Gateway Arch, St. Louis, MO
We’re having a wonderful time on our trip through the Heartland. We have a lot to share with Easin’ Along readers and we will share all of it with you over the next few weeks, but today we want to tell you about a few of the highlights of our visit to St. Louis, MO.
After a lovely visit with our niece, Jonnie, and her husband Caleb (Army Lieutenant), in Clarksville, TN we set out for St. Louis and Scott Air Force Base. After checking into a spacious room on base, we went into town for a ride up to the top of one of the most prominent landmarks in America–the Gateway arch. We were able to park near our destination and walk to the entry. With the help of our National Park Senior Pass and a military discount, we were admitted for a fee of $8.00 (age does have benefits).
The line was short and we were loaded into an elevator within minutes for a ride to the peak of the arch which is 630 above ground. We were cautioned that the elevators and the viewing area was a bit confining and if claustrophobia is an issue, think before going.
Well, I’m 6’4″ and EVERYTHING is tight for me, but I decided to suck it up and go for it. Good decision…the view was tremendous. The viewing area was full, but everyone was considerate and moved away from the smallish windows quickly to allow others to share the view. We could see St. Louis and beyond.
That evening we went to dinner at Cunetto House of Pasta at the suggestion of a friend from church. This restaurant had excellent reviews on Trip Advisor and we were eager to give it a try even though we knew that it might be crowded on a Friday night. As it turned out, the crowd was heavy, but we were promptly seated at the rear of one of the dining rooms and smothered with great service by a very pleasant waitress.
Helen (adorable wife) ordered an incredible serving of Filet of Sole that had been lightly breaded and covered with a mushroom cream sauce. This out of this world dish also came with a side order of pasta Alfredo which was more than anyone could eat.
I chose a pasta dish which consisted of Linguini, shrimp, and crab. It was good, but to be completely honest, it was not great. There was a lot of parsley in it, and it came across as slightly bitter to me. Oh well, Helen couldn’t finish her Sole, so I was allowed to share. Again, it was awesome.
The next morning we checked out and set our GPS in the direction of the St. Louis Cathedral or Basilica as it had been designated by the Pope John Paul II on his visit to the cathedral in 1997. We had heard that the mosaics were not to be missed and we were not disappointed. The tiles, many designed and installed by Tiffany Studios in addition to other artisans, cover 83,000 square feet. The installations began in 1912 and were completed in 1988. The beauty and detail of the artwork are impossible to describe in words…this is a must see for all. After our cathedral visit, we moved on to the Missouri Botanical Garden a few miles away.
Regular readers of Easin’ Along know how much we love flowers so it should be no surprise that we were excited about this part of our trip to St. Louis even though we were running short on time. Nevertheless, this too was a must see for us, so rather than pay attention to the individual gardens we strolled through the paths as they came to us and dwelled on the beauty of the blooms.
The Missouri Botanical Garden was founded in 1859 and is a National Historic Landmark. It is well known as a center for botanical research and science education. The Garden covers 79 acres and there is something beautiful to see everywhere one casts their eyes. I let my camera record the beauty for viewing on a cold winter day when I need a lift. A few of the more delightful flowers we spotted are shown below. I hope you enjoy them.
Needless to say, there were many millions more flowers to see and we will post a picture gallery of them in the coming days to share them with everyone. Please come back next week when we will take to to the origin of the Santa Fe Trail in Leavenworth, Kansas.
In the meantime, we’re just smellin’ the roses and Easin’ Along…
Here they are:
