Vatican Splendors

This is actually the back of the museum and is part of the expansion that happened in 2000.  The Missouri History Museum is located in the heart of Forest Park and is home to permanent exhibits that focus on Lindbergh, the Louisiana Purchase, and the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.

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 As with most special exhibits, we were not able to photograph anything once inside.

Vatican Splendors is a special exhibit that only has three planned stops in the United States.  Since St. Louis is affectionately nicknamed Little Vatican, this is its first stop.  The exhibit takes the visitor on a 2000 year journey through the history of Vatican art from extraordinary artists such as Michelangelo and Bermini.  It is comprised of nearly 200 pieces, many of which have never been allowed outside of Rome or the Vatican.

It's definitely worth seeing, but the Papal exhibit at HMNS a few years ago spoiled Tony and I.   This was nowhere near as impressive or extravagant as that one.

The beautiful Grand Hall greets visitors as they first enter the museum.

The main attraction of Grand Hall is the Spirit of St. Louis sister plane that was used in the 1957 movie, The Spirit of St. Louis, starring Jimmy Stewart.  The plane was actually built by the same manufacturer a year after the original and later modified to match the Spirit's exact dimensions.  Oral histories claim that both Stewart and Lindbergh flew this plane.  It was moved from its display at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport to the museum in 2000.

After walking through the exhibit, we decided to have lunch at Bixby's in the museum.  Bixbyy's is named after a leading St. Louis cultural philanthropist, William K. Bixby.  He once served as the Missouri Historical Society president from 1907-1913, as vice president from 1914 to 1924, and as president again from 1925 to 1930.

Bixby's strongly believes in supporting the balance between nature and man in all food and has a commitment to sustainable food practices.  These principles guide them to use ingredients which are local, seasonal, and sustainable.

We were fortunate enough to walk in when a window table was open.  The restaurant boasts an entire wall of floor to ceiling windows with a great view of Forest Park.  

Tony enjoyed the Bixby's Midwest Chuck Burger which was topped with prairie breeze white cheddar, carmelized onions, Mount Pleasant Winery Port demi-glace and served on a grilled English muffin with grilled steak fries and house-made pickles.

I enjoyed the Grilled Chicken on Companion 'John Dough' with locally grown tomatoes and romaine, fontina, ailoi, and seasoned gaufrette chips.  While all of the food was quite tasty, the pickles were by far my favorite.  A sweet butter pickle that reminded me of my Grandma's house.

As good as the food was, it was easily topped by the outstanding service.

No visit to a museum would be complete without a trip to the museum gift shop.  Since one of the large permanent exhibits housed here focuses on the Louisiana Purchase, I love that they chose to name the gift shop after it!




After several failed attempts, we finally made it to the Missouri History Museum to see the Vatican Splendors exhibit!  This was our first time visiting the History Museum, but we didn't have enough time to see the special exhibit as well as the permanent exhibits.  Once the temperatures drop, we'll have time to visit the museum again.