One thing that we found a bit funny is that, when people learn that we are doing driving Route 66, the next question is usually "How far are you going?" So far, to a person, the look on their faces when we say "Los Angeles" is that of surprise and then, in some cases, a bit of envy. I think that is because most people will do 66 in sections; Chicago->Saint Louis or maybe to Oklahoma City. For us though, we want our first 66 experience to be a complete one; all 2,400+ miles. Then, if we decide to, we'll come back and ride the sections of the route that we want to re-see (we are already thinking about Chicago->Saint Louis with at least one full day in each city).
Onto the day's activities...
We slept in a little bit and went into Edwardsville for breakfast. After thinking that the place was closed, we found the Sunrise Cafe. As a side note, the map that the hotel provides is a bit off.
Breakfast was very good at the Sunrise; which has an atmosphere that is more geared for the townspeople than visitors. Didn't affect our service one bit.
As for the Comfort Inn, it was adequate. The coffee maker in the room did have some mold in it; luckily we did not get any coffee from there. The biggest problem was that the heavy curtain in the room was designed not to close all the way. Since the window faced out onto the parking lot and the lights there... this meant to be a bit annoying overnight.
We hit the route and headed to our 1st stop of the day; the Illinois side of the Chain of Rocks Bridge. The Bridge was one of the ways 66 crossed the Mississippi (In and around Saint Louis there were several alignments of the Route). One of the features about the bridge is that it has a 22-degree bend in roughly the middle. This is so that the bridge did not interfere with the navigation on the river. However, this also made the bridge a bit difficult for cars to drive on.
The Bridge is now a walking/biking trail run by Trailnet, Inc. They (or groups like them) are planning on several trails in and around the area of Choteau Island.
After that, we got back to the main Route and crossed the Mississippi on the I-270 bridge into Missouri (goodbye Illinois!) and Saint Louis. After getting a bit lost, we made it to I-70 and headed to the Gateway Arch.
Seeing the pictures of the Arch is one thing; but to get up close and touch it is something completely different. It is a beautiful structure along the Riverfront and is part of the Jefferson Expansion National Monument. We went underneath the arch to the Visitor Center and purchased tickets for the tram up to the observation deck of the Arch; roughly 600 feet high.
While I knew that there was a tram... I did not expect the cars to be "Pod-shaped", barely able to sit 5 people. I was worried about how Ilana would handle it (because she is quite claustrophobic)... but she did quite well. We had a good laugh when the recording mentioned that the tram system was built using the best technology availabe at the time of the 1960s.
The view at the top is, as you probably would expect, wonderful. You got to see both the river side and then the city of Saint Louis itself. We got some good pictures of the Old Courthouse and of new Busch Stadium. Coming back down from the top in the tram wasn't seemingly as bad as going up, but the heat was pretty stifling in there!
After the arch, we decided to skip lunch and headed straight for dessert - Ted Drewes frozen custard. Ilana had really been looking forward to this stop, and it didn't disappoint. Jeff had a chocolate concrete, and Ilana had a chocolate banana concrete. It was delicious and makes us wish they would open a franchise in Atlanta.
Once we had stuffed ourselves full of custard, we started to hit some stormy weather. It continued to storm and rain all the way to our hotel for the night in Rolla, but we didn't let that stop our fun! We continued driving southwest until we hit the town of Stanton - famous for Meremac Caverns. We knew we wanted to stop there from the first time we saw a painted barn, and were excited to see the formations and enjoy the cheese factor of big tourist stop. The rain must have kept a lot of people away, because our tour group only consisted of about seven people. The guide was personable and fun, and we had some wonderful photo opportunities. This is definitely a must-stop place for those driving 66.
After the caverns, we continued driving through several small towns - the most notable was Cuba, MO. It was here that we were able to snap a photo of the Wagon Wheel Motel and we enjoyed seeing the various murals around the town. Finally, we arrived at our stop for the night - Zeno's Motel and Steakhouse. We checked in and then enjoyed a nice dinner at the Steakhouse. The room is very nice, clean, and quiet - despite Jeff's worries about us facing the highway.
Today - we finish driving through Missouri and end the day in Kansas. See you tomorrow!
Ilana and Jeff
3 comments:
I also like the Gascozark Cafe, with its design and, of course, its classic giraffe Ozark stone.
Let me know if Wrink's, in Lebanon, is open again. Someone had bought it and was planningon opening it?
Make sure to stop at the Munger-Moss, even if you don't stay, and talk with Ramona and Robert.
We've had good food at the Bell Restaurant and try Dowd's, west of town for some great catfish.
All these are in Lebanon.
How are the gas prices?
Oh I'm glad to hear Ilana was okay with the Arch-we've avoided going because I'm also claustrophobic.
Believe it or not, Sean lived in St. Louis for a large portion of his life and has never gone up the Arch!
Glad you enjoyed Ted Drewes. We hit that one every time we're in town.
Sounds like you guys are having a blast! I feel like I'm there with you.
I went up in the arch when I 35 years ago when I was 12. The views look just like the pictures I took (except New Busch was old Busch statium. :) )
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