St. Louis winters usually have me huddling inside on days when the temperature drops below zero, but in January the Delmar Loop draws me out into the cold for the annual Ice Carnival. As a kid, the cold never bothered me if there was fun to be had (very Elsa like I know) and every year the eccentric Loop embraces the freezing temperatures to bring back that fun. So what exactly is an Ice Carnival?

Ice Sculptures

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What better way to embrace the freezing cold then viewing art that would disappear before your eyes, if the temperature were a few degrees warmer! Most of the shops have an ice sculpture of their main emblem near their shop and outside Fritz’s restaurant you can watch a live demonstration! In the picture above, he’s working on the Stanley Cup and behind him is Elsa!

Frozen Turkey Bowling

I’m going to admit, at first both kids were kind of grossed out by this concept. But when it was in front of them, they couldn’t resist throwing a turkey at some pins! It proved a lot tougher than actual bowling and my husband was the only one of us, who actually got some pins down. Anybody else think this needs to be on next Thanksgiving’s agenda?

Ice Slide

At first, I thought we would have to slide on the ice with no sled and pictured very cold, wet pants. Thankfully the plastic thin sled protected us and added speed! Not to brag, but I totally went the furthest and fastest. The kids loved the slide and we had fun until we couldn’t feel our faces.

Photo Ops!

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Although I really just wanted to keep my hands in my gloves, there were so many fun photo ops. The kids had to put their heads in every cutout whether we were taking a picture or not! As you see, we found the Snow Queen and not pictured, we also found some very friendly penguins!

Getting Warm and Visiting Unique Stores

Whenever we needed a thaw, we popped into some rare find stores that make up the Loop. Our first thawout was in Rocket Fizz a candy and soda shop (always one of our favorites). Here you can find soda flavors including Martian Poop, Bacon, and Butter alongside bacon popping candy, and candies from around the world. We also stopped at an art supplies store, and then headed to the Moonrise Hotel. The hotel is easy to find, as there is a giant rotating moon on top! Inside the hotel, besides the unique space collectibles and furniture straight out of the Jetson’s, we found fake tattoos and access to the rooftop. The rooftop bar and terrace were gorgeous and held the treasure of free hot chocolate! Out on the terrace we found ice putt putt and a spectacular city view! We had our last stop off at Subterranean books where we enjoyed checking out my youngest’s favorite series.

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Wait there’s more!

At the Peacock diner, we were given ice cubes with coins inside. Later the girls broke the ice cubes on the ground to find chocolate coins in most and a dollar coin in one! The excitement of destruction made the kids day.

The Loop’s Ice Carnival brings back the childish joys of winter for kids and adults and gives us all a reason to get outside on a freezing day. It also encourages interaction with locally owned stores and restaurants that you might not normally visit. Next January celebrate the cold and get out to the Loop!