St. Louis, Mo Day 2- Morning at The Arch

We began day two early (thanks to the measly one hour time difference) by heading up one of the two glass elevators to the 29th floor of our hotel for a small complementary breakfast (open Monday-Friday including pastries, fruit, cereal, yogurt, and a hot dish, as well as coffee, tea, juice). The boys were always excited to score a ride in the glass elevators. They also loved eating donuts for breakfast. My food rules are more relaxed when traveling. The view of the Arch was great (if you can ignore the rain drops).

With only one day to see the sites with daddy before his conference began, we let him plan the day. First stop, the Arch!

 Despite the rainy weather, we walked the few blocks following signs like this one that Niko is stepping on. We always try to travel light. No umbrellas needed with hooded rain jackets. This keeps our hands free for wrangling small children.

Around the bottom of the Arch there was a lot of construction occurring, but we still found a good spot to take a several pictures a few blocks away from the Arch.

It was amazing to watch the Arch appear to grow larger as we walked closer.

After a short wait until the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial opened (see website for summer or winter hours) we were the second family admitted through security. The boys wanted to explore the museum, but we redirected them and bought our tickets (kids 3-15 $5, 15+ $10 or $7 with National Park Passport). We were among the first people to make it to the top of the arch that day (again avoiding waiting in the line)!

Here is the picture of the family before our visit to the top (you may be wondering why I paid $20 for this... so am I). Vlad was still bummed about having to take a detour from the museum. If I was more prepared I would have distracted the boys with a quick London Bridges type pose that would have made our own arches (can't be supermom all of the time, right).

While we waited for the trams to be ready for us to load into the pods, a short movie played (twice actually for our group) describing the history of the bridge crossing the Mississippi River. Operating since 1967, the pods were tiny (not a place for those who suffer from claustrophobia). Vlad and Mike were a little nervous about making the trip to the top, while Niko and I buzzed with excitement. The ride to the top takes 4 minutes and is the only way to access the viewing area there (the 1000+ steps are not available to the public).

Mike and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary with a kiss in the pod.

Up at the top, the boys enjoyed the view. The deep benches made this comfortable for those with little legs. According to the website, on a clear day the view at the top can extend up to thirty miles in either direction. This was far from a clear day, but we still had a great view. The Arch is 630 feet (192 meters) tall or exactly 63 stories tall (allowing 10 feet for each story). Fun fact: 630 feet is also the distance from leg to leg at ground level.

Niko and Mike looking East across the Mississippi River. The low lying clouds decreased the visibility, but the view was still amazing! 

View to the West and East (below with the raindrops).

Vlad was finished after only a few minutes. I was just excited the whole family could experience the viewing area. There are ten minutes between trams, so we didn't have much of a wait before we caught the next one down. Only one side of the Arch was running trams on the day that we visited.

Our next step on the adventure was the Museum of Westward Expansion (free and located in the same building as the access to the Arch).

I really loved the layout of this museum. It was very open and shaped like half a wagon wheel. Having just finished one of my favorite books, One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd, this was a perfect exhibit for me. We spent about 45 minutes exploring the museum.

Finally, we made a quick stop in the gift shop where we purchased a National Park Passport (should have started here and saved $6) and souvenirs. Niko picked out animal crackers and Vlad ever practical picked out an umbrella which he wheeled like a sword while he used the cover as a sheath.

Have you ever visited the Arch?