Gateway to the West
“Look kids...Big Ben!”
Please tell me you get the reference.
That’s what I felt like when we approached St. Louis and saw the Arch.
Every time it came into view, “Look kids! The Arch!”
How can you not love St. Louis?
It is such a cool city with such a rich history, beautiful sites, stunning architecture, and tons of cool things to do.
We kicked off our trip with a short drive up to St. Louis to stay with Dave, one of Justin’s college buddies. This is also the same Dave who convinced Justin it was a good idea to ride across the country…on a bike!
Nevermind that none of them had really ridden before and certainly never for long distances.
Turns out though, it was a brilliant idea. They all survived and here they are some 20ish years and 8 kids later, still talking about their epic adventure.
I love it and I love that Justin made some of the best guy friends in his fraternity. Frats get a bad rap, but this really was a good group of guys and they still are. And if anything were God forbid to happen to Justin, Dave would be my first call (after the parents of course).
So it was awesome that seeing him and his fam was our first stop on our trip out west.
How did we kick off the grand adventure? With City Museum of course!
If you have not been here, it’s a must. It is one of the coolest playgrounds we have ever experienced. The word “playground” doesn’t do it justice, but that’s what it is. Except everything you’re climbing on, under, over, in is a work of art recycled from who knows where. It’s seriously the coolest.
Best part, only one kiddo got hurt and noone got lost!
In this place, with all of its tunnels, slides, and climbing walls, that’s seriously an accomplishment.
After a full day running around, we jumped over to the St. Louis Arch.
Seeing the Arch never gets old to me.
As a historian and lover of American history and architecture, I could sit on the Mississippi under the Arch and let my mind wander on what this part of the country looked like back before Louis and Clark set out from here.
Stepping back into time is one of my favorite things to do. I can’t help but let my mind wander to what it looked like, sounded like, or think about all the people and stories that took place and how things have changed.
But on this trip, there wasn’t time for sitting and pondering. Edley was running away and pouting, a storm was coming, and the kids were definitely nearing the end of their ropes.
So a quick visit to the Gateway Arch National Park was all we had in us before calling it a day. But it was well worth it.
The pouting stopped once we were back in the car and headed back home to where more important things awaited - quality time with long time friends on the back deck.
And ice cream. Ice cream is always important to this crew.
