Day 63 and 64: St. Louis, MO

Day 63 and 64

July 18 and 19, 2015

Miles: 58 on Saturday, 0 on Sunday

Marthasville to St. Louis

I am writing this on Sunday night.  The blog post I wrote last night was lost for some reason only the internet gods know of, and I found that event so disturbing that I could do nothing but go to bed.  Now, after 24 hours to let go of the anguish caused by that event, I am ready to write again.

Saturday, June 18
Steve, the owner of the B&B, brought our breakfast a little before 7am.  We had gotten up a few minutes earlier and started a pot of coffee.  Our breakfast was potato and ham omelets, sliced peaches, warm coffee cake and orange juice.  It felt luxurious to lounge around our room and have breakfast brought to us.  It made me think that every day should begin this way.

Ready to dig into our breakfast

Postprandial reading and coffee drinking

Relaxing on the porch swing of our cabin after breakfast

Steve, the owner of the B&B and not me, drove us back to the KATY trail and we were back to pedaling by 9:30am.  It was hot and humid, so even though we wanted to get to St. Louis as soon as possible to meet up with Michelle and Brian, we knew we would have to take a number of rest breaks. Our first break came after riding just 7 miles, which even for us is very little riding before taking a break.

This Caruso's Dark Cream Italian Style Soda is awesome!

We rode on the KATY Trail until we came upon the Creve Couer Connector at mile 32.  The KATY Trail continued north and we needed to head east and cross the Missouri River.

Crossing the Missouri on the Creve Couer Connector Trail

The bike path over the Missouri

The river through the fence (this shot is for Michelle, who likes fence shots)

We made it over the river and once on the other side stopped for a quick break and to recheck the map.  We were only to be on the Creve Couer Trail for a short time and then had to travel over city roads, and given our predisposition to getting lost, we thought it a good idea to make sure we knew where we were going.

Resting in the park after crossing the Missouri

Three miles after checking the map to make sure we didn't get lost, we were lost.  Di is really gifted in a lot of areas, but knowing instinctively which direction to go isn't one of them.  And I am worse than Di in this regard.  Instead of getting upset about being lost again and so quickly, we decided to stop at a nearby restaurant for some lunch.

Lunch by a bike path (though not the one we should have been on)

We finished lunch and continued on to St. Louis.  We used Di's iPhone to direct us, and this was a great benefit to us because each time we got lost we could blame the iPhone instead of each other.  We got lost many times and many times we cursed the iPhone for its incompetence in directing us properly, and in this manner we happily continued on our way until we found ourselves on the outskirts of St. Louis.  St. Louis is a very biker friendly town and we were able to find a dedicated bike  path that led us close to downtown St. Louis.  Its hard to get lost once you are on a bike path, even for us.

Follow that path to St. Louis!

The bike path eventually ended and we had to resume riding on the streets, but the streets had dedicated bike lanes with arrows pointing the way to St. Louis.  Somebody must have heard we were coming and needed all the help we could get in order to find downtown.

Even Di and I can find St. Louis with arrows painted on the streets!

We finally made it into St. Louis around 5:30pm.  We called Brian and Michelle to let them know we were finally here and we made plans to go to dinner later that night.

Going to Union Station Restaurant for dinner with Michelle and Brian

Di and I had a wonderful time with Brian and Michelle.  It felt great being with our friends from back home and we were so happy and appreciative that they came out to St. Louis to meet us.  Both Michelle and Brian are very funny, so we laughed and talked our way through dinner.  Afterwards, we all walked to the old Union Station, now converted to a hotel, to check out the hotel lobby.

Union Station Hotel lobby

We walked back to our hotels and agreed to meet at Michelle and Brian's hotel for breakfast the next morning.

Sunday, June 19

We walked across the street to Brian and Michelle's hotel a little before 10am.  Their hotel, the Pear Tree, offered a complimentary breakfast and our's didn't, so we happily joined them to partake of the free food.  Perhaps there is something wrong about eating a complimentary breakfast at a hotel where you are not a guest, but I must confess I ate that breakfast untroubled by any morality concerns.  Perhaps all this biking has lowered my ethical standards.

