I went up into the Arch in St. Louis Missouri Today
Today was a special day as my family went to the Arch again, though this time we actually rode up into the arch in the little tiny cars that take you up so high. Wow, was that interesting!
People often ask me, "oh, so you have been up in the arch then?" I say no, but I love to go and just enjoy the area, etc. Often, they have big eyes and say, "well you have to go up into it sometime!" With my parents in law visiting from out of town, they wanted to go and see the arch, so we did just that.
The AAA guidebook says it will take about an hour to "see" the St. Louis Gateway Arch, but if you can, allow for a bit more time. There is just so much to see there. They have a wonderful Lewis and Clark exhibit, and so much more. There is a museum there as well. There is a six dollar parking fee, but you can go and see everything for free, except for going to the top of the arch. If you have a US National Parks pass, you can get 3 dollars off of a ticket, which is nice. There may be free parking elsewhere, but I am not sure of that for sure, as its a busy downtown area.
I want to talk about the ride up! First, you go into an area that shows so much about the arch being built. There are pictures everywhere, recordings to listen to while you look at other photos, and all kinds of neat things to see. There were a few stairs as well, which we didn't anticipate, but it wasn't bad at all. You get into these very tiny round or egg shaped "cars" that have 5 seats each. Its a tiny door, and if you are nervous, know that there is a way to walk down the side if it should ever get stuck. There is no way to stop it, but its only four minutes going up, then you get out and look out the top with lots of other people, at your leisure. Then, you go down when you are ready to go back down, and that takes only 3 minutes. It was very interesting for sure! Make sure you do it if you ever get the chance, its a neat national monument to see.
I loved learning about how it was built, and how the design was inspired. We of course saw people from all over the world, which is neat to see. During hard times, I like that people are helping our economy by stopping by our national parks, monuments and memorials. If you don't like the idea of going up to the top, there is a lot you can do as well, so don't put off going just because of that.
Nearby is the lovely Missouri River, which I saw more activity on than I had in a long time. A neat old, beautiful steamboat was there as well, going happily down the river. There are neat bridges there too, lawns, etc. Lots of curves and arch inspired themes throughout. I hope you get to go sometime if you can, or go again someday. They have added a lot over the years, and have some fun little shops. Our favorite was this old fashioned store, and we got coffee there. Very fun.
