Silver Arch









































Yesterday we headed back up to St Louis for a Gateway Arch Tour.  If you want to see a video version of the tour, check out Traveling Robert on YouTube.  We parked down by the river and parking was $10 for the day.  Not bad if you don’t mind walking the city or your vehicle will not fit in a parking garage.  

I didn’t take many pictures in the museum and visitor center, but have quite a few from outside and in the arch.  The arch is 630’ tall and 630’ wide.  It was completed in the 60’s and designed by a Finnish architect from Michigan named Saarinen.  Katy’s great uncle was an engineer on the project.  

I’ve been to the arch years ago when I was in town for training, but we couldn’t go up.  It’s been on my list for a while and now I’ve done it.  The ride up the arch is in a tiny elevator car that holds up to 5 people and it keeps adjusting to the arc of the arch.  There are 8 cars that go up at a time and you end up having to take some stairs to the top.  

I took the 4 minute ride up with a couple from Indianapolis.  The husband was not having a good time being in the tight space or the whole height thing.  I don’t think he enjoyed it at the end.  We made small talk on the way up and down about our travels.  They thought what we are doing is impressive and he told me he is the type of guy who pays to have his boat dropped off at the lake and picked up at the end of season so he doesn’t have to back up a trailer.  

The view from the top of the arch is impressive.  It was a clear day and I swear you could see a hundred miles.  It is a little weird to lean with the contour of the arch to look out the windows.  There are 16 windows on each side so there wasn’t a lot of fighting for a view.  This is a must do if you’re not afraid of tight spaces or heights.  I would love to do it for sunrise and sunset.  The time up top is only about 10 minutes.  It’s enough time for the elevator to go down and pick up another load of guests.  

After the arch we had some more BBQ.  This time we visited Salt and Smoke.  It was fancier and a different feel that Sugarfire.  The drinks were better, the pulled pork and coleslaw were also better.  Sugarfire still has them beat on ribs, brisket and atmosphere in our opinion.  Overall it was good and we would go back.  

We also stopped at Ted Drewe’s for custard and hit Costco on our way home.  It was an early day back to the rig.  

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