Missouri

Missouri famous for BBQ and the place where Lewis and Clark set out "officially" for their journey west. So technically Lewis and Clark officially set off from Pittsburgh, but since they just went down the Ohio River until it met up with the Mississippi and then went up to St. Louis (which was an established city) their real journey west didn't start until they made it to St. Louis.

St. Louis
Meet me in St. Louis! Not sure exactly what Judy Garland would think of St. Louis now, but I think it is a fabulous city and is one that I would actually live in if I ever felt the need to move from my hometown (Never going to happen :) 

The Arch and Jefferson National Expansion Memorial 
You can ride all the way to the top of this impressive structure and get a birds-eye view of the city and the Mississippi River. It was built as a symbol of the westward expansion for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial and is now an internationally recognized symbol of St. Louis. 

The Arch

Old Courthouse

Dred Scott

Jefferson National Expansion Memorial is a national park that is in memory of Thomas Jefferson's work to expand our country. It is also a memorial of Dred Scott, the slave who sued for his freedom in the Courthouse where the memorial is now. 

St. Louis Cardinal's Game
Anyone who loves baseball knows that you have to check out a game! Since Jason and I are trying to go to every ballpark in America, this definitely is on my list of places to check out! Times who doesn't love a hotdog and beer at a ballpark? 


Six Flags St. Louis
Thrill-seekers rejoice! If you want some rollercoasters and whitewater rapids, look no further than Six Flags St. Louis. Tickets are around $67 a person at the park, but if you buy online prior to going, it is cheaper!

Budweiser Brewery Tour 
I am not a beer drinker, however, I would be remiss if I didn't include the Budweiser Brewery tour!
There are a few different tours of the brewery available as well as just going to the Biergarten (beer garden basically). Make sure you do a little bit of research as to what tour best suits your needs! I would choose the Bud Light Tour, mainly because you start with the CLYDESDALES! Tickets are $10 dollars and if it were me I would reserve ahead of time, just so you know what time your tour will be!

Grant's Farm

Named for Ulysses S. Grant and is right beside of his house that is now a National Park. It is now mainly used for the Clydesdales! That's right this is where you can go see the beautiful horses! It costs $12 to park (or may be included as part of the package for the Brewery tour), but that's worth it to see the horses! Also, you can see where President Grant lived too :) 

Grant's Home

City Museum - now you all know that I am not a museum person. But this is different. It is a huge playground inside an old factory that has mainly repurposed architectural components. It is amazingly beautiful inside and a great way to spend an afternoon. It costs $15 per person to get in, and then you have to pay to park as well but totally worth it, especially if you have kids. 

Just some of the beauty, photo does not do it justice

playing in one of the climbing things :) 

Forest Park - a beautiful 1300 acre park in St. Louis. There is much to do here including the history, and art museums and the St. Louis zoo!! This park is rich in history since it was the location for the 1904 World's Fair and also hosted some of the Summer Olympics in 1904 as well! 

World's Fair Pavilion in Forest Park

Kansas City
Blues, BBQ, and the Kansas City Royals.

Penn Valley Park
Originally part of the Sante Fe Trail, it is now 170+ acres in the downtown area of Kansas City.
It currently has the National World War I Museum and Memorial. It is officially the National Museum of the United States on everything about WWI. It is only open 10am-5pm Tuesday -Sunday and costs $16 to get in.

Kansas City Royals Game 
Same thing as before for a Cardinals game. Is there anything better than a hotdog and a beer at a ballgame?

Community Bookshelf Wall 
If you are a book nerd (like myself) then check out this wall! It's on 14w 10th Street in Kansas City. I loved it and took about 80 million photos of it :)

Power and Light District 
A new shopping, dining, and entertainment district in downtown Kansas City! It looked fun and hip when we drove through it! Definitely looked like some killer food options!

Branson
Welcome to the Gatlinburg of Missouri. Shows galore and so many tourist attractions that it almost hurts my eyes to look at the place.

Table Rock Lake
With over 800 miles of shoreline, what can't you do at this lake? Water skiing, fishing, swimming, boating, and even scuba diving is available here.

Silver Dollar City/White Water Branson
Silver Dollar City is an amusement park filled with rides for thrill-seekers of all ages. White Water Branson is a water park!

Shows
This is almost like Broadway, there are so many shows that you can see. Make sure to do a little bit of research about the shows for when you decide to go!

Other Locations in Missouri

Ozarks - This mountain range starts outside of St. Louis and runs all the way through parts of Arkansas, Kansas, and Oklahoma. There is a lot of outdoor activities that can be done around these areas. Mostly hiking, biking, trails, and water sports!

Alley Mill in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways

Independence, Missouri
Known mostly now being the home of President Truman, it also has a Frontier Trails Museum and has some rich history here!

