St Louis or Bust

Want to know the most relaxing part about vacationing with a 3.5 month old?
Jokes on you; there is no relaxing part.

We set out on our journey from Milwaukee to St Louis the morning of 8/3 after an 8am trip to the Dr for the baby.  She was up all night screaming and something just didn't seem right.  It turned out to be nothing more than a viral infection and she has fully recovered.  Did I mention that Kenneth hates the car?  And I mean HATES...the second her carseat clicks into the base all bets are off.  Nevertheless, we thought driving was a good idea.  I sat in the back with her while Dustin drove and managed to keep her decently entertained for a short while.  The drive there is a bit of a blur.  At one point were pulled over on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere Illinois so I could nurse her, at another point we were at a gas station again in the middle of nowhere Illinois and seriously considering staying there instead of continuing on for the day.  Driving with a screaming baby is as unpleasant as it sounds.  But we decided we would drive 1.5 more hours to Springfield and then figure it out from there.  We made it to Springfield with minimal screaming at 4pm and decided to hit up the Abraham Lincoln Museum that the internet said was a must see.  Well for once, the internet was correct.  The museum was amazing and honestly one of the highlights of our trip.  The museum itself was phenomenal.  It is laid out in different rooms that take you through every part of Lincoln's life; starting in the tiny cabin he grew up in and ending in a beautiful room replicating his viewing and burial.  We were able to make it through the museum in a little under a hour, which was a good thing since we got there an hour before they closed.  

And I have to add the the museum staff were some of the friendliest people I've ever met; so incredibly helpful and accommodating.  One gentleman offered to open the first aid room for me in case I was more comfortable nursing Kenneth in there.  After making our way through the museum we got in the car and decided to finish the drive to St Louis.  We got there about 1.5 hours later and ended up just ordering food from the hotel so as not to piss Kenneth off even more by putting her in the car again.  The next day we went and took a tour up to the top of the Arch.  It honestly wasn't as cool as I thought it was going to be.  You have to sit in these TINY little pods to go up and your view the whole time is of the inside of the Arch.  I was definitely expecting to be able to look out onto the city when climbing up - but that's my bad for not consulting the internet beforehand.

Once at the top there are tiny little windows to look out of, but the top is so crammed with people and unruly that we were lucky to get a good glance and a picture.  We bailed after approximately 2 minutes.  While I was unimpressed with the ride, I did purchase Kenneth an adorable bonnet in the gift shop - so I'll call it a win. (she slept through the entire experience, by the way)
We then headed to SugarFire BBQ for lunch and that was amazing.  I would show you a picture of my food, but alas between entertaining Kenneth and trying to eat I have no photos to show.  Many naps were to be had after that to rest up for our Riverboat adventure later in the evening.  We all thoroughly enjoyed the Riverboat tour, and I would definitely recommend it if you're looking for something touristy to do.  It's about 1 hr long and you can sit outside under shade or out in the open.  There is also an inside seating area where they sell drinks and popcorn.  The captain of the boat gives you a little spiel about all the buildings and interesting things that you pass along the way.  It was a little windy that day and Kenneth really enjoys a nice breeze in her mohawk, so even she had a good time.  We got a little turned around after leaving and stumbled upon some pretty incredible graffiti walls.  I'm not sure if there are some parts of St Louis where it's legal to paint, but these walls were "dope."
The rest of our vacation was really nothing to write home about.  Kenneth slept a lot, so that means I got to take lots of naps and watch Law and Order.  We ordered dinner in most nights because eating out with a baby is a lot of work, and we didn't get to do even half the stuff that was on my "to-do" list, but we did get to spend 5 consecutive days as a family together, and that was pretty rad.  The drive home wasn't too terrible, and we made it back to Milwaukee without any bloodshed and only some tears.

Here's a picture of me being a contortionist and nursing Kenneth in a moving vehicle in an attempt to get her to calm down until we could get off the highway.  *insert crying laughing emoji*

All in all I would say we had a good trip, but maybe we'll stick to more local (read less than 2 hours away) destinations for a while.