Here I bring you another amazing experience from some place very beautiful and serene with something spectacular to see and experience for your lifetime. It was a trip to the city of St. Louis, MO. Specifically it was our visit to the Gateway Arch situated on the banks of the great Mississippi river in Thomas Jefferson memorial park.
St. Louis had been in the news lately but for a sad reason though. But otherwise if we open up history,
St. Louis has a major role in the history of US.
We along with a couple of friends decided to take a road trip to St. Louis on a regular weekend as it was about a 6 hour ride, we started early morning and planned to stop overnight somewhere close to St Louis so as to visit the Gateway Arch early next morning.
Before making the night stop we decided to visit some place on the route. As Springfield was a city almost mid the route we wished if we could get to do something around there when we make our stop for lunch. And thanks to the hoardings that would give you so many choices along with the advertisements that they do :) .
It is said to have been explored by a group of 12 women in 1867 and they carved their names too.
Could refresh some of the old school memories when we got to see some Stalactites and stalagmites. We even got to touch some of the stalactites which are considered dead now.It was an amazing tour and we also got to see a small waterfall inside that cave that was remaining from the old river that flowed through the cave once.
After the cave tour we took a tour around the cave area which was maintained as a small park on he banks of the Little Sac river.
Climbed the rocks besides the river, which also was the back side of the caves and enjoying the water stream that flowed out of the cave. I think that was from the water fall that we saw inside the cave.
We had a couple of hours of fun and then moved on with our drive to checkin into a hotel somewhere near St. Louis.
As we speak of the history about the Arch, it depicts the westward expansion of the United States as the Arch stands on the west bank of the river and Thomas Jefferson's role in the expansion.
We were soon in the Visitor Center and then in the queue for our turn to ride the tram to go up to the Observation deck of the arch.
It was our chance and we got into the chain tram. Each compartment was made to climb up like it would climb the stairs. Once up in the observation deck we admired the city and the view from up there and then were back down to visit the museum in the visitor center. It provided great information about the history and physics and mathematics involved in the building up of the Arch.
The Arch also happens to be 630 feet wide at the North and South legs. Once done touring the Arch we walked through the streets to see the city, saw the Old Courthouse which happened to be closed that day so missed out on that :( .
All set we had lunch in one of the restaurants besides the river and took a ride back home.
All in all It was an awesome short trip which was full of knowledge and had a lot to remember and admire.
Keep checking back for more information about destinations, soon to be added on my blog.
Till then happy traveling with Sapna !!! :)
St. Louis had been in the news lately but for a sad reason though. But otherwise if we open up history,
St. Louis has a major role in the history of US.
We along with a couple of friends decided to take a road trip to St. Louis on a regular weekend as it was about a 6 hour ride, we started early morning and planned to stop overnight somewhere close to St Louis so as to visit the Gateway Arch early next morning.
Before making the night stop we decided to visit some place on the route. As Springfield was a city almost mid the route we wished if we could get to do something around there when we make our stop for lunch. And thanks to the hoardings that would give you so many choices along with the advertisements that they do :) .
Here was our Stop !!
We stopped at the Fantastic Caverns. As the name suggests, they were fantastic :) . They are supposedly the only caves in North America that offer a Ride- thru tour. They take you in a jeep driven tram for an hour long tour in the caves and guide you along with the history of the caves, how it was found and explored.It is said to have been explored by a group of 12 women in 1867 and they carved their names too.
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| Name Carvings of first explorers |
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| Hall of Giants Stalagmites |
Could refresh some of the old school memories when we got to see some Stalactites and stalagmites. We even got to touch some of the stalactites which are considered dead now.It was an amazing tour and we also got to see a small waterfall inside that cave that was remaining from the old river that flowed through the cave once.
After the cave tour we took a tour around the cave area which was maintained as a small park on he banks of the Little Sac river.
Oh That was fun and memorable !
We took a walk going round behind where the caves entrance is and there it was .... An opportunity that we couldn't resist to explore. Beautiful wide Little Sac river flowing by. As we weren't prepared to be wet so we had to have fun without risking ourselves in water. A huge tree had fallen down and that was our chance. Got on top of it, touched the water. |
| Little Sac River |
Ready to Ride high !!
Soon after the breakfast we headed straight to our destination. There it was standing high. Very amazed to see the gorgeous 630 feet high structure.As we speak of the history about the Arch, it depicts the westward expansion of the United States as the Arch stands on the west bank of the river and Thomas Jefferson's role in the expansion.
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| The 630 feet high beauty |
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| In queue for the chain tram |
It was our chance and we got into the chain tram. Each compartment was made to climb up like it would climb the stairs. Once up in the observation deck we admired the city and the view from up there and then were back down to visit the museum in the visitor center. It provided great information about the history and physics and mathematics involved in the building up of the Arch.
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| The Observation deck windows on top |
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| Old Courthouse |
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| Old Courthouse view from Gateway Arch |
All set we had lunch in one of the restaurants besides the river and took a ride back home.
All in all It was an awesome short trip which was full of knowledge and had a lot to remember and admire.
Keep checking back for more information about destinations, soon to be added on my blog.
Till then happy traveling with Sapna !!! :)
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