Meet me in St. Louis, Louis!

I am asking myself "Why, why have I waited so long to go to St. Louis?" It is a beautiful city and has so much to do - great place for a family vacation. The main reason I always wanted to go someday was to see the Arch - well, that's the tip of the iceburg on the fun that awaits in beautiful St. Louis.

I booked a room via Hotwire for 3 nights and went for the 3.5 stars downtown choice. It was - as always - a great hotel for a great price. (If you aren't using Hotwire, you should be). We got the Crowne Plaza, right across the street from the Jefferson Expansion Memorial - aka - the Gateway Arch. Let me also mention that I got it for $57 a night - which you can hardly get a Motel 6 for in a major city these days. Here's the hotel as seen from the parklands around the Arch.



When we checked in, since I was traveling with my teenage granddaughter - I asked for a king room. The front desk clerk said - not only am I putting you in a king room, but I'm giving you a balcony, sofa with pull-out bed and a kitchenette. Are you kidding me (thinking to myself - I only paid $57). We were on the 25th floor - and here is Tilda on the balcony. Honestly - can you believe how blessed we are?



We took a nice stroll around the national park grounds and then headed over to eat at Joey B's which is Laclede's Landing area. This is an historic section right by the river and next to the park - just a few blocks from the hotel. I had found Joey B's online and picked it when I saw that Rachel Ray recommended it! Yahoo!! The old area is charming, with original cobblestone streets and the old buildings that used to be warehouses for goods brought up the Mississippi by river boats.




Next morning - we were off to discover St. Louis. We had reservations to take the trip to the top of the Arch at 10:30am (you can book your reservation and get your tickets on-line). Before our appointed adventure to the top, we did a little walking around downtown and found ourselves at the home of the St. Louis' Cardinals - Busch Stadium. I had hoped they would be in town and we could take in a game - no luck on that one. But, I have to say this is a gorgeous baseball stadium and quite an addition to the downtown area. My daddy loved Stan Musial, and I had to take the picture of his statue in memory of Daddy - who loved baseball so much!



We discovered the MetroLink right next door to the stadium, and a quick subway ride later we were back at the Arch park and on our way to the top - oh my!! You ride a "tram" with about 10 cars, each holds five people and are shaped liked bubbles!
Here is the door to the tram car and the tram car - showing only 3 of the 5 seats inside. This trip is not for anyone who suffers from claustrophobia!




Fortunately, the ride only takes a few minutes - and then you are up 630ft in the air. It wasn't windy during our visit - but I've heard people say you can feel the sway up there - I didn't. The arch was constructed to sway up to 9" in either direction during a 150 mph wind - and is said to usually be swaying about 1/2" on most days. Note to self - don't go up there during a storm!! Got a nice picture of Busch Stadium from on high and here we are in the somewhat tight space at the top.



A good friend had recommended we check out the old Union Station - once the largest train station in the world - while in St. Louis. It has been "saved" and is a shopping and dining area now. The architecture is beautiful and they have small exhibits highlighting how travel was when everyone went by train - the beautiful dining cars, etc. There are even stained glass windows in this lovely old building.



After lunch at the St. Louis Hard Rock Cafe, we headed back to the hotel for a swim on the roof-top pool - 29 floors above the city - and a nice nap - and then we'd head for the Fox Theater to see "Wicked". That's another post!