Wednesday July 24

Gateway to Missouri

After leaving Tulsa and seeing not one Susan Hayward sign, nor a single oil well, we were on the road to St. Louis, MO. About halfway between Tulsa and the MO state line, I saw a billboard for McDonalds. Figuring Corey'd be hungry because I forgot to stop for breakfast, I pulled into the exit ramp. It turned out this McDonalds is not on a side street, but rather the building straddles the Interstate! And from either side, one sees a large arch framing the glass-walled restaurant. Is this a play on the St. Louis Arch, Gateway to the West?

Called "The Glass House," McDonalds is actually a 2-story building with entrances from both sides of the highway. In the lobby of the first floor is a Will Rogers documentary on a TV in a small viewing area. Just outside the building a loudspeaker blares the song "Oklahoma." Going up the steps, one is confronted with the largest McDonalds in the world, at somewhere over 19,000 sq. ft. The restaurant section overlooks the center of the highway from a very high distance. Pretty cool! There are also 2 gift/souvenir shops there!



Having bought some postcards to commemorate this event, we were back on the road to St. Louis. The farther northeast we travelled, the more lush the greenery. And more humid. What really struck me was, while I was in the desert southwest, I couldn't really tell when the humidity had plummeted. But coming back, I sure could tell where the humidity was high. And it was getting more and more uncomfortable.

Before we even entered St. Louis, we were able to spot the Arch. Although it doesn't seem to be larger than some of the downtown buildings, it is quite impressive. We took many pictures from various angles as I tried to figure out exactly where it was in reference to the streets I was on. St. Louis is a midwest version of Philadelphia; same types of buildings, with one obvious exception: the ballfield is right in the downtown area, just a few blocks from the Arch.

After parking the car down by the river (yes, that's the Mighty Mississippi), we walked up the hill toward the Arch. Set way up in a grassy hillside overlooking the river, it maintains quite a presence. Once at the top of the hill we found out that there's a "below" area. Just walk to either leg of the Arch and go down the steps. This takes you to what looks like Grand Central Station without the trains (well, they do have trams). Housing several gift shops, a museum, restaurant, bank and 2 full-size movie theaters, it is one grand scale monument. Corey decided not to go on the tram to the top; instead she sat through the movie of how the Arch was built. We were both super-impressed!

Leaving the Arch, I called my father whose idea this visit had been. That's when I found out he'd never been there, but HE knew about the tram, which we didn't until we got there. A large group ran down the steps toward the river yelling "...dipping our toes in the Mississippi" so I told my dad I had to get off the phone so Corey and I could also touch the river. Why, I don't know. I guess it's like wanting to touch the Mittens of Monument Valley.

After crossing over the river, we entered Illinois and left Historic Route 66 behind as it makes its way to Chicago. We were staying in Collinsville so we could see the Cahokia Mounds in the morning. But first, we needed dinner. Just east of Collinsville is a row of nothing but restaurants; we ate at Applebee's for the first time. Dinner was fabulous; Honey Pepper Chicken. So good, in fact, that when I got home I had Lance get Applebee's take-out just so he could taste the sauce!

On the way back to our motel, we saw high above the road a huge spotlighted ketchup bottle! How strange. Later I found out that Brooks Ketchup was the town's claim to fame but was later bought out by either Heinz or Hunt's. While it was still a major employer, Brooks had the town's water tower designed as a ketchup bottle and there it is to this day.

Arch, from I-44 exit	Getting closer	And closer
Almost there	Corey hugs the northern leg	Parking lot by the river
Museum exhibit #1	Museum exhibit #2	Archeological excavation

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