10/25 St. Louis Arch

I don't normally like to drive in big cities, and I figured that it being a Sunday and beautiful weather, I would give it a try.  What I did NOT count on was a professional football game!  That meant that a lot of streets were blocked by police, meaning I had to drive in circles at times.

In addition, I had been told by the park service information desk when I called that I could park in a lot at the corner of First and Popular.  Only problem when I got there was that neither street existed anymore!  The Arch has been undergoing expansion of the grounds and renovation, so parking lots had been eliminated and streets dug up and turned into piles of dirt.  There was also very poor signage telling you how to get to the Arch, and lots of chain link fences blocking off even walking paths.

After an hour of driving around and seeing more of downtown St. Louis than I ever want to see again, I made it!  Yea!  Was about ready to give up and leave.

OK, so parking was not ideal.

It was, however, very convenient to the boat dock and the Arch.  Just a few feet to the stairs to the base of the Arch.

You can see all the construction here.  The railroad tracks that used to go between the Arch and the river are now in an underground tunnel.

Waiting for the little cars that take you to the top.  If you have claustrophobia, don't come here.

This is the area at the very top with viewing windows.

Can't beat the view from the top, however.

If you look very carefully, you can see my motorhome in the lower right.

 

 Nice carved mural, but why did they have to put the line to the theater right in front of it?

Taking this photo from the bottom looking up really made me dizzy.

Frankly, the boat trip down the industrial Mississippi was boring, but at least it gave you a great distance view of the Arch.

This power plant built for the World's Fair was the most exciting part of the boat trip. 

Last view of the Arch.

When I tried to back up to get out of my perilous parking spot, my rear drive tires started to slip.  So rather than chance sliding all the way down the levee into the Mississippi with all my worldly belongings in it, including myself, I backed up the full 1,000 feet back to the entrance, and past the fee both, to make it where I could turn around.  Whew!  That was enough of an adventure for a few days.