Sunday, July 1, 2012

St. Louis

Hello friends!
St. Louis is beautiful, at least the parts I've seen so far. After getting up and taking a long, circuitous route to the art museum, we drove all the long long way to St. Louis, where I now sit listening to Adam raving over and over again about how the foam mattress he is laying on is the most comfortable thing ever.
We went first to the grand arch to the west. We had to go through those detector thingys that they use at the airport to make sure that you're not going to blow anyone up. The wait was one and a half hours long until the next cab ride to the top, and so we purchased tickets for the 4:50 ride, and saw a movie on Lewis and Clark and the corps of discovery, went through the museum on the west and the expansion of the west, and then through the gift shop.
By that point it was finally finally time, and so we waited in line for forty-five minutes before we finally went to the top.
The ride is like a rollercoaster, except that you can see where you're going, which makes it all the more fun. Dad says that there used to be a glass panel on the bottom so that you can see through the floor. They lock you in there with five other people, and the doors are glass so that you can slightly see the base of the arch, but only if you want to. It feels like a mix between the space simulator and an airplane, it's a tiny pod for flying through space that smells like an airplane.
The St. Louis Missouri river waterfront is kind of cool on one side, but there's absolutely nothing but one or two abandoned old factories on the other side. Tom Sawyer riverboats set off every three or four hours, there is toll parking, etc. etc. etc.. Dad calls it a 'real city'.
The St. Louis Arch was designed by Eero Saarinen, and constructed after the Vietnam war. Apparently it is the same exact shape that a chain makes when hung from two points. How they got that baffles me, since the length of the chain and the distance between the points varies the shape of the arch. Eero didn't think of it as a 'gateway' until after his idea had been selected from the 117 architects who submitted designs. He did not live to see his masterpiece completed.
We drove to Tyler and Emily's house and got dinner at Smoki O's or something like that that is one of the best bar-B-Q places in the US. No joke. I honestly wouldn't know since my experience with bar-B-Q is somewhat limited, and I didn't actually get any. WHAT??!! You ask. Dessert was Ted Drewes Frozen Custard, which is apparently also famous AND popular AND in a better part of town where you probably won't get shot AND serves frozen custard.
Their 'tiny's are 'giant'y(s).
It was good custard, of which I only ate half of my tinyly gianty serving.
Fun fun think about fun; you know what it is...
Goodnight stars, goodnight moon, goodnight all. It seems so much later than the clocks say!





























2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This really makes me miss St. Louis. I'm glad you were able to enjoy some Ted Drewes - some of the best custard in the country. Too bad you missed out on the toasted ravioli...

BURNS said...

We did however nab some snoot - for those of you who are blissfully unaware, snoot sounds like snot, and is spelled like it too. I think that the only attraction is the novelty of having deep-fried pig snout covered in barbecue sauce.