Dr. Edmund A. Babler Memorial State Park, Wildwood, Missouri
Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. ~ Ecclesiastes 2:11
Many of you know (or can guess by reading this blog) that food is one of my/our favorite subjects. With that in mind, let me run down a list of the things we consumed today: Cereal, English muffin, oj, apple turnover, sfogliatelle (an Italian pastry with orange & lemon zest), chili w/cheddar cheese, Italian sub, chips, Italian salad (sounds healthy, but it really wasn’t), lasagna, veal gamberetti, chocolate drop cookies, and plenty of water. The leftover brownies I made two days ago went into the freezer. Mostly because we ordered a peach cobbler for pick up tomorrow . . . . (I’ll share pics when it’s appropriate to today’s storyline. 😊)
With a list like that, it’s a good thing we walked almost 7 miles today!
We drove into the bustling town of St. Louis today. The funny thing is, there’s not much traffic out and about; even though we were on the expressway during “rush hour” on a Friday. We think it’s because so many people are working from home these days. Good for us, but probably bad for the building owners. What will happen to all the high-rises if everyone stays home? Maybe convert them into apartments? God only knows what the future holds . . . . In the meantime, no rush hour traffic was very good for us! Especially since Blaine was navigating new territory.
We’ll try one of those tomorrow. : )
It’s hard to describe, except to say that they’re delicious!!
Since we arrived in town a couple of hours before our reservation to enter Gateway Arch National Park (formerly known as Jefferson National Expansion Memorial), we walked around town a bit. There is so much historical architecture here! We’re always impressed with the way they used to create such ornate buildings. And we ran into some history too – parts of it were included within the National Park boundary, which encompasses more than just the Arch. In fact, the Park is 91 acres. Renamed and at the same time transitioned from Memorial to National Park in 2018, that transference has apparently sparked some controversy as people argue that the National Parks title should be reserved for grand national areas (Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, etc.). Personally, I don’t understand why all the memorials, parks, recreation areas, etc. aren’t National Parks. Aren’t they all federally funded? Or is my ignorance showing?
We looked. We didn’t notice a particularly mischievous tile. . .
We loved the reflections on the side of that high rise!
I don’t know when this building was completed, but most assuredly it’s pretty old!
It’s a American beautyberry, and supposedly the berries are edible.
We didn’t try them . . .
This one was built in 1907 – M=1,000, C=100. When a C is before an M, that means 1,000 minus 100, or 900. The V is 5, and each I is a 1. V+II = 7. 1907!
It is the fourth church building to be erected on the site. Construction began in 1831 and the church was dedicated in 1834. It is the oldest building in the City of St. Louis and the only building that remains in the hands of its original owner, the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
How did St. Louis get its name? In 1764, a French fur trader named Pierre Laclede Liguest and his 13-year-old scout, Auguste Chouteau, were given a land grant from the King of France. They chose a place that would benefit fur trading, and decided to name it after France’s most beloved king and the only French king who was ever declared a Saint by the Catholic church. His name was Louis IX, who reigned from 1226-1270. I looked for his full name, but evidently that’s it. He was just 12 years old when he became king following the death of his three older brothers and his father. His mother helped out until he was old enough to handle it on his own.
That’s your first history lesson on St. Louis for the day. Well, looking back, I guess that’s not exactly true, now that I think about it, but we weren’t expecting all the history we took in, that’s for sure! But once we made our way to the Arch, and stepped inside the underground museum, it was clear that we’d be spending a lot of time here, which means, if you’re interested, you’ll have a lot of reading, in addition to pictures.
I’m sure you’ve seen pictures of Gateway Arch, and we took a ton, but this one I discovered on Wikipedia is amazing!
The history of the Arch is much longer than I remembered reading about. It began with an idea in 1933, when a guy thought the Jefferson Memorial, that the US was looking to build, should be in St. Louis to honor Jefferson’s greatest achievement – the Louisiana Purchase. In 1947 (delayed by WWII), there was an architectural competition to decide what the monument would look like. The land was dedicated in 1959 (delayed by the Korean War). Excavation began in 1961, and the monument was finally completed in 1965. To this day, at 630’, it’s the tallest monument in America.
It looks brand new – despite the name carvings people have marred it with. And even though you’ve seen, or will see, pictures, they can’t hold a candle to the awe-inspiring sight! But we certainly tried. 😊
After the completion of the arch in 1965, as if looking at it from the ground wasn’t enough, the architect also decided that people should also be able to view the city from the top, and so began searching for a way to ride to the center of the top. In just two weeks, the uneducated designer, David Bowser, at the request of the architect, came up with the concept. If you want the full story on the tram, visit https://www.nps.gov/jeff/planyourvisit/dick-bowser.htm. It’s an easy to read, interesting article/interview, but it’s longer than I want to make room for.
