I finally have to do it. There was so much to see and do in St louis that I need 2 blog posts to tell you all. I am falling badly behind here but I have an excuse. I am currently catching up with a dear friend from HMAS Perth days in 1973/4. Wow. What a blast. Anyway back to the blog.
This post is about the wonderful week we had in St Louis (NOT pronounced St Louie). I have posted a few pictures of the city as we took them and as you can see (by the 4th pic) we were no sooner in the city and the magnificent Gateway Arch (https://www.gatewayarch.com ) was visible. So early the next morning we got up early and headed to take a closer look. I must tell you this structure is huge. 630ft high and 630 ft wide. If you can zoom in to the photo after Shane with the umbrella you may see a strip of observation windows at the apex of the arch. We quickly grabbed our tickets and were ushered to the tiny ‘tram’ carriages (max 5 passengers) and whisked to the top. There you have a narrow passage to view St Louis and the Mississippi. Meanwhile, below a paddle steamer (which we took a ride on later) steamed upstream loaded with tourists like ourselves. Click here for a short video on how the tram/lift works.
St Louis was the gateway to the west and as such has a museum under the arch depicting the various stages of development of the USA westward from here. We tried to see as much as possible before heading out for our boat ride and some lunch. Some of the interesting items worth photographing included the carpark as seen from the paddle streamer. I should say what was left of the car park that wasn’t underwater. Various pics after that include another museum (The Science Museum I think) with a bus and a plane hanging over the edge, ferris wheel , playground and praying mantis and other assorted items atop its building. The “Barnes Jewish Plaza” and the photo after are of the massive hospital in St Louis.
On another night we ticked off another bucket list item with a trip to a MLB Baseball game. The opponents were the St Louis Cardinals (https://www.mlb.com/cardinals/) (the home team of course) and the San Francisco Giants. If you can see the arrow in the first photo you’ll see where we sat. The night started when we arrived early to receive a gratis Cardinals Hockey Jersey. We snapped a few shots of the teams warming up and then left the grounds to go across the road to “The Cardinal Nation” to get a feed before the game. The Cardinal Nation is a whole city block area dedicated to baseball themed shops. There is the Cardinals Baseball Hall of Fame, Fox Sport studio (where they broadcast the game from), Several bars/grills and shops with baseball souvenirs. Behind Shane (5th photo) you may notice seating across the road from the stadium where ticket holders can watch the game without entering the ball park. The remainder of these photos are of/during the game finishing off with a shot of one mode of transport out of the city. By the way, we (Cardinals) won 5-3. There’s also a short video to watch here too.
On a different day we started out with a tour of the “Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate” factory. Naturally we couldn’t leave without bagging a few samples. Form there we ventured to Forest Park a massive area that includes their Art Gallery, lakes and waterways, the St Louis Zoo, a Modern Museum, live theatre venues, picnic areas, cafés and much more. We took a walk around the lake to walk off the effects of the chocolate but sadly missed the galleries. Shane loved the boathouse most I think with the ducks and the catfish. It was a good day.
Well rather than be even later I will post this St Louis blog as Part I now and will begin Part II asap. St Louis certainly was a fantastic place to visit with more to come in the next edition so watch for it and until then, Cheers.
Garry and Shane