MUSEUM OF ILLUSIONS - ST. LOUIS

City Foundry 
3730 Foundry Way (Suite 168)

St. Louis, MO 63110

314-300-7147

Admission: Adults-$31; Children 5-13-$27;Seniors-$29, etc.

Parking is free and available in a garage or on a lot.

https://moistlouis.com/

Established in 2024

The first Museum of Illusions opened in Croatia in 2015.  There are now more than 60 museums in 28 countries on four continents. The museums are described on the website as: "a visual, sensory, and educational experience designed to engage your sense of wonder and shift your perspective through the science behind optical illusions."

The museum in St. Louis opened in May 2024 as a part of the City Foundry complex which has been open just under 4 years and was known mostly for its food court. But in the past four years more local stores have opened as well as entertainment has been added such as this museum.  

There are over 50 exhibits in the museum, all basically interactive.  We especially enjoyed the larger exhibits where we could get really involved in the illusion.  Below three of us leaned against a pin board. 

And on the other side we saw this!

We got a real kick out of this room where our eyes played tricks on us as to who was the tallest.  We tried it two ways. 

Depending on where one stands in the room, their height looks totally different. 

Another illusion where our comparative sizes don't appear right!

The building illusion was our favorite in that it really had us laughing and laughing. 

First one person "hung from the building" ...

And then we all did!

This was a challenging and fun photo to take!

This tunnel looked very interesting but it came with a warning about dizziness and balance so none of us were able to walk through it. (A couple other exhibits made some of us dizzy.)

What a fun wall playing with colored lights and shadows. 

This was an interesting table!

This upside down room tested our balance and strength. 

The museum had several kaleidoscopes.  For this one you looked through a long tube at a friend on the other end and in this case at a camera. 

The next two you stood in them and let the mirrors do their tricks. 

There were many exhibits on the walls as you walked through the museum.  When you first came in you saw this one. 

Most of the wall exhibits came with an illusion name, instructions, and an explanation to the side of the visual such as these two.  

Here are two more illusions displayed on a wall.  There were many, many of them. 

There were also a few three-dimensional exhibits.  This large shape just looked like a shape siting on the floor! And it was.

But when you looked into it, it went on forever, and ever as if to be 30+ feet deep. 

This was another three-dimensional gallery.

There was also a large room filled with activities for younger children. 

There were many options of activities for the children. 

And lastly there was a gift shop with a few items of clothing but mostly lots of fun "toys." 

After an hour at the museum we walked a few doors down to the Foundry's Food Hall for lunch. 

We walked through the food court checking out the 26 places that offered food. 

Three of us ordered food from the Kalbi Taco Shack.

These tacos included shrimp!

This power bowl came from a very popular place to order.  

And this grilled cheese with brie, apples, and cranberry jam came from another popular place. All the food was great. 

We were very interested in these miniature cheesecakes at one of the bakeries but ended up being full after our yummy meals. 

COMMENTS

We were a little unsure if we were too "elderly" to fully enjoy this museum but we absolutely loved it.  It was so much fun and we laughed a lot.  And we learned a few things along the way.  This is a museum for all ages.

They advertise that it takes 45-90 minutes to see the entire museum. We got through in about 60 minutes but we were blessed on a Friday with hardly anyone else there so we never had to wait to see or use something. Being a school day there were no young children there. I went on the website ahead of time to check the ticket sales and saw that there was no field trips coming, also.  

One aspect that was so helpful was the wonderful employee that guided us through all of the photo taking. She was excellent.  They have every exhibit marked as to where to stand to get the best picture but her guidance was extremely helpful on top of that. I do wish I had studied other people's pictures more before going in order to get even more ideas.  Unfortunately the pictures do not always present the illusion at its best but they still are fun to take.

The museum was clean and nothing was broken which we don't usually see in interactive displays.  The front  desk staff was also great.

The food court was fun, but somewhat crowded.  But I would go again. I need to try the miniature cheesecakes!    

Rawlings Experience STL Museum and Store

462 W Port Plaza Drive
St. Louis, MO 63146
314-819-2900               

Free admission. Free parking in West Port Plaza parking lots.

https://www.rawlings.com/rawlings-experience-st-louis.html

Established 2024

Rawlings Sporting Goods was founded here is St. Louis in 1887 and after several different ownerships it has settled into specializing in baseball and softball equipment and clothing. They are the official provider for major league baseball.  In April they opened the Rawlings Experience STL which turned out to be really a store with a few museum like displays and a couple of interactive opportunities. 

The Rawlings Experience STL is located Maryland Heights at West Port Plaza at the company's headquarters.  It covers two floors. You can't miss it because of the huge yellow baseball out front! 

When you enter your eyes gravitate to another large baseball. 

On the back of it one can see all of the layers that surround the cork center of the major league baseball. 

A sign explains the "pill" or cork center. 

Other signs display more information about the baseballs. 

 

Going down a few steps you enter the lower level dedicated mostly to their gloves. 

In 1957, the company introduced the Gold Glove award, which became the major award for baseball. Behind this huge glove is a room dedicated to the Golden Glove winners.

There are several locker displays dedicated to special winners. Cardinal Ozzie Smith was awarded the Gold Glove for thirteen consecutive seasons. 

This picture shows him posing with ten of his gloves. 

One wall recognizes all winners. In 2021 the St. Louis Cardinals had five of the nine National League winners.

There are several special gloves displayed in this room including this Swarovski Crystal Glove which has 15,000 authentic Swarovski crystals which were attached by hand.  The glove is actually on sale for $25,000. The sign states that it is ideal for infielders! 

This is one of three Grateful Dead gloves on display!

Somehow I don't see a Major League player using this watermelon glove. 

Large signs on the wall in the entrance demonstrate the evolution of their gloves. 

One room is full of gloves for sale!  Just a few of them...

There is a large variety. 

There are even one-time special gloves such as this Easter glove. 

And if you don't like what they have on display for purchase you can go into this room and make your own personalized glove.

There are many options from which to chose.

On the second floor one learns about Easton bats and their history.

They were early pioneers in aluminum bats.  In 2020 the company was purchased by Rawlings Sporting Goods. 

This display shows you the inside of a hollow aluminum bat. 

And of course there are many different bats on sale! 

There was a fairly long line for the batting cage!

There were even two t-ball batting cages. 

The second floor also had many leather and clothing items for sale. 

The Rawlings Experience displays all kinds of information including the major league baseball schedule for that day. 

And if you get tired from shopping or hitting balls in the cages there are several gloves one can sit in and rest. 

West Port Plaza offers a number of eating establishments including several right out the Rawlings door and to the right. 

We ate at Jovick Brothers Deli. 

They offered the usual deli sides - pasta salad and cucumber and onion. 

And of course a Pastrami Reuben

and a French dip sandwich. 

Comments:  We visited this new place because most of us enjoy baseball and because I was under the impression that it was a museum of sorts. As stated earlier it was really more of a store but the informational displays were fun and interesting. Young and old baseball enthusiasts would love going there. Rawlings did a good job creating their "Experience."  

It was well laid out with places to sit if you tired.  A walk through to see it all and read the displays takes about 30-45 minutes.  

Although I did not do much pricing, it seemed that the leather goods and baseball items were on the high side and at least some of the clothing was very reasonably priced. 

West Port Plaza offers several great places to eat.  We chose the deli because none of us had ever eaten there before and as we had hoped, it was quiet and comfortable for eating. The staff was friendly.  The menu offered a number of sandwich and pizza offerings and a soup of the day. The food was OK, but on the whole not great.