Day 4 - St. Charles, MO (Day 2)

We explored the St. Louis riverfront today.  It was an exciting, informative adventure!

The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial is a treasure run by the National Park Service.  It's a 90-acre park located along the banks of the Mississippi River, between the Eads Bridge and the Poplar Street Bridge, in St. Louis.  The Gateway Arch is its crown.   The Museum of Westward Expansion, movies about the construction of the arch and the Lewis & Clark journey, tours of the Old Courthouse, ranger led programs and riverboat tours provide the jewels of the experience.

At 630 feet, the Gateway Arch is the nation's tallest monument.  We walked across the tree-shaded park grounds, stood in awe of the Arch, and immediately decided we needed to take the journey to the top.

Journey to the Top ...
You ride to the top on a tram that carries passengers in capsules. Each capsule carries 5 passengers and is fully enclosed.  It's similar to a Ferris wheel car, in that you remain seated upright as the tram climbs and descends inside the Arch.  It takes 4½ minutes to go up and 3 minutes to go down.

See the dark spots in the middle?  They're windows.

Passengers are given car numbers
as they enter the tram area

Views from the top ...

We're up where the windows are

Eads Bridge (in foreground)

Busch Stadium - St. Louis Cardinals

Old Courthouse

Edward Jones Dome - St. Louis Rams

Poplar Street Bridge (I-55/I-64/I-70/US-40)

Next, we decided to get a different view of the river and riverfront by taking a ride on the Gateway Arch Riverboat.

Looking north - Eads Bridge

Gateway Arch from the Mississippi River

High water deposited drift wood
on top of this column

Union Electric plant
built in 1902, still operates

Mississippi River Bridge (for I-70)
(Due to complete in 2014)

Scrap metal gets loaded onto a barge

Pretty messy, huh?

Queen of the Mississippi approaches St. Louis

The arch is the prominent structure on the memorial's park grounds.  There's a lot to see below ground level, though.

Even the Visitor Center entrance
is below ground level

The museum is captivating (and free)

Circular exhibits show westward 
expansion over time

Exhibits were so realistic

We watched the "Monument to the Dream" documentary in the Visitor Center.  It showed key events filmed during construction of the Arch.  The views were breathtaking.  We saw no evidence that construction workers wore safety harnesses during the project. Thankfully, there were no deaths.  It was a phenomenal accomplishment!

How the Arch came to be

TomorrowWe head westward tomorrow.