The Gateway Arch, located in St. Louis, is one of those iconic places that you what it is when you see a picture of it. It is also one of those places that needs to be on everyone’s bucket list just to say you have been there, bought the t-shirt and sold it in a garage sale! The unique thing about the Arch is it is as tall as it is wide-630 feet both ways!
The city of St. Louis ran a competition for a “symbol” that would make St. Louis stand out. It needed to be unique. It is the tallest structure in the U.S. The winner, Eero Saarinen. The Gateway Arch was constructed with the intention of letting people go up inside to look out the viewing windows. The tricky part occurred when they had to figure out how to move people from the ground to the top. Turns out that the combined the knowledge of how an elevator works, an escalator works, and a ferris wheel works was used to create a car that holds 5 passengers. Each side of the arch has 8 cars, so 40 people each trip can be transported to the top. Once at the top you are allowed to stay as long as you wish.
Picking up the tickets at Will Call. 
Replica of a car so you can try it out before you go up! 
They take photos with a green screen 1st.
We pretended we were jumping.
Zoom Zoom was too tall!
We are in the car ready to go up! 
We are at the top! 
Poor Zoom Zoom never knows when to stop smiling! 
You are cute! 
Keep smiling! 
Don’t stop smiling! 
Keep smiling! 
I’m still going! 
Photo of Zoom Zoom taking a photo. 
A boat on the Mississippi River! 
The current runs 4-5 miles per hour. Up close it looks a lot faster. 
The old court house. 
Some stadium – I know I should know. 
Horse and carriage. 
Going down to our “car.” We were going to #7. 
What it is like at the top. 
The base of the arch is as long as a school bus. 
Each piece shaped like this. This is called the “Keystone” piece. 
The cylinder piece is the “people mover.” 
Model of the people mover. 
Other design in the competition. 
Other design in the competition. 
Another design in the competition. 
ANother design in the competition. 
and another design in the competition. 
Model of the Gateway Arch. 
Isn’t this gate cute? 
This building was across from the parking garage. I think the facade is amazing! 
Of course there is a store! 
After going up in the Arch we had tickets to ride the riverboat on the Mississippi River. A Parks Ranger was the tour guide. Mostly, we learned about the things on the other side of the boat. I know we were going to turn around and see that stuff, but I’ve already forgotten which building was which by then. 🙂 Plus, the ranger had long lapses in his information. I think we had been spoiled with the fantastic tour guides we had on our Adventure Trek trip. Hint Hint! Go on an Adventure Trek trip if you can!
We rode the Tom Sawyer! 
We rode down the “Mighty Muddy Mississippi!” 
39 years of marriage to this handsome Zoom Zoom! 
Filling the barge with cement mix. 
A train company bought this bridge.
It used to be train and car bridge.
They are making it just a train bridge.
If you asked me that day about my experiences, I ‘d tell you to save your money on the Riverboat Cruise. Reflecting after several days, I’d still say the same thing. There isn’t much to see on the river. I think that is why the Park Ranger had such gaps in his talk. Look at our photos, there isn’t much substance there. Bridges, barges, graffitied buildings, and some workers working was all we could take photos of. Again, save your money.
https://koa.com/campgrounds/st-louis-west
The Gateway Arch, go up at least once in your life. It gives you a frame of reference when it is talked about. No need to stay downtown. We stayed at a KOA in a town nearby. With today’s navigational systems it is easy to get to almost anywhere.
***When you park, if it is in a garage, take your parking ticket with you. It becomes a key card to let you into the area that has the elevators and stairways to your car! Nowhere was a sign telling us to bring the ticket, we just did and got lucky!