Part 3 – The Gateway Arch, St. Louis, MO

A welding Metal-Fab teacher friend of mine let me borrow the video “Monument to a Dream” to show my students. I was instantly fascinated by the beauty and complex construction it took to build the glimmering stainless steel “Gateway Arch.” Route 70 west took us within a mile of the Arch; getting up close to it was all I could think of.
The drive through Illinois was unique. Mind you, I am by no means a “heavy footed” driver, I prefer to keep the coach under 65 mph when on the highway. As you enter the state of Illinois, you see a road sign declaring, “Trucks, motor homes, and travel trailers, 55 MPH.” That’s just what we did, all across the state! It was a comfortable drive but it became rather boring.
We planned to stay at the Casino River Campground on the Mississippi River, on the other side of the river opposite the Gateway Arch!
If you’ve never driven into East St. Louis, IL be prepared to pay close attention to road signs. It took both of us and the GPS to guide us through the maze of on/off ramps that greet the traveler.
Even with all of our eyes working the signage, we nearly missed the sign directing us to the entrance to the campground. And get this, even after we made it through the first time, we actually did miss the turn when we needed to return to the campground after a trip to a local Wal Mart.
We spent some time in the casino but all the while, I couldn’t get enough of scanning the glistening arch from every vantage point. Finally, we hopped on the Metrolink and headed for the Arch.
While waiting for the train, we happened to notice the overhead clock. We never realized we had passed into the Central Time Zone. Go figure. We had to check a map to find out when we changed time zones. With watches adjusted we enjoyed the “extra hour” and made our way toward the “underground” facility below the 630’ Arch.
The setting for the Arch is picturesque. The Arch stands alone in an expansive open grassy park with a tree studded perimeter. I was surprised to see there were no buildings or entrances to the Arch you can see. Everything is below the Arch! The Arch legs are place North and South. You walk into the subterranean complex just to the inside of each leg of the Arch. The underground facility is just as impressive as the Arch itself. A museum, two movie theaters, two stores, two “elevator” lifts for a “Ride to the top” and Rangers presenting the history of our western expansion and everything you need to know about the Gateway Arch. Those, tiny slits at the very top are "windows!"
Pat wasn’t keen on riding to the top of the Arch, but I thought I wanted to… until I had a chance to study the “tuna can” five people ride to the top in. There are two lifts. Each one consists of five drums each holding five people. The “trolley” of the lift actually pulls you up on a track. Each drum rotates freely as you make your way up. The rotating drum keeps the passengers in an upright position as the “trolley” inverts as it makes its way up the side and over the top of the Arch.
As the Arch pitches toward the top, the life must stop a short distance from the observation room at the top, and you climb stairs from there to the rest of the way. The observation room is only 17’ wide. You’re ride to the top, visit to the top and return takes about an hour. Obviously, with a limited amount of visitors permitted at the top, the entire excursion must be time limited.
I opted out of my anticipated journey to the top. Sitting in the “tuna can” with five people, knees touching, low lighting, 1/2” X 6” vent slots at the top and sides… especially when the doors SHUT, was not for me! The only adult person who can sit up straight is the person sitting to the vertically flat side of the drum opposite the doors. From watching how the Arch was constructed, I knew just how “tight” the inner shaft of the Arch really is. In any event, I was grateful to finally see a monument that has fascinated me for a number of years and just being able to touch it’s stainless steel exterior and marvel at it’s sheer simplistic elegance was worth every minute of it.
We got to experience a “typical” St. Louis rain storm (and that was enough).
Now, leaving St. Louis was another chance to come to grips with the “octopus” like maze of roads, off/on ramps and jig saw puzzle road signs! Armed with directions given to us by the campground security guard and, to our surprise, we cruised out of town with ease! We planned a stop-over in a Wal Mart parking lot just east of Joplin, MO.