My mother loved butterflies. She had them as part of the wall decor in her apartment and, as she got older and more housebound, she enjoyed painting by numbers and chose butterflies. My mom passed away in April 2022 and when I was researching my three-week cross-country road trip, I found the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House in Chesterfield, Missouri. I’ve always wanted to go into a butterfly conservatory, but this time I knew I had to do it for Mom.
This place does not disappoint. For the beauty and of course the sentimentality, it was one of the most significant stops on the trip for me. Plus, I released a butterfly in my mom’s memory. I called it Pat (her name was Patricia).
Interestingly, I found the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House while I was using a site called Roadtrippers . On this site you can put in your start and end destinations and the program will show you the attractions, restaurants, hotels, etc. on your route (I’ll talk more about this in another post.) As you find something you want to see, you add it to your itinerary and can see everything mapped out in front of you. The more you zoom in, the more stuff you will see. The Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House was new to me and only a few minutes off my route.
When you walk into the lobby there are exhibits that teach you about butterflies and other insects, but the highlight for me was going into the butterfly conservatory. This is a carefully controlled environment where there are nearly 2,000 tropical butterflies in free flight. Walk in and you just might find all different types of butterflies landing on you! (They didn’t land on me, but two of them landed on Ej, my significant other.)
Take your time walking through the conservatory and please, if you have children, teach them to respect the venue. Running can actually kill some of the butterflies if they don’t look where they are going and end up stepping on them. There are butterflies in the trees, down by the ground and on the people walking around you. It truly was mesmerizing to me.
According to the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House, as many as 80 butterfly species and 150 tropical plant species are exhibited. From their website, ‘few moments in nature are as magical as watching a butterfly emerge from its chrysalis. This rarely seen transformation becomes an everyday occurrence in the “Miracle of Metamorphosis.” Hundreds of chrysalides from around the world are on display with butterflies emerging before your very eyes.’
There is also an outdoor butterfly garden and it looks like they host events, like Supper with Santa. We went there in April. Tickets are $8 for ages 13 and up; $5 for children ages 3-12; military are $4; and Senior (65+) $5. You can order tickets online. The House is open Tuesday – Sunday (Closed Mondays),
10 a.m.–4 p.m. (Last admission at 3:30 p.m.). For more information, visit here.
Miss you mom. Here is a photo of my tattoo I had done after my mom passed in 2022.
