Welcome, folks!
This friendly greeting was from a ranger at Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis, MO on August 8. We had several items on our agenda at this, our first National Park of the trip: watching a documentary of the building of the arch, roaming a museum under the arch detailing the history of the St. Louis area and westward expansion, and riding a tram to the top of the arch. And back down, hopefully.
We approached St. Louis from the south, on the Illinois side of the muddy Mississippi River, because our campground was in East St. Louis, IL, at the Draft Kings Casino Queen RV Park. Forgive me, Lord, for supporting a casino, but in the downtown St. Louis area there are no other campgrounds.
On the Interstate, seeing the Arch from a distance, did not begin to tell of its grandeur, but as we approached the campground, we drove alongside the Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park, with one of the best west-facing views of the arch with the historic Old Courthouse framed inside it. Of course, I begged Dave to stop so I could get a picture. I think it was worth it, don’t you?
 |
| West-facing view of the Gateway Arch |
After setting up the camper at the Casino Queen RV Park, we dropped Trooper off at Grateful Pets for a bath and grooming. While he enjoyed (?) his spa day, we caught the Metro (train) into downtown St. Louis to visit the Arch.
We learned a lot that day. First, that the elevator for the Metro had 2 floors, P and S. I assumed P was for Parking, but not so. P for Platform, and S for Street. Second, the most famous trial at the courthouse was Dred and Harriet Scott suing for their freedom. Finally, we also learned there is another park west of the arch with an amazing east-facing view. Which do you like more?
 |
| East-facing view with old courthouse and The Runner statue. |
Once inside the Visitors Center, we were greeted by the welcoming ranger, picked up our tickets for the documentary and tram ride, and began going through the museum. Several historical points of view were presented: French trappers’ relations with Native Americans, the changes brought about by the Louisiana Purchase, Westward Expansion, and Manifest Destiny, the Native Tribal views, and even Mexico’s ideas about who owned the land. When we think of the United States as a melting pot, what is evident here in the rich history of the area, certainly predicated our great nation’s history and diversity.
The documentary film about the 1960s design and construction of the arch was interesting. My first thought seeing the workers on scaffolding high above the Mississippi River was, “Where was OSHA for heaven’s sake? Where were the safety harnesses? How many men fell to their deaths building this thing?” The answer is… zero men died constructing the monument. It was completed in three years and called for engineering and manufacturing that previously had not existed. In today’s dollars the cost would be $200 million.
The tram ride inside the legs to the top of the arch revealed some of the construction details shown in the documentary. For example, the size of bolts, used to piece together stainless-steel triangles that made up the outside of the arch, were larger than a man’s fist. These shiny triangles created a hollow inside where the tram cars carried passengers to the top.
 |
| Ready to board the tram. Tiny door behind us. |
The tram had 8 cars, each of which would seat 5 people. There is one tram inside the north leg, and one in the south leg. The door to each tram car is only 4 ft. high, and in our car, there was 6’3” Dave and another dude who was at least 6’5”. They ducked (as in bent over at the waist) through the door and immediately realized they could not stand up inside. Even sitting on the tram’s plastic tractor seats, their heads hit the ceiling. So, they leaned forward, while the other wife and I giggled at being in the tiny space with two other strangers, and two men who didn’t fit. Although there were no S or P buttons in the tram, the door had windows in it, thank goodness, or those with claustrophobic tendencies would have been out of luck for the 4-minute ride to the top. And the 3-minute ride back down. Gravity matters.
Once at the top, we walked up the final slope of the arch to the keystone area, with windows facing east and west. To the west was downtown St. Louis, Busch Stadium (the Cardinals were playing the Cubbies that night) and the historic courthouse.
 |
| Busch Stadium |
To the east was the Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park I mentioned earlier, the Casino, and the RV Park. We could not see our camper because, fortunately, we were parked under 2 shade trees. Beyond that was… not much. In fact, the entire East St. Louis area was… not much. It was a dump. A dive. An old, rundown, down-on-its-luck… well, you get it.
 |
| East St. Louis from 630 ft up. The Casino is to the left. A grain elevator is in the center, and to the right is a green space that is the park where I took the west-facing view. |
Several barges were headed down the Mississippi River, and there was a dock for a riverboat tour. We could see at least 4 bridges crossing the river, including a train trestle and an attractive bridge where I-70 crossed.
 |
| Looking southeast from the arch. I-70 bridge not pictured. |
Soon it was time to fold the men in half again and reboard the tram. I found it interesting that the tram had to rotate as it traveled. It started mostly horizontal, then the cars became vertical, and finally mostly horizontal again at the top. Here is a link to a cool video that explains how the tram works to keep the passengers upright. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/b9qzoNI8Pqo
We walked back to the Metro station to cross the river back into Illinois, drove to pick up our clean, handsome pupper, and spent the night beside a noisy interstate, Metro track, and train track. Did I ever tell you how much I love my earplugs?
 |
| Dave captured this image in the evening. Pretty nice shot, eh? |
Suddenly, in the middle of the night, the camper trembled. It was a rhythmic rumble that caused the vehicle to quiver [pause] quiver [pause] quiver. It was either a passing Harley Davidson vroom-bubba-bubba or an earthquake VROOM-BUBBA-BUBBA. In a few minutes the strange tremor faded and disappeared altogether. The next morning Dave asked me if I felt the earthquake. Yes! Good thing the Gateway Arch is earthquake-proof (thanks, documentary). Dave laughed and said it was a diesel locomotive on the nearby tracks. Whew! It was only vroom-bubba-bubba after all.
No comments:
Post a Comment