though. For instance, we entered through Macy’s, and we walked around a bit in there, but I was just overwhelmed—too much stuff to even get through it all, and I wasn’t as impressed with Macy’s as I have been online.

Naturally, I had to scope out my favorite store, though. I always have to go in every Victoria’s Secret I find, but I didn’t buy anything!! I was actually well-behaved.

I took a lot of pictures of things I wanted, and that helped a little; I can’t justify buying things full price in there, even though at times I have. They have sales or deals that bring the prices down to where they ultimately should be. The store was super cute, though, and they had this adorable PINK glitter sign!

We explored some other stores, and I found some more things I liked, but nothing was pressing enough to pull the trigger on. After that, I was dying to go to the Vault to see if they had a luxury bag I’ve been eyeing for years that would actually be semi-affordable enough to convince me to buy. It was a cute little building, and it was pretty busy. Actually, I thought it was interesting who was in the store—a lot of older women. I guess you probably do earn your wealth later in life, but I was still surprised, and I did not find any bags I liked. They had racks full of actual designer clothing, too, but I didn’t feel like sifting through it. Some of that stuff is so garish and formal, it’s like no thanks. We didn’t spend a ton of time there.

Meramec Caverns: Touring Missouri’s Caves

While we were driving to all these places, I looked up information about some nearby caves—Meramec Caverns—as we saw some cool videos and things about kayaking in them or along the river by them. They did offer those tours, but they were more pricey and several hours, almost half the day. I called for more information and learned that due to the flooding, they weren’t sending them out at this time, so we decided to just do the guided tours on foot through the cave, but the kayaking didn’t actually go through the caves; it was just down the river. We calculated that we would have enough time to do the walking tour with the drive over there (the caves are in Stanton, about an hour west of St. Louis near the Ozarks). We started driving over there around 1:30, and it was a pretty drive! We saw more trees and rocks.

This is Six Flags! I’ve never been to one of their amusement parks before, but it looked fun. Kelsey and I went to Adventureland a couple weeks before this trip when I was babysitting my pets while my family went to Canada, haha. I’m sure Adventureland, our amusement park in Des Moines, doesn’t hold a candle to Six Flags, but that was enough for us, haha.

I was shocked by these big rocks along the road! I guess I can see where Missouri would have caves, but that surprised me. I called Mom to tell her what we were doing; she’s not a fan of caves but thought it was cool we were going. I honestly didn’t know what to expect. In my mind, I thought we’d be going down in a cart like a mine, but it was not nearly that intense, and that’s okay for our first time. Mom thought she went to some caves in Missouri with her family when she was a kid on a vacation, but she didn’t remember if it was this exact place. She thought I’d freeze in my tank top; we didn’t even think about it being colder down there! Thankfully, it was bearable. Definitely cooler, but it was okay.

Kelsey and I laughed because they had SO many of these huge “CAVE” signs all the way to them!! Peak advertising!

We were on one road the whole way, and then there was an exit that led over to a wooded area.

They also called themselves “Jesse James’s Hideout” for reasons I’ll share when we get to that part of the tour.

All the trees enveloping the road reminded me of Fort Defiance, Estherville’s state park.

They do have a motel there and some restaurants and gift shops. It’s a cute place! I definitely recommend checking it out.

They had this cool setup that reminded me of camp and the movie Mr. Troop Mom I watched when I was a kid. There was a decent amount of people there, but it wasn’t overwhelming. The river was shielded mostly from view by a bunch of trees, and the water was pretty much brown. It’s a beautiful area!

This is the building with their gift shop, food, and cave tours! It’s surreal to think there are caves below this!

Once inside, we walked past the gift shop to get to the start of the tour. We made it in perfect timing. It’s so weird how at first, it’s like the building extends right into the caves! We checked in and then waited for enough people to start our tour. I think we probably had around 30 people on the tour, and I thought that was a good amount. We passed other groups throughout the caves, too. At first, we read about some of the history here.

We already thought it was so cool! It did get cooler temperature-wise but wasn’t that bad.

This is where our tour began. We had a young kid who looked like he was either in high school or college guiding us, and I want to say his name was Steven, but I don’t remember for sure. He was very good, though, and fun. This wide open area used to be a ballroom and I think still is for certain occasions. He told us the nearby schools used to have prom here a long time ago, but kids would venture into the caves and break stuff, so that could no longer be the case. There’s still a disco ball in the center! We could see the darkness leading into the abyss… I had no idea what to expect. I still thought we’d be going down in carts or something, but that wasn’t the case at all. In fact, I hardly noticed the elevation decrease, even though it does. It’s gradual, and they have nice paths carved out. Definitely a beginner’s cave!

I cut the bottom of this off, but the thing in the bottom photo is supposed to be a pendulum that was constructed by some teenagers, I think, and our tour guide gave us a lengthy explanation as to how it’s basically useless since they did it wrong, but I still thought it was cool.

As we ventured farther into the caves, you can see the ramps and stairs leading up higher or lower. He did explain what the caves were made of—I couldn’t tell you everything from memory, unfortunately; you’ll have to go on the tour yourself for the full experience or research it, but it was all interesting and fun learning about. He said we’re actually safer down there from every sort of natural disaster, like an earthquake!

