Rides, Friends, & Family, St Louis, MO

Kevin had said he wanted to go to the Gateway Arch National Park. I remember it from years ago but we found out it has changed. We headed to downtown St Louis. We saw quite a few parking garages with signs saying that is where parking is for the Arch. However, our truck is long and we weren’t sure of how big the space is in those. (Always Austin, TX, comes to mind!) As we drove we saw open parking lot but we were in the wrong lane. Ended up on a different freeway and turned around. I saw a restaurant along the river on maps and thought there might be visitor parking there. It is a very long road but no parking allowed. It was interesting because part of that is where you get on the steamboat. Hum. Anyway, at the end was a huge gate, way taller than our truck, that was closed and it is a flood gate. Turned around and drove around some more. Finally found open parking lot close to the baseball stadium. The nice thing is, we saw a lot of the area while driving around. 🤣 We walked a few blocks and to the Gateway Arch. 

Our tickets for the ride and adding the movie in the theater was discounted with my National Park Service pass. The total was $40.00. We had to hurry along to get to the movie in time. Security checkpoint was easy. As we went to find the theater, we passed a huge area of museum. The movie was great – and captioned, this place gets an A. The movie showed about the building of the Arch. So interesting. It is 630 ft wide and 630 ft tall. It was completed in 1965. This place is very well organized. While you wait in line for the ride to the top, you can see video projection on the walls. Then a worker did some talking. Next move on down to another level and stand in a spot in front of the door number of your boarding pass. Ours was #4 and it was just us in that car. Nice! There was projection on the doors, too. Cute animation with all sorts of facts and pictures of this place. It was fun to learn and see the animation about how to get people to the top. One showed animated people in like a train car and how at the bends it would tip them out. HA They came up with the same idea as a ferris wheel. The cars are small and even I hit my head on the back when seated – I am barely 5 ft 0 in tall. Kevin said it reminded him of some small airplanes he has been in where the top edge curves down. I didn’t get motion sick feeling at all! Whew. 

Out the window door you can watch as you go up and down. At the top you can lean on carpet to look out and down. It was a sunny day and the view very clear. You are only at the top less than 10 minutes, they say, but that was plenty of time to look. Facts: it was designed to withstand earthquakes and lightning strikes. It can sway up to 18 inches in 150 mph winds. There are 1076 steps in each Arch leg (not for the public to use). On a clear day you may see up to 30 miles in each direction. The ride was smooth and you could feel the clicks as the car rotated to be at the right angle. 

Looking straight down from the Arch. You can see the two legs of the Arch in this picture I took. What a perspective!!

After we were done with the ride we went to a huge open area. This area has video displays on the huge walls. There is a cafe there and we were hungry. I noticed they have Toasted Ravioli- this is on my 50 states Signature Dishes list for Missouri! So of course I had to order it. It was good. Rated: Next Time I Will Order A Pretzel But It Was Fun To Try This New To Me Food. 

This whole place underwent a huge change back in 2018. Back then we were at Union Station for a week for Hearing Loss Association of America convention. Kevin was running at the time and ran over here and saw it was closed up for renovation. They have done a great job! They added a huge museum area about the city, state, arch and more. It was so well done! Very impressed. Lots of hands-on, light up, touch and feel. Lots of displays had a smaller display with braille. There were even signs in each section that described the sounds in the background. Love that!!! Yeah NPS!!! 

Something we learned – in part of the 1800s people had to have a pass to travel upriver and had to get it from William Clark. It was meant to protect Native Americans from unscrupulous traders, liquor and diseases. Until he died, in 1838, Clark tried to regulate all trade and settlement west of the Mississippi for the U.S. Government. 

Outside we walked over to the base of the arch. To see the size made us feel very small. I got some neat pictures with the sun and clouds above the arch. I was here years ago with my parents and Kevin was here sometime before, as well. He remembered the entrance/exit was right here along the arch legs. You can come out this way but with the addition of the huge theater, museum and open areas, this is covered in grass.  We recommend for everyone to go to Gateway Arch, even if you were there in the past. Be sure to allow plenty time to discover the museum, too.

On Tuesday our friends came over for dinner. Along with Turkey and White Bean Chili, I made deviled eggs. See, I got a new carrier/holder for deviled eggs and was excited to use it. (I get very excited about things like that! HA) Anyway, I started out by cooking 6 eggs. But then I thought, my egg carrier holds 24, so I cooked 12 more. Well, it was a good thing. Our guests liked them so much there wasn’t any left…and that thrilled my heart full!

One evening we met up with our niece’s adult son (our grand-nephew) for dinner at Bandana’s BBQ in Wentzville. He rode his big motorcycle there. We had very good food and a wonderful visit.

Our friends (Betty & Dan) had invited us out for breakfast at Prasino. Her son gave her a gift card for here for her birthday. The place is fancy and the food was delicious. Kevin had a Spanish type  omelette and I had stuffed French toast. Rated: Come Here Every Time Betty’s Son Gives Her A Gift Card For Her Birthday! 🙂

RVing with Bikes is a great app and I highly recommend it. You can find bike-friendly RV campgrounds, maps, contact information, and more! Betty and her son put this app together. Check it out!

*The blog posts are taken from my daily travel journal. Would you believe – it takes me a 1/2 day every week to whittle down a week’s worth of journal so it won’t be too long for the post each week. HAHA Thank you for reading!