Day 5 - Gateway to the West

Friday started with us fuelling up on waffles, cereals, yoghurt, etc, from the buffet, before heading out on our trip to St Louis. Whilst Catherine was getting herself something, I became aware of her talking to a very elderly gentleman, helping him the put milk on his cornflakes. Then she took his bowl over to his table for him, where two fat relatives sat each on their phones. They actually thought Catherine wanted to sit at there table, so oblivious were they to what she was doing. Lazy fat f*ckers!  Turned out the old boy had been over in the UK, before being shipped to Europe during WW2.  You never know, do you?

Our first stop of the day was Becky's barn, immediately before the red brick portion of old Route 66.  I wasn't sure about stopping at first but we thought we'd take a peak. As we approached, a long haired gent appeared and told us they were open, so we stopped and went inside. Greeted by an excitable terrier, the guy (Rick) showed us into his emporium. At first glance you might thing it a bit of a junk heap but on closer inspection, he has in this rather large barn, lots and lots of memorabilia, not just from Route 66 but from music to moon landings and gangsters. A very interesting chap, it turns out he is distantly related to Bonnie Parker (of Bonnie & Clyde fame) and knows relatives of the Capone and other gangster families. We had no reason to disbelieve him, as it wasn't as if he brought the subject into the conversation. We spent a fair bit longer chatting, than we had expected but finally tore ourselves away, me with a piece of the brick road in my hands, as a souvenir.

Stopping at the end of his track, I took photos of the brick road, before we drove along it. After some minor detours of the main road to take in some original 66 spurs and having gone though Chatham, we arrived in the lovely little town of Carlinville. Here we stopped and took a quick walk around the square and into the court building, so we could ask directions for the Post Office and so Catherine could powder her nose. I'd been to Carlinville before, so I showed Catherine the old jail, before we purchased stamps for postcards.

Follow the Brick Road

Back in the car, we took in some more old sections of the route, including a 1920s bridge, before coming to Mount Olive and the Soulsby Service Station, a 1926 Shell gas station, beautifully restored. A quick visit to Dollar General (cheap supermarket) next door, for some snacks and drink, then we were back on the road.

Soulsby Service Station

Henry's Rabbit Ranch had been next on the list. As we turned into the driveway though, it looked no more than a junk yard, so we drove straight through and on to our next point of interest, the Pink Elephant Antique Mall. I'd chosen this for a couple of reasons, there were some more giants to view AND because they have a flying saucer house. Catherine had seen a program about these a while back, so this was a nice surprise for her.

We weren't far now, from our final stop before St Louis, the Chain of Rocks Bridge. Now I'd done this before from the Missouri end, so this time was new for me too, parking up, as we did, at the Illinois end. For those that don't know, this bridge is peculiar in that it has a bend in the middle. Not just a gentle curve you understand but something like a 60 degree dog leg. We walked out as far as the bend, which meant I have now walked the entire length, then made our way back to the car and onwards to St Louis. Passing over the McKinley Bridge, a 1910 steel truss bridge over the Mississippi, on the way, we were soon unloading the luggage and checking in to our hotel.

Snag!  On entering the room, we were greeted by a window that overlooked the lifts we had just got out of! Seems a number of rooms overlook the atrium, so don't have any outside facing windows. all call from Catherine downstairs and we were soon ensconced in another room, this time with 2 outward facing windows, plus a view of the Gateway Arch from the end of the hallway.

We popped out to get the car parked and found ourselves surrounded by St Louis Cardinals fans. Turns out there is a big baseball game tonight, against the Pittsburgh Pirates. I've just checked the score and although I don't understand the game, it looks like the Cardinals have got a good spanking! There be lots of disappointed fans in the hotel tomorrow then. Whilst out, we purchased tickets for the Arch, then came back to the hotel for Happy Hour.

Happy Hour, which is actually 90 minutes, provides 3 free alcoholic drinks plus a food buffet, including hotdogs, chilli, pasta, meatballs, etc. It's quite unbelievable. The restaurant area was packed. Well, no point in looking a gift horse in the mouth, so we both had our fill of beer and food. Pity we're only staying one night!

St Louis, Gateway Arch

Finally for today, we walked round the corner the the Arch. Unbeknown to us, it is the 50th anniversary of it's completion, this year. It's a massive, 630 foot stainless steel triangular structure, looping into the sky along the banks of Old Muddy (the Mississippi). $10 gets you a ride to the top, where you can look out of some tiny rectangular windows. we got to the top, just before the sun set, so hopefully, I have a few decent pictures. Catherine's scared of heights but still, she did it with me and even leant over to peer out of the windows. Pretty scary stuff I imagine, when you can there is absolutely nothing around you. It's not like looking down the side of a really tall building, fro example. After that, we watched an amazing film on how they built it. If your ever come to St Louis, I thoroughly recommend a trip up the Arch.

Back in the hotel, we hit the gym for a quick run and now we'll do some prep for tomorrow. From St Louis, we are heading to Cuba, Missouri, that is.   

Catch up with us then.