St. Louis....a town we have driven through oh so many times, but hardly ever stopped and enjoyed what the city had to offer. I always seemed to snap a picture of the Arch as we drove over the bridge of the Mississippi, but we never stopped. Until this summer. My kids had always asked us to stop and take them up into the big "steel-rainbow". Well, they had a lot to learn about the Gateway Arch!
So, did you know:
~ The Gateway Arch was built in February 1963 and was completed 2 1/2 years later? And they didn't have fancy computers to help with the surveying and building like we do now....
~ The Gateway Arch is the tallest national monument in the United States at 630 feet?
~ These tiny trams to get to the top of the Arch have been in operation for 30 years? They only sit 4 people and take about 4 minutes to get to the top. But it's a long 4 minutes......
~ The room at the top of the Arch fits about 100 people and has lots of tiny windows to "look out" onto St. Louis?
~ The Arch can sway in high winds??? Yikes! Glad it was a nice & sunny day in St. Louis when we were up there!
~The Arch was built to honor the westward expansion that was started here, in St. Louis, along the Mississippi River? This muddy, brown, still river is the Mississippi. Somehow, not as I pictured it when I read about it in History.
~ Lastly, the distance from one foot of the arch to the other is the same as the height, 630 feet?
And how'd ya like that little lesson in history? Your welcome. The experience was great. The kids loved it and the museums that are underneath the Arch as well. They give the history of Louis & Clark, why St. Louis is nicknamed "Gateway to the West" and where & how the Gateway Arch was built.
I think my kids were amazed at how big it actually was when you are on the ground looking up, yet how tiny & cramped the upper deck is. They could have spent all day peering out those windows, but after 15 minutes, this momma had enough - I was ready to have my 2 feet firmly planted on the ground!
All-in-all, it was a wonderful tour and one that I highly recommend. No more "driving through" anymore...you can meet me in St. Louis anyday!
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