Okay, that title is a bit misleading since we're no longer in St. Louis, but this blog post is about our trip to Missouri.
We parked the RV in Granite City, Illinois at a KOA campground. The campground was away from the freeway so we didn't have any traffic noise keeping us up, and the pool there was salt water so that was awesome, but the campground itself was like the name of the city. White rock and dust and not much to do in the general vicinity.
It was, however, very close to the arch, which both Rusty and I wanted to see. It turns out that Rusty had seen it as a little kid. They didn't go up it so that was our plan. I somehow got us lost on the way to the arch but for those of you who follow me on Facebook you know I was really excited that I did because we got to go across this bridge:
We were in the Fiat so it wasn't as cool as being in the RV but the bridge itself was way more exciting than the typical bridges we've been driving over, like this one:
Anyway, we did make it to the arch and had purchased our tickets online so we had a couple hours to kill before it was our time to go up the arch. We had to walk to the courthouse to pick up our tickets which turned out to be a great side trip. This is the bridge for the metro system. I was kind of surprised it was still in use, it looked like it had seen better days.
Can you see the teeny tiny windows at the top? Rusty thought they would be floor to ceiling once we got up to the top, but they definitely weren't. The ride up wasn't as bad as I thought. The door to the capsule has glass so you can see the insides to the arch as you rise:
Two of the pictures were looking west (towards the courthouse) and the other one is looking east. Here's what it looked like inside:
There really isn't anyplace to stand that isn't on some type of a slant. I tried doing tree pose at one point just to see what it would be like. I think a yoga master should do a photo shoot up here!
After we went down we decided to watch the film about how the arch was built. There was all this hype about the architect who designed it, but really it was the builders that were the geniuses. I'm glad we watched the video about how it was built AFTER we went up - I'm not sure I would have gone up otherwise.
It's pretty amazing how in one day we could have so many emotions about humanity. In the span of just a few hours we found we were ashamed in one sense, then proud in another.
xoxxo
Julie
We parked the RV in Granite City, Illinois at a KOA campground. The campground was away from the freeway so we didn't have any traffic noise keeping us up, and the pool there was salt water so that was awesome, but the campground itself was like the name of the city. White rock and dust and not much to do in the general vicinity.
It was, however, very close to the arch, which both Rusty and I wanted to see. It turns out that Rusty had seen it as a little kid. They didn't go up it so that was our plan. I somehow got us lost on the way to the arch but for those of you who follow me on Facebook you know I was really excited that I did because we got to go across this bridge:
We were in the Fiat so it wasn't as cool as being in the RV but the bridge itself was way more exciting than the typical bridges we've been driving over, like this one:
Anyway, we did make it to the arch and had purchased our tickets online so we had a couple hours to kill before it was our time to go up the arch. We had to walk to the courthouse to pick up our tickets which turned out to be a great side trip. This is the bridge for the metro system. I was kind of surprised it was still in use, it looked like it had seen better days.
But the thing we didn't realize was that the courthouse where you pick up your tickets is also historical. Side note - they're doing construction on the museum/gift shop at the arch so they are using the courthouse while it's under construction. It's supposed to take 5 years to complete. Rusty says that the builders who constructed the arch would be shocked since they did the arch in 2 and a half.
The courthouse was the building where Dred Scott and his wife sued for their freedom. If you read the National Park Service's website about the case I still find myself disgusted by how the ugly part of our history is documented. The website states, "today we acknowledge that it is wrong to hold people against their will and force them to work as people did in the days of slavery." Really, we "acknowledge" that it's wrong??? Who writes this shit? I am ashamed that in 2017 we still feel the need to whitewash our history. Until we start saying it like it is, I'm not sure we can ever get passed it.
It did make me happy that there was a statue that honored the courage of the Scott's and the courthouse also had other documents about the case inside and a museum of sorts about that time in our history. What with everything going on in our country right now, it was hard not to feel sick to your stomach about the atrocities that man can impose on others so we were sad as we walked around the courthouse.
When I did go get the tickets they had an example of the tram that would take you to the top of the arch. It was good I had already purchased the tickets though as the tram was kind of like a capsule with 5 seats. Rusty couldn't sit up straight in it no matter what seat he took. The ride up is 4 minutes and down is 3 and a half. I was a bit nervous about it after sitting in the capsule.
So back we walked to the arch, and while we were by it earlier, now I was really examining it. What was it going to be like going up in it? It's so narrow and was built so long ago. I did have my good camera with me so I took a bunch of pictures:
The view from the top was totally worth it:
There really isn't anyplace to stand that isn't on some type of a slant. I tried doing tree pose at one point just to see what it would be like. I think a yoga master should do a photo shoot up here!
After we went down we decided to watch the film about how the arch was built. There was all this hype about the architect who designed it, but really it was the builders that were the geniuses. I'm glad we watched the video about how it was built AFTER we went up - I'm not sure I would have gone up otherwise.
It's pretty amazing how in one day we could have so many emotions about humanity. In the span of just a few hours we found we were ashamed in one sense, then proud in another.
xoxxo
Julie
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