Meet in St. Louis for a winter museum break

Not everyone can hop on a plane to see the world, but you can travel the globe and beyond at a fraction of the cost and time with a visit to the big three indoor museums in St. Louis’ Forest Park.

You can pretend you are at the 1904 World’s Fair at the Missouri History Museum, view art from all corners of the earth at the Saint Louis Art Museum and soar into space at the Saint Louis Science Center. All three museums feature special offerings this winter to nudge you out of the house and down I-55 for 100 miles.

The history museum pays tribute to the St. Louis World’s Fair with photos and artifacts such as dumbbells from the Olympics held at the fair and an intricate Chinese rosewood desk. Numerous photos, maps, souvenirs and artworks round out the display. Proceeds from the fair funded construction of the Jefferson Memorial Building, the museum’s oldest section, opened in 1913.

The museum also houses the sister plane to Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis, which he flew across the Atlantic in 1927. Makers of the 1957 film about Lindbergh’s journey used the sister plane. The other permanent exhibit showcases the history of St. Louis from early settlers to modern industry in two “Seeking St. Louis” galleries.

An exhibit ending Feb. 15 tells the story of St. Louis’ 250 years in a 250-second video and exhibits of 50 people, 50 places, 50 images, 50 moments and 50 objects special to St. Louis. “Our 250 in 250 has been an enormously popular special exhibition,” according to Leigh Walters, the museum’s assistant director of communications.

Other special exhibits include “The Louisiana Purchase” and “Utopia: Revisiting a German State in America,” both ending April 19.

The Missouri History Museum is free and open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. except Tuesday, when it closes at 8 p.m. Walters said Saturday is a particularly good day to visit because the museum presents free theater performances related to exhibits.

Just down the road is the Saint Louis Art Museum, the main building being the only permanent surviving one from the 1904 fair. Inside visitors will find art from throughout the ages and the world, including the popular “Water Lilies” by Monet and “Little Dancer of Fourteen Years” by Degas.

The new East Building opened in 2013 and houses a contemporary art collection in expansive, light-filled galleries. Museum spokesperson Matthew Hathaway said the addition has allowed the museum to display more and larger works. “The new special exhibition galleries offer a more flexible and dramatic space for the ticketed shows” as well, he added.

The next ticketed show, “Navigating the West: George Caleb Bingham and the River,” opens Feb. 22 and helps tell the story of the river’s role in 19th century America.

Free special exhibits this winter include Thomas Cole’s large-scale allegorical paintings about aging in “Voyage of Life” and landscape art in “Scenic Wonder: An Early American Journey down the Hudson River.” Other shows feature photographs by Nicholas Nixon, Chinese and Japanese calligraphy, Tibetan Buddhist art, printmaking and drawing by Vija Celmins and Nick Cave’s sculpture, fashion, installation and performance art.

Admission to the art museum is free although you have to pay to see the ticketed exhibition except on Fridays, when everything is free. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday except Friday, when the museum closes at 9 p.m.

You also can get in free to the Saint Louis Science Center but must pay to enter any featured exhibitions and for shows in the James S. McDonnell Planetarium and Omnimax theater. This winter the Omnimax shows are “Rocky Mountain Express” (ending Feb. 12), “Humpback Whales” (beginning Feb. 13) and “Mysteries of the Unseen World” (running through March). Shows in the planetarium include “Moon Rock,” “The Little Star that Could,” “Mr. Hubble’s Universe” and “Live Sky Tonight.”

The center will not have a special exhibition during the winter months, according to marketing coordinator Margie Walsh, but a Science on Tap paid event on Jan. 31 will explore the science and chemistry behind beer brewing and bottling.

Even if you don’t want to pop for these added attractions, you can find plenty to entertain adults and children in the Science Center. On the lower level, you can dig for fossils or observe the paleo lab in the shadow of T-Rex, a replica dinosaur with moving mouth and arms. Displays on water, energy, earthquakes, tornadoes and volcanoes make learning fun.

The center’s top two floors contain lots of hands-on activities and experiments for both adults and children. You can explore the senses, memory, math and life sciences or become mesmerized by the two-story ball contraption with its twists, turns and constant motion.

You can watch traffic whiz by through windows on the walls and floor on your walk through the sky bridge over Highways 64-40 to the planetarium side. A flight simulator, space artifacts and other displays fill the gallery outside the planetarium’s theater.

The center is open 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday. On first Fridays hours extend to 10 p.m.

For more information about the Missouri History Museum, visit www.mohistory.org. The Saint Louis Art Museum’s website is www.slam.org. Go to www.slsc.org for details on the Saint Louis Science Center.

Mary Bohlen is a freelance writer and editor from Springfield and former chair of the Communication Department at the University of Illinois Springfield. She alternates writing the monthly Midwestern travel column for Illinois Times with Mary C. Galligan of Chicago.