St. Louis, Missouri

Good morning, my friends. That title up there is a lie. When we took off yesterday, I was unaware that the City of St. Louis spans two states. As it happens, we're staying on the Illinois side in the little town of Cahokia, Illinois. Apparently, Cahokia is also known as East St. Louis. No matter. We can see Missouri across the river from where we are.

So let's talk about yesterday's drive, shall we? We headed out US 65 until we reached I-44. The road looked like this most of the way, and we were to stay on I-44 for about 90% of the distance.

It was a good day for barns.

Now look at that tower on the left side of the image below.

Here's another one on the right side of the image below.

What the heck is it? I'd think it was a grain silo, but it has holes...like windows. Also, I saw one with a mature tree growing up through the center and out over the top. 

This one has a quilt block...always good to see.

We stopped at one of the rest areas along I-44. I didn't get a very good photographic representation of this, but each one of those picnic shelters has the name of a business found on Historic Route 66. Also, the building that housed the restrooms had a big fancy mural inlaid in the floor showing the entire length of Route 66. (I wish I'd taken a picture of it.)

When we got back in the car, I inquired of The Google about the relationship between Route 66 and I-44. As it turns out, I-44 is one of several interstates that has replaced Route 66. Also at the rest area, we saw this blooming shrub. My phone tells me this is Hawthorne.

Looking up the towns we passed through, I learned that Strafford, Missouri, is mentioned in Ripley's Believe It or Not! According to Ripley's Believe It or Not!, Strafford is the only town in the United States with two main streets and no back alleys. I went looking for an image that could illustrate this "two main streets" notion, and couldn't find anything that was very illustrative. I ended up clipping a satellite view of the map so you could see what Ripley's is talking about. It's probably still not particularly helpful.

The road to the north was the main street until Route 66 was built between the backs of the businesses and the railroad. The owners simply built new entrances, giving them two front doors. 

Driving on, The Google tells me that Marshfield, Missouri, is the hometown of Edwin Hubble. Yes, the telescope guy. A replica of the Hubble Space Telescope can be found in front of the Webster County Courthouse. Here's a picture I found online. It's a one-quarter scale replica.

Also, we passed through Bourbon, Missouri. The name refers to bourbon whiskey and is believed to be the only town in the United States to be named after bourbon whiskey. 

It also happens to be the birthplace of Ruthy Ross, who was a playboy playmate of the month in June, 1973. She was born in Bourbon in 1948. And if that isn't something for a small town to crow about, then I don't know what is.

Our drive yesterday was around 260 miles. Eventually, we entered the City of St. Louis proper.

And for the first time in hundreds of miles, we merged onto a different road. Our nav unit told us to take the Memphis fork, but eventually, we were routed back toward Chicago.

It wasn't long before the bridge over the Mississippi River loomed into view.

This is at least the third state where we've crossed over the Mississippi River. We've been to the headwaters at Itasca State Park in Minnesota. Here's a photo taken there:

And we've been to the Mississippi Delta in New Orleans, Louisiana. The riverboats were out of commission for that visit.

We've even been to the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium in Dubuque, Iowa.

So you can see, we're well-acquainted with the mighty Mississippi. Here we go...up and over.

There it is...a big river.

About halfway across the bridge, we crossed the state line into Illinois.

We were nearing our final destination when I looked ahead and...HOLY SH*T!! THERE IT IS!!! It's the Gateway Arch!!!

Well, I think the only other time I got this excited about seeing something new was when I noticed the Statue of Liberty right beside a New Jersey RV park where we stayed when we visited New York City some years back.

Upon our arrival, there's always a line at the catio to see where we are now. Smitty was first out and held his position, much to Sadie's consternation.

Eventually, he gave her a chance too.

We're here for one reason...to see Gateway Arch National Park. Already we have our day mapped out. The RV park has a shuttle that will take us ten minutes down the road and back across the river to where the national park is located. There we'll kill some time until we board a riverboat cruise along the St. Louis waterfront. Here's a picture I found online. We're taking the one-hour cruise, but dinner cruises are also available with a hefty pricetag.

We'll spend some time at the park and at the museum. Probably we'll get some lunch before boarding the boat. It sounds like fun to me.

So we have a full day ahead. I need to get some steaks marinating for tonight's dinner, and then I'll make some breakfast. And then...we'll be on our way! I'm hoping I'll have lots of good pictures for you tomorrow. Until then, strap on your life vests, my friends. I'm not expecting any mishaps, but one can never be too careful.