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St louis arch history11/11/2023 (Or it might just be the massive landfill to the west of it.) Gateway Geyser If you strain your eyes to the horizon, you might be able to see Monk’s Mound at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site. The yellow building on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River is the Casino Queen. The round, reddish structure to the southwest is Busch Stadium. There has been a lot of new construction over the years. A lot of new buildings since 1967Ĭompare this photo I took in 1967 with the one today. The green-domed building is the Old Courthouse, which is part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. We were lucky to be there on a fairly clear day when visibility could have been as much as 30 miles. Maybe the knowledge that you might be trapped in a tram with your neighbor if it jams, something that happened quite a few times in the early days of operation, puts you on your friendliest behavior. A friendly groupĮverybody on the top was friendly, with lots of people volunteering to take pictures of groups. The guide said that it only sways about 1.5 inches in a 50 mph wind and will, in theory, survive a major tornado and earthquake. That was probably just as well she didn’t waste her effort. I tried to convince Jessica to get the visitors to run from side to side to see if it would start it swaying, but she nixed the idea. I warned her that leaning out to look at the window can feel like you’re going to cause the thing to sway.Ī tour guide assured us there was nothing to worry about: it was designed to sway as much as 18 inches, nine inches to either side. Miz Jessica wasn’t bothered by the tight quarters in the tram, but she has a touch of fear of heights, so she wasn’t sure how she’d feel in The Arch. The Gateway Arch website has lots of interesting factoids. It seemed like lots of folks were sharing our space, but it’s designed to hold up to 160 visitors. We made it to the topĪfter what didn’t feel like a long time at the rate of about 3.86 mph, we made it the 630 feet (7,560 inches, the website translates) to the top of the structure. On the way down, we met a guy who painted such a succulent picture of the food at Pappy’s Smokehouse that we made a beeline there as soon as we could get back to the car. Funny how it didn’t take her long to exit when the door opened. “You know, you and I are sitting closer than I got with my first four girlfriends,” I told the woman across from me. You develop friendships in a hurry when you’re crammed into a tin can like that. Of course, she’s about half the size of me and the other guy who was in there with two other women. When it came time to board the tram, she was less claustrophobic than I was. I tried to get her to buy him a copy of the movie in the gift shop, but she saw how much it cost and said, “I love him, but not THAT much.” We watched a movie on the building of The Arch, something that Jessica’s engineering prof husband would have appreciated. When Jan was here, we ran short on time and she wasn’t crazy about climbing into the tram that carries you and four of your soon-to-be closest friends to the top. Miz Jessica makes sure that no germs are left. “All they had was a big package,” she said. In return, I got The Look, something common to all the women in my life. “You might want to lick a different section,” I suggested. When we arrived at the arch, a group of high school kids were standing on their hands with their feet on the stainless steel. “Guess what Jessica’s going to do?” I asked. I can get some then.”Īs soon as she left the car, I called Wife Lila in Florida. “No problem,” she responded, “I was going to ask you to stop at a Walgreens on the way. On the way to Cahokia Mounds the next morning, I said, “Drat! I forgot to get the wipes from Mark before we left.” Without missing a beat, he said he could provide some, which would save her bunch of money over the ones the vendors sold to tourists. Over the kitchen table at Brother Mark’s, I asked if he had any alcohol wipes she could use at The Arch in the morning. Louis to catch a plane back home to Ohio. It was time to get Curator Jessica up to St. I came very close to convincing Friend Jan to do The Lick, but she remembered who she was with at the last minute and backed out. (Click on the photos to make them larger.) Friend Jan almost bit She had been around the Steinhoffs long enough to be inoculated against that kind of foolishness. I tried that at Christmas in in 2000 when Son Matt’s newly-minted wife Sarah joined us at Brother Mark’s for a Christmas celebration. I elaborate that in the summertime, entrepreneurs sell alcohol wipes to the germphobes and in the wintertime they sell cups of hot chocolate to chug so your tongue doesn’t stick to the frigid stainless steel. Louis that it is a tradition that first-timer visitors have to lick the arch.
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