St Louis – MO – Day 1

A drive down the mighty Mississippi (next to it of course, not in it) has bought us to St Louis, a major port on the famous river.

We are still in Missouri however briefly today we were across the border in Illinois – state 33 – for part of our drive.

Though our hotel in Hannibal was in a great location in the historical section of the town, it didn’t turn out to be such a great place. Being Labour Day weekend probably didn’t help as they were full, but we had requested a “quiet room on a high floor” and got a room almost at reception, next to the indoor pool and with the “smokers chair” right outside our window. So the midnight smoko, most likely the Harley Davidson group, who were also staying there, after quite a few drinks by the sound of it, and the air-conditioning which sounded like a plane engine didn’t make for a peaceful night !

Labour Day Monday traffic in the morning was very sparse so there was not a lot on the road as we left. The road to start on the Missouri side stayed fairly close to the river and there were a couple of scenic overlooks where we stopped – although the tree growth at these spots limited our views a bit. It then moved away from the river through more farming land – you guessed it – corn ! We did a little research and found that the USA produces nearly 40% of the world’s corn needs and we reckon we have seen a lot of that 40% so far ! We also came across a “picture perfect” old farmhouse – now derelict but with the yards maintained amongst the corn fields.

Probably quite a mansion in its day !

In a town called Louisiana (not the state), we crossed the river, leaving Missouri for a while and venturing into Illinois. And guess what they have in Illinois – corn fields ! We’ve decided that the standout difference between the farmland in Kansas, Missouri and now Illinois is that in Kansas the farms/fields are just so vast and flat and fenceless and treeless, whereas those in both Missouri and what we have seen in Illinois are more like the farmland landscapes we know at home.

On the Illinois side we were further away from the MIssissippi but eventually met up with the Illinois River. We crossed that in a town called Hardin but when we arrived we had to wait at the bridge as a section had been raised to allow one of the large river barges that use the big rivers to pass under. These barges are huge – a tug section with large cargo sections in front as you can see below.

Further on near the town of Grafton, the two rivers join and the Mississippi flows on south.  From what we have seen, the currents in these big rivers are extremely strong. The road from here followed the river for quite some way and there were many pleasure boats utilising the river on the last of the long weekend – and the “official end of summer” here.  We stayed on the Illinois side of the river so that we could look across to the city of St Louis before we arrived. The “Gateway Arch”, on the Missouri side, was built as a monument to the westward expansion of the USA. It stands 630 feet tall (192 metres) and is the tallest arch in the world and tallest man-made arch in the Western Hemisphere. We are doing a tour tomorrow so more about it then.

Gateway Arch from Mississippi River Overlook in Illinois

Arch and river from the viewing tower. The Old St Louis Courthouse is in the center under the arch .

We are staying right across the road from the Old Courthouse and just near the arch at the Drury Plaza Hotel. After we checked in, we went across to look around the Old Courthouse and buy our tickets for the Arch tour tomorrow. We had the luxury of another “5.30 Kickback” for dinner so we had a few drinks and very tasty dinner of pasta, grilled spicy chicken, salad and extras.

Inside the Old Courthouse looking up into the dome

Dusk near the arch looking back to the Old Courthouse – our hotel on the left.

The Mississippi River was in someways the inland “border” of the USA up until 1803 when the Louisiana Purchase acquired the territory west from there. And it was from this that St Louis developed as a major port and eventually a major city. More on St Louis tomorrow.

Today’s Trivia – The St. Louis Cardinals baseball team are one of the most successful franchises in Major League Baseball.