Thursday we went into St. Louis and after finding a place to park the beast, we went to the Gateway Arch. Only cost $5 to park for the day (what a deal). A lot of the larger vehicle parking was flooded so parking was limited.
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| St Louis Arch |
The Western Expansion Museum (at the Jefferson Expansion Monument) was incredible. I have seen statues of people at museums before but these ones moved and the people talked. It was really neat seeing the history of Lewis and Clark and how the Mississippi River helped with the movement West. We took a tram up to the top of the Arch. There were 8 trams and each fit 5 people. The gentleman riding up with us said it felt like sitting in a washing machine and I agree. But the trams were more roomy than I expected. What a view from the top- we could see for miles (brochure says 30 on a clear day like it was today) and it was completely flat. Could see the sports arena where the St. Louis Cardinals play. We were ready to go back down the Arch when we were told the tram was stuck very close to the top. They called up repair workers and we had to wait another 20-30 minutes to ride the 2nd tram back down. Later we heard rumors the people had been stuck for 2 hours. We returned about 2 hours later and the fire dept was there and brought a park ranger out on a stretcher. He had been one of the repairmen but we have no idea what happened to him. The tram did not run the rest of the day.
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| Mississippi River Cruise |
The delay in coming down the tram almost made us miss our ride on the Mississippi River. We took a one hour boat ride on the river. I really didn’t think we’d be able to ride the Mississippi because of flooding but we got lucky. A ranger told us they were not sure if they would run the boats tomorrow because of the floods and by Sat they expected the docks to be under water! Guess we were VERY lucky to have our boat ride. The river was very brown and dirty and about a ½ mile wide at points. It is so important to the economy of this area and it is clear that coal, shipping and industry is huge in this area. It really is not pretty but a necessity, although downtown St Louis and the Arch areas were beautiful. The streets were made of cobblestone and had tons of horse and buggy rides available. Reminded me somewhat of Portsmouth- the narrow and old streets.
The weather was mid 80’s today and sunny. It got very hot at times but for the most part we were in AC buildings. We had dinner in downtown St. Louis at Hannegan’s Restaurant and Pub. We ordered a portabella brushetta that was outstanding. Isabella and I ran into a Food Market while Scott and Lexi ventured into Lowe’s for a part. The grocery store was so disappointing and confusing. The carriages required a quarter to release them from the chain. Upon returning them to the chain, you got your quarter back. Luckily I had a quarter with me from a purchase that day because I usually don’t have change on me. The choices were very limited and brands we had never heard of before. There was a Walmart nearby but not advertised as a super Walmart, so no groceries there.
It has been nice to set up here for 2 nights. We actually found some time to relax. The girls frequented the playground and the jumping pillow a bit at night. We have 2 more long travel days and then we are staying in one area for awhile, which will be nice. The girls are really happy and enjoying themselves. They eagerly spent money today on trinkets for some of their friends showing the Arch. Time is a precious thing, esp after getting set up or back from exploring for the day. That is when we sit to email, make phone calls, clean up, etc. I got 2 bags of laundry ready to go to the campground laundry tonight only to realize they closed in a half hour. I will need to do laundry soon but so far we are all holding out well for clothes.
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