This is the point where we learned why the caves are also referred to as Jesse James’s hideout. We started seeing some water beside the walkway, but it looked low. If you don’t know anything about Jesse James, I don’t know much either, but I heard about him because the town my cousin is from, Northfield, “stood up” to him back in the day; he was a robber during the western era, and he went from town to town committing crimes. At one point, he hid from law enforcement in these caves. When it was reported that he was hiding here and police came to capture him, they waited but found he had escaped. Our tour guide said he was able to do so through the current in the caves, which was much higher at that point, and led out to the river. He said back then, it would’ve led out to the parking lot, I think? I’m probably butchering all the facts—that’s what I get for trying to recap this a year later—but I don’t want to spoil the experience for you, either. Like I said, I highly recommend going on a tour yourself. The pictures don’t do it justice, and you can learn all about these incredible caves.

I also thought I got a photo of the Jesse James cutout they have posed here, but it looks like I just cut him off and instead have a shadow that looks like an alien on the wall. I did get the cutout on video, so if I make a vlog for the trip, you can see it then.

I liked seeing the water and how the cave ceiling got lower! It started to look more like how I expected it to.

By the way, they somehow have light switches at all the different points of the cave they turn on as you come to each spot.

We learned several movies were filmed here! There was one with a dog I hadn’t heard of, which is why that photo is sitting there!

We got closer to these little spikes coming down, and we had to go single file through that portion of the walkway. We also weren’t allowed to take photos while going through it so we didn’t accidentally break anything. Did you know there’s a huge fine for doing that? We learned it’s literally hundreds of thousands of dollars if you “break” any part of the cave—and just touching the cave gets you a hefty fine, too. I don’t remember if jail time also accompanies those penalties, but I feel like it probably does. So yeah, definitely don’t touch the cave! I get why they have those laws, though it does seem that intensity should also be given to more serious matters as well.

These spiky formations are created by the water above it, we learned, and I just brushed up on some of the history here on their website, which I do recommend checking out! It is fascinating.

This looks like what I always imagined for a cave!

On our way back, we went higher into another area where this huge structure formed just beside the walkway.

You could still see water dripping over it, so it’s still being formed.

We got to see an awesome little light show here as they flickered different colors over the cave! I posted the most vibrant ones, but they did all green for St. Patrick’s Day, red for Valentine’s Day, etc.

While we were on the tour, I heard one of the participants ask our tour guide about the creation of the caves and/or how long ago they formed. I really appreciated his answer: he began by saying it depends on which worldview you believe in—creationism or a “young earth,” which is the biblical belief many Christians, myself included, hold, or the “scientific” view of evolution and naturalism in which the earth formed over billions of years. I liked how he included answers for both because most of the time, especially when you’re in a national or state park like the Grand Canyon or Badlands, the information is always presented factually as the latter because it’s “secular,” but that is a whole other belief system. To be truly neutral, you wouldn’t share any information about either. Anyway, that was something I appreciated. I wish I remembered his answer, but I don’t! Actually, I think that, like the Grand Canyon, it’s related to the flood from a creationist’s perspective.

Even though the tour had already been so neat, the ending was especially amazing. We climbed some stairs through a narrower passage of the cave, and the huge formations surrounding us blew me away!

While most of the tour had large walkways through the cave, the cave was right around us as we entered this higher part, and I thought that was an even cooler vibe. They had a mirage of lights reflecting over it, too!

At the top of this little exhibition-like room, they had some more unique formations from the cave we could look at (BUT NOT TOUCH!) on the other side of the railings.

The photo below shows more of the view of the cave and narrow staircase leading up to this part.

Going back down! I think this was one of my favorite parts of the cave.

Next, as part of the last main stopping points, we walked into an AUDITORIUM! In the middle of a cave!!

The big formation at the bottom of the benches here served as our screen, and they were able to project a video onto it!

Once everyone sat down, they turned the lights back off to reflect different colors against the cave wall.

This looked surreal.

I loved that this Bible verse was projected on the cave!!

We watched a short video about the cave’s history and significance. I believe Eleanor Roosevelt came out and visited it, and the auditorium was created at her request along with their playing of a patriotic song (I want to say it was our national anthem, I’m guessing…but I forget which exact song it was—I know it was beautiful, though!). Actually, I just found a teaser of it on their website, and it was “God Bless America”! See a sneak peek for yourself here!

Anyway, this was absolutely amazing to see, and this Bible verse was flashed on the cave in conclusion. I blame the midwest for a lot of these Christian values, which was awesome! You probably wouldn’t see that elsewhere.

In the below picture, right where those guys’ heads are is where we exited out of the auditorium. It was a little wet going through some parts of the cave but nothing terrible. Once again, the formations were more tightly packed, which you’ll see in the next photo, making it look extra fantasy-like.

After that, we came out the way we came in and the tour was over! It was an amazing experience; Kelsey and I loved it and were thankful it wasn’t too frigid. It was also very tame for our first experience in a cave, which was good! After that, we explored the gift shop for a bit; I bought a memento you’ll see at the end of the next post.

This is also the perfect stopping point for this first part of the trip and post! In the next, final post to finish recapping this trip, I’ll share what we did for the rest of the day, including some more shopping, eating out, and of course, the Gateway Arch! I’ll also recap our last day in St. Louis and what we did before driving back, such as the Missouri Botanical Garden, which was stunning. Of course, I’ll share my final insights, too. After that I have one more trip to recap (my CRUISE and BAHAMAS!), and then I’ll update you from there on what’s next.

PLEASE reach out if you have any requests for posts, content, whatever it may be! And know that I’m always available to chat or pray for you, too. Thank you all so much for reading and tuning in!!