Town and Country, MO Indoor Activities

The Museum of Alaska Transportation and Industry traces its roots back to 1967, during the centennial celebration of Alaska becoming a territory of the US. At this time, it exhibited only six retired railroad cars that served as troop carriers during World War II and formed the Centennial Train, a traveling historical exhibit. Today, nearly 50 years later, the museum stays put at its 20-acre location that includes a train yard and an exhibit hall, where the staff collects, conserves, and restores artifacts relating to the state’s industrial history.

At Shrewsbury Lanes, 10 white appendages await punishment from careening spheres at the end of 24 polished alleys. Automatic scoring screens keep count at every lane so that rollers can concentrate on picking up seven-ten splits, savoring hot eats from the snack counter, and grabbing cold beers or daily happy hour cocktails from No Bul's Bar. During birthday packages, revelers can bounce between bowling alleys and party rooms, which are stocked with hot dogs, drinks, and chips. Shrewsbury Lanes also hosts leagues for bowlers who enjoy more serious competition or nostalgic adults who were raised inside trophy cases. The roar of ransacked pins echoes throughout the facility until 11 p.m. on weekdays and 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

As a huff-and-puff-filled harbinger to the NCC Tour de Grove cycling events, the Tour de Grove 5K will send racers pattering across the same circuit set to host the Missouri Professional Cycling Series later in the day. Before whirring bicycle wheels zip through the neighborhood, runners can slide into their favorite pair of kicks or moon boots and motor around the fully enclosed, two-lap course. A pair of bridge crossings connects the winding route as it weaves through the grove, and to ensure participants won't have to strap grandfather clocks to their backs, a motion-capture camera provides spot-on race times. After the 5K, an awards ceremony will award the fastest male and female sprinters with cash prizes.

Chesterfield Sports Fusion doesn't limit its visitors to just one or two attractions. Within the 30,000-square-foot facility, sport courts, electronic games, and an array of attractions create enough fun to share with the whole family, even weird second cousins. To pique competitive appetites, the facility hosts 35 arcade games and The Vault, a futuristic, laser-filled obstacle course. Modeled after a movie set, the laser-tag arena hosts matches amid two stories of black-lit scenery, and the trickling sounds of a waterfall serve as the soundtrack for an 18-hole mini-golf course. For athletic play, Chesterfield Sports Fusion boasts a 20-foot climbing wall and a dodge-ball arena. Chesterfield Sports Fusion recognizes that having fun is for all ages and rents its facility out for everything from kids' birthday parties to corporate functions to ceremonies honoring a freshly made pair of dentures.

Abundant rides and games find their way into every corner of Tee Time Family Fun Center's indoor and outdoor playgrounds, which keeps guests of all ages enthralled throughout their visit. After entering the facility, it's not long before kids are hugging the racetrack’s turns from behind go-kart wheels, accelerating their bumper cars or bumper boats into fellow participants’ vessels, or parading their putting skills at an 18-hole mini golf course, voted Best Miniature Golf in 2009 by Riverfront Times. A 3-D maze coaxes puzzle solvers through its black-lit labyrinth, and a multi-level soft-play area accommodates crawling tykes with its tunnels, tubes, and crawling seminars taught by worms. After playing racing games in the arcade, patrons can re-energize with pizza, chicken wings, or a slice of cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory at the snack bar.

When asked about their teaching qualifications, the instructors at Finney's MMA and Finney's HIT Squad—including Jesse Finney himself—all point to their win records. All of them have a competitive fighting history in their chosen disciplines, and several have earned championships or black belts. As full-time employees of the gyms, they school guests on MMA, kickboxing, boxing, Brazilian jujitsu, and wrestling. They also access their inside knowledge of the industry for fighter-development programs, which strive to transform beginners into professional combatants without stuffing them into hollowed-out punching-bag cocoons for 5 years. For amateurs and experts alike, they assert that "you fight how you train," and aim to simulate official rounds inside their onsite cages, boxing rings, and matted arenas. In 2011, their professional chops helped Finney's HIT Squad take the title of Best MMA Gym in the Riverfront Times Best of St Louis feature.

Despite their investment in competitions, however, the staffers view the two gyms as all-inclusive spaces. Whether they are instilling confidence in children through kids' jujitsu, orienting a new member to the fitness equipment, or leading a women-only martial-arts class, they mentor students of all backgrounds.