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Published: June 27th 2010
The New Cathedral: Main door
Grammie walks up the steps of the cathedralWe woke up this morning to the smell of homemade waffles and bacon drifting through the house. Although we weren’t traveling today it was to be a jam-packed day of activities and one that I was looking forward to. After breakfast, the first item on the agenda for the ladies was an appointment at
Washington University. Sarah, Jill, and her mom (Grammie) were scheduled to take a tour and talk to some people in the admissions department. As for me, I had a World Cup soccer game to watch (it turned out to be a great game with the USA winning and moving through to the next elimination round).
About noon the ladies picked me up for a much anticipated (by Jill) lunch at Steak n’ Shake (one of her favorite hangouts when ever she goes back to St Louis).
After dropping Sarah off for another interview the rest of us visited “the new cathedral,”
The Cathedral Basilica of St Louis. This building, consecrated in 1926, is magnificent and has more mosaic (much of it gilded) than any place I have ever seen. We latched on to a tour group and learned a lot about the largest church in the city. Unfortunately it was time
Mosaic everywhere
Hallway behind the main alter in the cathedral. to retrieve Sarah from her interview and we had to leave before the conclusion of the tour. Hopefully the accompanying pictures will give you a sense of the grandeur this building possesses.
The heat was starting to become oppressive, the thermometer in the car registered 102 F at one point as we headed downtown to the Arch. Although I’m sure there are less desirable areas of this city, everything I saw was very inviting and clean. Fountains and sculpture were prevalent and the old railway station, a huge structure of striking architecture, is now a downtown shopping mall.
The Jefferson Expansion Memorial, of which the Arch is a major part, includes theatres and historical exhibits that are a “must see.” Especially not to be missed is the film on the construction of the arch. It includes un-restored original film taken in the mid-sixties as the structure was being pieced together. The engineering is remarkable.
The size of the
Gateway Arch is breathtaking. If you’ve ever been to the top of the Washington Memorial in DC . . . the Arch is higher. Toping out at 640 feet, the observation floor is 630 feet. The trip to the top is exciting, but
The Arch
This view is looking east ftom downtown St Louis claustrophobics beware! The tiny elevator car reminded me of the escape pod in the first Star Wars movie (Episode 4). It seats five (not comfortably) and only the shortest adults can ride without craning their heads forward so as to not bang their noggins against the car. The saving grace for me was that the small windows in the door of the car allows the passengers to watch innards of the Arch pass as the car makes its four minute journey to the top.
There are a series of view windows at the top allowing visitors to see the city and surrounding countryside. I have included a number of the photos I took at the top so you can see for yourself. Please note: the Mississippi River is flooding over its banks due to very heavy rainfall upstream.
As has become the norm on this trip, we get so sucked into things that we can’t stay on schedule. The plan was to go back the house, shower, change, have dinner, then go the theatre. There was just too much to see and do at Arch; we had to change our plans instead of our clothes. We had tickets
One of the St Louis fountains
I understand the nudes caused quite a uproar when the fountain was installed to see Beauty and the Beast at the St Louis Municipal Theatre -
The Muny. The Muny is a unique venue requiring custom stage productions. The stage is very wide and not super deep and the entire theatre is outside - no roof, no real walls . . . just open sky. Performances are accompanied by a full pit orchestra. (I wonder what the harp player does when it rains?) Fortunately tonight there is no rain but the temp at curtain time was still well in the 90’s. The play was well done and we all enjoyed it.
It was after 11:00 when we got home. I was tired and went straight to bed, but Grammie stayed up to bake us cookies for our very long Day 5 journey.
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Big D.
non-member comment
Great Desciptions, Lot's of Memories
Too bad you couldn't get a "belly bomber", or experience Rigazzi syndrome. When you get to Glacier, the highlight of my trip there was Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada. Don't try to ride the big horn sheep, or mountain goats. They frown on that, and it could be a long way down! Crossing the border requires passports.