MORE GREETINGS FROM ST. LOUIS, Missouri (MO) USA
A day to take in the major sights of the city, the skyline of which is dominated by the Gateway Arch.
By the late 1800’s, St Louis was estimated to be the 4th largest city in the USA (It is now about the 60th largest !) and was a major port on the Mississippi River.
It was home to the “World’s Fair” in 1904 as well as hosting the Olympic Games in the same year ! In fact it basically “stole” the Olympics from Chicago who had officially won the bid to hold the games. Apparently, the actual sport of the Olympics in Paris in 1900 was almost a side show of a World’s Fair being held there at the same time and the St Louis World’s Fair organisers threatened to hold its own sporting competitions to overshadow the Chicago games unless they were incorporated in its exposition. The Olympics committee gave in and St Louis became the venue for the Olympic Games.
First stop for us today was the Gateway Arch which, as I said yesterday, was built as a monument to the westward expansion of the United States. The arch is clad in stainless steel and the construction consists of steel triangular sections, which narrow as they spiral to the top, which were added to each “leg” simultaneously. A crane was hoisted up on the outside of each leg as the sections went higher and until a cross section support was needed toward the top for the last sections to be put in place to complete the arch. And it has a lift which goes all the way up each arch to the very top – 630 feet above the city ! And we went up it ! The observation deck is pretty small – about 20 metres long and just over 2 metres wide and the 16 observation windows only about 70 cm long by 20cm high. The tram that takes you up is 8 cars long and each car – basically a small pod with 5 sets in a semi circle facing the entry door – is like a ferris wheel cage as it swings as the tram negotiates the arch shape. I’m stressed just writing all that so I’ll put some pictures in while I breathe deeply !
Do I look relaxed ?
A pigeon hole view of bridges cross the Mississippi
The Old Courthouse from above
Not a bad view of the St Louis Cardinals home ground – Busch Stadium
We were peering out those little holes up there !
Phew !! – Back on solid ground, it didn’t take much arm twisting to venture to another famous landmark in St Louis – the Anheuser-Busch Brewery, home of “Budweiser” (or “America” as it is currently being labelled here until the election in November). A couple of free beers on a tour would certainly calm the beating heart ! There are various tours on offer – we just did the free Brewery Tour which goes for about 45 minutes. It was excellent ! The guide gave a brief history of the company (which began in 1876 from German immigrants), the brewing process, we walked through some of the manufacturing areas, saw some of the famous Clydesdales and wagons and got a couple of free samples. At one point, having gone inside a building in bright sunshine (in fact it was stinking hot today – over 40), when we came back out it was pouring rain and we got soaked getting to the next building ! By the time we left that one it was fine again – and we were dry again 10 minutes later with the heat ! So after a bit of lunch in the Biergarten with our free beers, all was again right with the world !
One of the original delivery wagons
Decisions !
After our tour and late lunch, we had time to hunt down a Costco and find a Target to pick up a few things before we headed back to the hotel. The “5.30 Kickback” was again an easy option for dinner after a hot & stressful day !
Tomorrow we leave Missouri and head to the “Land of Lincoln” – Illinois.
Today’s Trivia – The St Louis Worlds Fair in 1904 lays claim to the invention of both the ice cream cone and iced tea AND the introduction of the soft drink, Dr Pepper !
Here’s a couple more “arty” shots of the arch before we go – you just can’t get the perspective of the actual height from close up !
