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.

The Gateway Arch

The pods

Shadow from the arch – viewed from the top

another view of the arch

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.

Edward Jones dome

Busch stadium – from the arch

Made it to the top!

The old courthouse in St Louis – view from the arch

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

Numerous Bud products

Most of the brewing process is now automated.

mmmm beer

bottling area

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.

A Bud Clysdale

The clydsdales were blue ribbon winners at the Wisconsin State Fair in 1957!

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.

The Lyon School

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!

Trolley cars take you to the tasting room

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

tasting room at Budweiser

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

Today we drove about 45 miles North, to Springfield, the capital city of Illinois.  One of the things that I would like to do is visit as many of the Presidential Museum/Libraries.  In addition, we both want to check out as many of the National Parks as we can.  There are 401 designated parks.  Our first stop in downtown Springfield, was the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.  At a cost of $12.00 (discounts for seniors, military, students and AAA members), it was well worth the price.  If you are ever in the area, this would be a “must-see” item, and plan on spending about 3 hours going thru the museum.

Abraham Lincoln Museum

Hanging with the Lincolns…Robert, Tad, Mary, Abraham and William

The Lincoln’s had a fourth son, Edward, but he died at age 4, before Lincoln was elected President.  William died at age 12, in the White House, during Lincoln’s first term.  Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, and there was four candidates running for President at the time.  He was assasinated during his second term, after the end of the Civil War.  The museum goes into great detail of both the life of Lincoln, as well as the Civil War.   Photography is only allowed in the plaza, so I do not have any additional photos to share of the museum.

After the museum, we walked over to the Old State Capitol, open from 1839 – 1876.  Lincoln, a local attorney in Springfield before he was President, argued many cases before the IL Supreme Court.  This is also where he delivered his “House Divided” speech.

Old State Capitol, Springfield, IL

Across from the capitol, is the Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices, where he had his law office.

Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices

We had a picnic lunch in Union Square across from the museum.  Then we walked on down to the Lincoln Home National Historic Site.  Abe and his family lived in this house until he moved into the White House. Admission to this park is free.  There are a number of actual items owned by the Lincoln’s still in the house.

Lincoln Home

This is a genuine desk owned by the Lincoln’s

Lincolns desk in his bedroom

It is believed Mrs. Lincoln suffered from migraine headaches….perhaps it was the wallpaper pattern combined with the wild carpet pattern in her bedroom that caused them??

Mrs. Lincoln’s bedroom

After the tour of the house, we went out to Oak Ridge Cemetery, to see Lincoln’s Tomb.  In addition to Lincoln, his wife and 3 of their 4 sons are buried there.  The oldest son, Robert, wanted to be buried there as well, but after his death, his wife refused to honor his request, because she didn’t want to be buried with her mother-in-law!  Robert is buried, with his wife, at Arlington National Cemetery.

Lincoln Tomb

President Lincoln’s Tomb

It is recommended to rub Lincoln’s nose for good luck!

On our way back home, we went past the current Illinois State Capitol Building:

Illinois State Capitol

Thanks for following along on our journey!

Quote for the day:  “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”  Abraham Lincoln

This morning we left Wisconsin and headed South to Litchfield, Illinois.

Dan did a great job driving thru early morning rush hour traffic.

Stay focused dear, the navigator needs a nap!

We are currently staying at a nice little campground, Kamper Kompanion RV Park for a few days.  It is a Passport America park, so we get half price camping.  Full hook-ups for $16.50/night, plus free WI-FI!!  And there is even a small fenced dog park area, that you can have your dog off leash (which is necessary when you have a high energy Jack Russell Terrier!).

Kamper Kompanion site #15

One of Dan’s goals/bucket list items is to see as much of Route 66 as we can.  Route 66 actually begins on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Jackson Boulevard in downtown Chicago.  Not exactly the place where you want to be towing a 40 foot 5th wheel!  But Litchfield has about 3 miles of the existing road that runs parallel to I-55, so we did get to drive on that.

Getting our kicks, on Route 66

We stopped at the Ariston Cafe, which opened in 1924, and is believed to be the oldest cafe on Route 66 that is still in operation.  Food was good, and the service was great!

Ariston Cafe on Route 66

working on Dan’s bucket list

The Ariston Cafe was added to the National Registry of Historical Places in 2006.  After spending the afternoon playing tourist, we came back to the campground so Makena could check out the small dog park, which she had all to herself!  A good day for all of us!

Quote to live by:  “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.  So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor.  Catch the trade winds in your sails.  Explore. Dream. Discover” – Mark Twain