We embarked on this trip expecting to see and do new things. But sometimes it is just as much fun to renew old ties and revisit the past. We did just that as we moved west to St. Louis, the gateway to the west (unless you are from Kansas City then it is the exit from the east).
On Friday, we were fortunate to have a mini-reunion with AM and R in Princeton, IN. It was great catching up. Thanks for lunch, AM!
From there, it was just a short hop to the Illinois border. We encountered some bugs that liked to fly into our windshield. As dad would say, “They won’t have the guts to do that again!”
We motored across eastern Illinois, but our last 100 miles was plagued with construction delays and bad weather. Even the meekest of westward-bound pioneers would have been embarrassed with our pace.
After several hours of delays, we arrived at the Casino Queen RV park in East St. Louis, IL, just across from the Gateway Arch. The view from our site was pretty good.
I used to live just outside of St. Louis back in the day. We took a quick nostalgia run to O’Fallon, IL, and saw our old house. I sure wish the driveway had been paved when I was a kid, would have saved many a sore finger from pulling weeds out of the gravel.
And more than 33 years after last setting foot on her hallowed grounds, I returned to my old elementary school. I went looking for the historical plaque commemorating my attendance there, but they must have taken it down for polishing.
We even went to Ice Cream Haven for dipped cones. I don’t know if the name is the same, but it is the same location and has the dipped cones just like Grammy used to crave.
On Saturday, we set out on foot to explore the Gateway Arch and the Old Courthouse. We crossed over the Mississippi river and into Missouri on the historic Eads Bridge.
First we toured the Old Courthouse. The Old Courthouse was both a federal and state courthouse. It is most famous for being the site of all the trials, including a Missouri Supreme Court hearing, for the Dred Scott case.
The kids worked on their Junior Ranger badges until it was time to enter the arch grounds. Here is the Arch from the front of the Old Courthouse.
The Parks Service is completely revamping the entire site, so admission to the Arch was limited by your ticketed time for riding to the top. We watched an informative movie about the construction of the Arch, waited in a long line, and finally entered our pod for the ride up.
Once up, the view was terrific. We could see our motorhome across the river and we were treated to a rainbow. We actually saw over the rainbow. I think Annie would be jealous.
After touring the top, the kids received their Junior Ranger badges for the Arch after completing an abbreviated course due to the construction. We also took a few obligatory Arch photos.
Back to the Old Courthouse we went and the kids completed the Junior Range badges for that historic site. We grabbed some grub at Pi pizza on Washington, Ave., contemplated hiring an Uber car to take us home, but ultimately decided to hoof it back across Eads Bridge.
I am glad we walked because I got this nice shot on our return trip across the bridge.
Sunday was soggy. We decided to checkout the Science Museum in Forest Park. I did not take many photos, but I could not resist capturing this battle. Mom won.
After a few hours in the science museum, it was on to Drunken Fish in the Central West Side.
The weather cleared a bit and we decided to view the eruption of the Gateway Geyser in Martin Park, next door to our RV park, before heading to the pool at the Casino Hotel. Supposedly, this geyser erupts at noon, 3 pm, and 6 pm and shoots water 600 feet in the air (the world’s second largest geyser). I’ll believe it when I see it. We were there right at 6 pm and all we got was a good view of a geyser nozzle.
But the park was nice, though marred somewhat by the Cargill facility next door.
Monday was all about City Museum. Recommended by many, we were excited to see what all the fuss was about.
This is not your traditional museum. City Museum occupies an old shoe factory. The museum has repurposed old industrial equipment and building materials to construct a playground for kids and adults like no other. Slides galore. Caves to explore. Climbing contraptions you can’t ignore. I’ll post some more pictures on the photo page to give you an idea of what it is like.
Exhausted, we returned to the motorhome and were treated to a great sunset, a fitting way to end our last day in St. Louis.
It was so good to hear from y’all! We miss you so much! Looks like everybody enjoyed St Louis. R has actually ridden the arch, and says it was quite memorable! Visiting your home place and elementary school must have been nostalgic. I wonder what M3 and L thought about your old stomping grounds. We’re going to make pictures of L’s 3′ flowers and cilantro in our garden.
Great pix. Love the top of the arch photo with sky backdrop and the interior dome shot of the courthouse.