Part of our sightseeing on Day 11 included a visit to the City Museum. I had read online that this museum was one of the most popular destinations in St Louis, drawing over 700,000 visitors annually, so I put it on the list of things to do while in the city. On numerous occasions it has also been voted one of the most popular museums in the world. What makes this place so unique are the exhibits, which consist mostly of discarded or repurposed architectural and industrial objects housed within the first four floors of a ten-story former shoe factory (the International Shoe Factory) in the Washington Avenue Loft District. It opened in 1997 and has continuously added newer (and increasingly more bizarre) exhibits since then. The museum was the brain-child of local artist Bob Cassilly and his then-wife Gail Cassilly, who bought the abandoned factory building in 1993. Approaching the museum from the street is quite an eye-opener. There are steel-like cage tunnels, suspended in the air, running along the sides of the structure (filled with children!), a hanging small jet plane, a school bus teetering on the edge of the roof together with a rooftop Ferris wheel. But the real magic lies inside. As you enter the museum on the first floor you walk through a life-size Bowhead Whale to view a large fish tank from the mezzanine area. It only gets weirder and more delightful the further up you go. Each floor is a maze of tunnels and hidden 'caves' and slides from which children appear magically from some other part of the museum. There is even a ten-story spiraling slide you can take from the top of the building all the way to the bottom. Everything you see inside the museum was artistically re-created from demolished buildings and junkyard objects. And what a zany vision the artists had for this place! There is a circus ring (with live performances), a New York City subway car, giant bugs, contemporary artwork, an aquarium, enormous playrooms (with giant-sized pencils and Lego pieces), a castle structure and a thousand other things to be totally amused and delighted by. Even though kids undoubtedly get the most out of this place, it is a wonderful time for adults, as well. I think you'll see why in the photos below.