President Truman's House

Lamar, Missouri
Ok, the only reason why I am putting this out here is because I was so impressed with one shop in particular. Blue Top Quilt Shop was a fabulous experience for me. They drew me in because of their advertising "Scream until he stops!" Well, it worked because I stopped. I fell in love with the ladies that work there because they went above and beyond to help me. Wish I lived closer but looks like I will be ordering from them soon!!

That is all I have for Missouri!
Any questions shoot me an email!!
graceparsons2023@gmail.com

Pennsylvania

I'll be the first to tell you that I have a love/hate relationship with PA. I love Pittsburgh but I loathe Pitt University and a good portion of the people in the city(I'm a WVU fan, It's like in my DNA). I hate Philadelphia but I love the history of the city.
Which makes this blog post hard for me, but my goal is to give you my opinions on where I've been and what I've seen.

*Some of these photos are my own, some my fiance Jason took! Just wanted to make sure he got some credit*

Pittsburgh
So I lived here for 4 years during Pharmacy school right in downtown and I hated it the first two years I was here and loved it the last 2. There are actually a lot of things to do in Pittsburgh, especially in the outer areas, but I'm just going to focus on the Downtown area!

Mount Washington

Mount Washington

There are 2 ways to get to the top of Mount Washington which is over the Fort Pitt Tunnel to get this kind of view. You can drive up and find a parking spot or you can take the inclines.

Personally, I think the best way is the Inclines. You really get the charm of the city by taking these. Back during the coal mine/steel mill days of Pittsburgh, a dozen or so of these inclines took men up and down the mountain to get to work and back home. 

The Mon Incline takes you from Station Square (a pretty popular eating location) up to Mt Washington.

The Duquesne Inclines is about a mile down the road and boasts the original wooden cars! 

Now the main restaurant in Mt. Washington is the LeMont. It boasts the "best view in the city" and is where the picture above was taken from. The LeMont is considered fine dining so be ready to pay for that view! 

North Shore

This is where the Pirates and the Steelers call home. 

During home Pirates games they shut down the Roberto Clemente Bridge (aka the bridge right beside of the stadium) and I think it's really cool that you can walk down the center of a major bridge. 

Ok now I may be biased, but PNC Park is a BEAUTIFUL Field! I'm also a Pirates fan sooo there's that. 

The View from Heinz Field

I've been to a couple pre-season Steeler games and a few concerts at Heinz Field. My main issue is that Pitt also plays there and as a WVU fan, I just cannot like the place :) 

The stadiums are not the only thing that North Shore has to offer. It also has the Rivers Casino, The Carnegie Science Center, and the Andy Warhol Museum. The only one I haven't been to is the Andy Warhol Museum, but as an always broke college student, paying $10 ($20 if you aren't a student) seemed a steep price. Especially since I'm not an art person. 

The Rivers Casino is a casino but it's on the river! (please read that with all the sarcasm I put into it). 

The Science Center is really cool if you are a nerd like myself, but when I went in 2010, it was still a little childish for my 21-year-old self. 

Places to Eat! 

Jerome Bettis' Grille 36 - sports bar

Burgatory - burger place

Foundry - gastropub 

McFadden's -Irish pub

Mullen's - bar and grill

All of these are around the stadiums and get there early because on game days they fill up quickly! 

The last thing I want to say about North Shore is the Three Rivers Heritage Trail. It's beautiful and gives you a great view of the city! 

Southside

This is the place all the college kids go to party. So if you are looking for something other than a drunken fest every Wednesday-Saturday night. Maybe avoid this place. 

If watching drunk girls say "I'm totally fine. I've had like nothing to drink. I'm totally fine and not drunk." The south side is for you!! 

There is a section on either side of the south side "strip" that is a little more classy. Station Square and Southside Works. 

Station Square is where you can hop a ride on the Mon Incline, drink at Bar Louie, or Eat at Buca di Peppi. 

Southside Works has Hofbrauhaus and Cheesecake Factory along with some really cute shops. 

Downtown

I lived in the Downtown area for 4 years and I loved/hated it. Loved it because I could walk to everything, hated it because sometimes the traffic was ridiculous. I lived by the Mellon arena and watched as they tore it down and built the new arena (I think it's called PPG Paints Arena now). 

Point Park - it is completely beautiful especially during the summer. The fountain is on and there are all kinds of people around the area. There is also the Fort Pitt Museum that depicts life when it was a British fort. 

There are way way too many places to name to eat in the downtown area. 

But one place you HAVE to check out is Pittsburgh Popcorn Company! It's really good and worth it. 

One more thing in downtown is the Benedum Center and Heinz Hall, which is where all the great Broadway shows to come! I saw the Little Mermaid on Broadway at the Benedum and loved it! They have really good deals for college students.

