St. Louis Arch and the Mississippi River

The carful of kids love cultural icons and national parks and the Jefferson Expansion Memorial or Gateway Arch is both.  We visit this national treasure and take a ride on the mighty Mississippi during an epic heat wave.

I made reservations to ride the tram to the top before I left town; if you order tickets online you miss out on the long lines and are rewarded with the earliest times--if touring in the summer the Gateway Arch trams are not air-conditioned.

The carful of kids are always dangerously close to missing our reservations; I park the SUV on the bank of the Mississippi, run the kids up the stairs to the monument, herd them through the airport-like security, fetch our tickets from will call and make the tram just in time. Oh I forgot, we make a bathroom break as well, there are no restrooms at the top of the arch.

Designed by Eero Saarinen in 1947 and constructed between 1963 and 1965, the Gateway Arch is the largest architectural structure designed as a flattened catenary arch. The carful of kids are mesmerized by the sheer scale of the monument and the way the sunlight bounces off of its stainless steel skin.

The Gateway Arch Visitor Center is underground and is reminiscent of the TWA terminal at NYC's JFK Airport--another work by Saarinen. There are several similarities between this project and the iconic terminal.

Not too sure about this Mom

The carful of kids wait in line for our turn when I notice the small size of the tram door.  Geez--I wonder how small the tram car is; I got my answer as soon as the door opened--TINY.

The carful of kids are a little hesitant when stepping inside the space-age pod that will transport them to the top of the 630-foot arch. If you take a closer look at the seat, it is reminiscent of Eero Saarinen's tulip chair.

Hot Kids

We have five people in the tram and it is tight but the ride is quick. My middle child, the skateboarder, is the most nervous and he does not like the movement or the creaking of the tram's mechanisms.  In all fairness, he can't see out the tiny window.

When the carful of kids get to the top, we enter the observation deck and look out of the small exterior windows.  You can see for miles and don't miss it even if you aren't fond of heights.

We return to the visitor's center to tour the exhibit and earn our Junior Ranger Badges from the National Park Service before heading back to the Mississippi River.  Next up is a tour of the Mississippi on the paddle boat, Tom Sawyer.

This is the carful of kids' first riverboat ride but we are in St. Louis during the heat wave of 2012; it's 10:30 am and the kids are melting right before our eyes. Out come the snacks before they start to whine. After riding up the Mississippi River for an hour, the carful of kids are ready head to our next destination--Chicago.

Up Next--two days in Chicago.