Today we drove about 60 miles South, to St. Louis, to see the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, more commonly referred to as the Gateway Arch.  The Jefferson Memorial is part of the National Park Service, so we were able to get another stamp on our National Park Service passport.  It is a 90 acre free park.  However, if you want to see any of the movies about the arch, or go to the top of the arch, there is a fee.  We were glad we drove down today, because tomorrow we hitch up and head on over to Louisville, KY.  We discovered that our exit on I64 is closed, so we will look over some maps tonight to find a new route.

Over 200 years ago, Lewis and Clark set out on their expedition to the West, and ended up in St. Louis.  The building of the Gateway Arch begin in 1963, and finished in 1965.  It is over 630 feet tall, and is the tallest of the national park service monuments.  For whatever reason, I agreed to take a tour to the top.  I do not recommend this for anyone that is claustrophobic.  You are put in a tiny pod (I felt like I was in a sci fi movie), and the trip to the top takes 4 minutes.  It costs $10.00/person to go to the top.  You can spend as much time as you want up there.

You can see both Busch stadium (St. Louis Cardinals baseball) and the  Edward Jones Dome (St. Louis Rams football) from the view at the top.

 

Of course, all this touring made us thirsty, so we headed down the road and took a tour of Budweiser.

Most of the brewing process is now automated.

No tour would be complete without seeing the famous Clydesdales!  Budweiser has over 100+ Clydesdales.  They must be at least 4 years old, have a white nose, and weigh between 2000 – 2300 pounds.

 

The city of St Louis had a school across the street from the brewery.  The Busch children all attended school there.  It was in operation until 1907, and then they sold it to the brewery.  The city decided it was not a good idea to have a school across the street from a brewery.  (perhaps the teachers weren’t coming back after recess?!!).  The building housed offices until the 1980’s.

At the end of the 45 minute tour, which consists of a lot of walking, they bring in the trolley’s to take us to the sampling room!

The end of another good day, in the sampling room!

We made it back to the camper in time to watch the season premiere of The Big Bang Theory.  Tomorrow we “hitch up” and will head towards Kentucky.  We need to be in Campbellsville by Saturday.  We have no idea where we will end up tomorrow….stay tuned!  And thanks for following!

 

Quote for the Day:  “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy” –  Benjamin Franklin