TRAVEL
162 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE
At the Campbell House Museum in
downtown St. Louis, we stepped into the
past for a glimpse of St. Louis’ golden age.
Suzanne Corbett, author of The Gilded Table
cookbook, greeted us in historic garb to
fascinate us with the story of the Campbell
Family that occupied this home from 1854
until it became a museum in 1938. The
1851 structure is a time capsule of the 19th
century, as it is filled with thousands of the
family’s personal possessions, including
furniture, fixtures, art, documents and
photographs.
While downtown, we stopped at the
City Museum, expecting to find other
historic treasures, only to be surprised
by a ten-story former shoe factory that
had been converted into one of the most
unique playgrounds we have ever seen.
St. Louis was once the center of this
country’s shoe manufacturing, and its
International Shoe Company building was
re-imagined using ingenuity, architectural
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salvage and almost anything imaginable.
Steam table pans were converted into
walls; airplanes became children’s
monkey bars; and rooms were laced with
swinging bridges and tunnels. This fun
and imaginative place even has a restored
Wurlitzer organ from New York City’s
1924 Rivoli Theatre that is played there,
along with the other fantastic artifacts that
have been altered, repurposed or simply
set out on display. On the rooftop, guests
can ride on a vintage 1940‘s Ferris wheel
and climb on a school bus that safely hangs
off the roof’s edge. Visitors can also climb
to the top of the Science Center’s former
planetarium dome and then slide down
the thrilling ten-story shoe chute.
We stepped back in time on the tenblock
long brick streets of St. Charles. This
charming community along the shore of
the Missouri River was established in 1769.
It is known as a home of Davy Crockett,
as well as for its quaint shops, preserved
Forest Park is
even larger than
New York City’s
Central Park.