Benedum 

Outside of the City

There are a few other things to do outside of the city.

Kennywood is one - its a theme park with a few rollercoasters and isn't a bad place to spend an afternoon. 

Sandcastle - a water park near Kennywood. It has a lazy river and really what more can you ask for in a water park? 

Pittsburgh Zoo - be ready to climb some hills! 

Philadelphia

Ok, let me make sure I say this at the beginning. I hate Philly. I think it's dirty and gross. I've been there twice and both times I was completely underwhelmed. But I would be a horrible travel blog writer if I didn't include it into this blog post. 

Independence Park

Independence Park

Independence Hall

Independence Hall

Liberty Bell

This is probably the only place I really enjoy in Philly. I adore history and getting to see the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall was an amazing experience. The Liberty Bell is in a separate building from Independence Hall and does not require a ticket. However in the summer, the line is crazy long, but if you go in the fall or when school is in on a weekday, the line to see the bell is much much shorter. 

Getting into Independence Hall is a little different. It requires a ticket, now those tickets are free, but have to either be reserved in advance or you have to go to the Visitors Center and get the ticket. It gives you a time for you to do the guided tour. 

The desk where they signed the Declaration of Independence 

Up close view

Some other things to see at Independence Park is the Presidents house. It's directly in front of the Liberty Bell and is now only the foundation of a house where George Washington and John Adams created the office of President while living here. 

The Carpenter's Hall - where the 1st Continental Congress met. 

Carpenter's Hall

Elfeth's Alley - the oldest street/alley/houses in America.

Elfeth's Alley

Franklin Court - houses that Ben Franklin owned. 

Franklin Court

Betsy Ross House - where the famous lady made the first flag of the United States.

Betsy Ross

There are a lot of other things that you can see in Independence Park, but I feel that these are the most important. There is also a new Museum of the American Revolution by the Visitor's center that I didn't get to see. But I've heard stellar reviews about! 

Reading Terminal Market

This was actually an old train depot market that has lost the train part but kept the market! It is on the ground floor and is covered with food markets and little cafes. This is a perfect place to grab lunch or sample some of PA's finest foods. 

LOVE Statue 

The JFK plaza that it normally calls home is under renovation and for the life of me, I could NOT find where they moved it! But do not worry, LOVE should be back in its home come November of 2017. 

Rocky Steps 

Let me just say, that Rocky was in killer shape when he did these steps. I tried and I was convinced I was going to die before I made it to the top. The steps are actually the steps to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and there is a statue dedicated to Rocky off to the right of the steps. 

Other Sights in PA

Valley Forge 

This is about an hour away from Philly and if you like history, then you should definitely spend some time here. I only did the driving tour (sometimes I'm exceptionally lazy) but still, it is really an informative drive. 

I'm only going to talk about the things I found interesting because honestly I'm not a historian and I tend to get dates/facts messed up in my brain. 

The National Memorial Arch - it is so pretty. It was erected in 1917 to honor the soldiers who fought for our independence. This photo does not do it justice and you should definitely take the time to get out of the car and walk around it!

Washington's Headquarters - Where Washington really stayed. (I geek out over this)

The last thing that I thought was really cool was Washington Memorial Chapel. Off to the left is an outdoor grotto area. Where you can become a princess if you want.

The church is beautiful inside as well. 

Hershey/Gettysburg

How could I forget these extremely two important places in Pennsylvania the first go-round! Don't worry travelers I will fix it immediately! 

Hershey

I've actually been here twice, once just for the rollercoasters and another time for a half marathon in Lancaster.

There are actually two separate parks! Hershey Park and Chocolate World. Hershey Park is an amusement park and I have been before, but I honestly do not remember. 

Chocolate World is just that a world of wonderful chocolate. You can buy all kinds of different chocolate themed gifts and when I was there in 2016, you can take a ride with 3 cows (I loved this part) and they took you for a "tour" of how the chocolate is made and the history of the company. My understanding is the company has changed this now to something more modern, which makes me sad because I loved the cows. ("It's the milk chocolate, moo moo") 

You can also become a chocolate expert at their tasting class and you can even make your own chocolate bar! 

If you have kids or just love chocolate, I would put this on my to-see list.

Gettysburg

This is the battle of the Civil War with the most casualties and is known as the turning point of the war. It was another one of the first battlefields preserved. To me, this is an important part of our history as Americans. It is one thing to learn about it in a classroom and it is another to see it firsthand. I have a lot of photos of the place, but in all honestly, without going through an entire history lesson of what happened in that photo, they are really just an empty field.

That's about all I have so far for PA!! 

If you have any questions about anything email me! graceparsons2023@gmail.com

Happy Traveling!