![r/ThingsCutInHalfPorn - St. Louis Gateway Arch with Tram Mechanics Illustrated [679 x 1017]](https://preview.redd.it/fkj06bls8en41.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=e4f5b83f41adcc3d19fc37b79a34f6955d5e42ac)
The Arch is fully supported by itself. There is no internal structure. And the tram is built loosely on the premise of a Ferris wheel because of the curve, and you can feel it! We were also told that the infrastructure for the ride is solely supported by the original arch.
You have to have timed-reservations in order to enter the museum and/or take the tram to the top, and there are several friendly people willing to help you be where you need to be.
We had a few minutes to spare, so we looked around the museum a bit. We’ll catch the rest later.
The ride is all the way in the back.
There were several Rangers walking around wiping stuff off all the time.
We’re always amazed when we run across old stuff in museums. : )
Shockingly, there were only four of us! In a contraption that can carry 80 at a time! Of course, those numbers are sharply decreased due to COVID, but still . . . Four?!? Fine with us! It all reminded me of a Disney or Cedar Point ride, where you wait on your designated numbered spot and then listen to an animated (as in energetic, not cartoons) guy talk about what you’re about to do, and a little about the history of the Arch itself. The only problem was, with his mask on, my brain couldn’t listen as fast as he talked (no lip reading available). I could hear him, but didn’t understand a lot of what was said. Fortunately, he had visual aids projected on the wall behind him, which helped. 😊
And finally, you stoop over, being mindful of where your head and feet are, because the entrance is built more for a child than an adult, and off you go! Four minutes to the top, ten minutes at the top, three minutes back down.
They even have designated numbers at the windows you’re supposed to stand at, which is all very organized, but there are also information boards above those windows. I got in trouble when I tried to leave my space to read the other boards. The girl in charge of maintaining “social distancing” practically freaked out, which gave me a bit more attitude than I would normally have shared with a stranger trying to do her job, which caused a Ranger to step up and begin a conversation, which I’m sure was meant to defuse the situation before it got started. 😊 And all while Blaine stood by quietly, but maybe rolling his eyes at me a bit?
So. After all that introduction, let’s get going! It’s time for our ride!
Partly because of his height, but also because of the tight and curved nature of the pod.
I have no idea why I’m sitting like this! : )
What a view!
In this view, you can see both of the legs!
Until right at the end, when Blaine pointed out that there was a small step I could’ve stood on!
Once we returned to the underworld of the museum, we sort of reluctantly bought lunch at the cafeteria they have there, but it actually turned out to be terrific food! And not horribly priced, considering where we were.
Blaine’s lunch 
Mine. It was much more than it looks.
After lunch, we continued our exploration of the museum. I really thought they’d have a larger section devoted to the building of this amazing structure, but in our estimation, there wasn’t very much.
It was soooo much better in person!
Once we finished with the museum, we wandered around outside some more, including walking to the State Line on the Eads bridge, and back again.
Blaine took this great video that offers perspective!
And that’s as far away as Blaine could go to take a picture, backing up to the Mississippi.
That’s how massive this arch is!
See the metro running on the bottom?
Plus, cars drive on the top, and there’s a walking area too!
There were TONS of them perched all over this old bridge! It can’t be good for it.
Actually, this is a cigar tree.
The side in the shade was cool.
It was still a bit early for dinner, so we stopped by the Forest Park Visitor Center to get our bearings a bit for tomorrow’s adventure. We ended up walking over to their free History Museum and spending a good bit of time in there. Check that off our list for tomorrow, which ended up being a really good thing. You’ll understand once you read tomorrow’s post. 😊
it’s good to be reminded that God-made marvels are infinitely more awe-inspiring!
Things that make you go, hmmm . . . .
These were shiny silver! Gorgeous!
Can you imagine what it must’ve been like?!?!?
You pay somehow (credit card swipe?), and take off. You can leave them anywhere you’d like.
Another person comes along and takes it somewhere else. We saw several people using them. : )
We returned to The Hill (the Italian neighborhood where we bought the pastries) for dinner at one of the places recommended by Aunt Sherri and Uncle Nick – Zia’s. And we were surprised to notice that it was catty-cornered from the pastry shop! We didn’t even notice it this morning! Probably because they didn’t have the outdoor tables set up yet. Our dinners were excellent! And everyone seems to rave about toasted raviolis around this town, so we ordered an appetizer of those. They were delicious! But just those and the dinner salad would’ve been enough to assuage our hunger. And yet, we consumed our dinners as well. We were stuffed like those little raviolis! Dinner leftovers wouldn’t have been nearly as good as eating it fresh.
It was a wonderful day! Tomorrow we take on Forest Park!