Di, Michelle, Brian and complimentary food

After breakfast, Brian fetched the rental car and drove us all down to the river so we could visit the Arch.  Brian and Michelle had proposed we visit the Arch in the morning and then tour the Anheuser Busch Brewing Company in the afternoon.  Di and I thought that plan was fabulous, especially because we had given no thought to what to do while in St. Louis.  Usually, we just sleep, so the thought of getting out of the hotel and actually seeing something was not only novel for us, but exciting.  On our way to the Arch, we stopped in the Old Courthouse building.

Domed ceiling of the old courthouse

The courthouse was where you picked up your tickets to visit the Arch.  Michelle and Brian had the foresight to make our reservations yesterday, so all we had to do was pick up the tickets today.  While we were in the courthouse, Michelle and Brian told us we actually going to ride up to the top of the Arch.  I had no idea we were going to do this, and as a person afflicted with an intense fear of heights, I wondered how enjoyable such a ride would be.  My fears were not allayed one bit once I saw a replica of the vehicle that would take us to the top of the Arch.

I refer to this as the tuna can on its side ride

We left the courthouse and made our way to the Arch.

Making our way to the Arch

Signs painted on the road helped us not get lost

We made it to the Arch

The Arch, up close

And personal

The queue to ride to the top of the Arch

Waiting outside the door to our elevator car

Brian and Michelle excited about riding to the top of the Arch

The elevator car is round because it behaves similarly to a ferris wheel car.  As it goes higher and higher, to keep level it must rotate to compensate for the curvature of the arch.  So you are both traveling upwards and turning at the same time.  There is a small window by the door that allows you to look downwards at the ever increasing expanse of space between you and the ground, and if you enjoy being sickened by your own uncontrollable fearful quaking, then I recommend you take a good long look out that window.  As for myself, one quick glance was all I needed to regret agreeing to visit the Arch.  We arrived at the top after four minutes in the tuna can and it was exhilarating to be at the top.

Brian and Michelle on top of the world

That green domed building is the old courthouse, the St. Louis Cardinals play at the stadium at the left

You see the Mississippi River out the windows on the other side

Looking down river

Looking up river

Looking straight down at the base of the arch

Relaxing at the top of the Arch

 Close-up of the courthouse

Close-up of the Cardinals' stadium

You can see the curvature of the earth (unless that's just my imagination)

Close-up of fountain in park

Michelle and Brian don't know I'm taking their picture

Michelle now knows I'm taking her picture

Those little dots at the base of the Arch are people

Heading back to our elevator car

Back at the base, Michelle fulfills her life-long dream of being a park ranger

Brian and Di survived the trip up the Arch

Monument to Dred and Harriet Scott, whose case was heard in St. Louis

We got back in the car and headed towards the Busch Brewery.  Di and I had gone two months without being in a car, so it felt a little strange to be driving around.  Not so strange that we would have preferred to ride our bikes, mind you.  It was still very hot and muggy and we appreciated Brian's driving and the air conditioning the car provided.  Before going to the brewery, we stopped to grab some lunch at the Capitalist Pig.  The restaurant occupies a former police station which still retains its holding cells.

Michelle and Di at the restaurant

Lunch in the jail cell

We headed to the Anheuser Busch Brewery after lunch.

Di modeling by the Anheuser Busch truck

Michelle and Brian modeling by the Anheuser Busch truck

The first stop on our tour was to visit the Clydesdale horses.

That's a Clydesdale

You can tell by the hooves that need a haircut

Clydesdale getting ready to be saddled

The room where the storage tanks are kept (at a very cool temperature!)

The stairs leading up to the Straining Room

Vats where straining occurs

More straining

Stairs leading down from the Straining Room

The tour guide said the clock tower was famous, so here is a picture of a famous clock tower

The tour guide pointed out the elephants on top of the lights, so here is an elephant on top of a light

The tour guide pointed out the eagles at the top of one of the gates, so here is an eagle from the top of one of the gates

See, the eagle is on top of one of the gates

The brewery is like a little city

It even has wild animals hanging around

At the conclusion of the tour we were given free beverages!

Michelle and Di like horses

Michelle and Di still like horses

Yep, they like horses

We left the brewery and went back to our respective hotels to take naps before going to dinner.  Hey, it was a tough day filled with scary rides, long walks in the heat, and of course, the beer we had at the brewery.  It all added up to the need for a little napping.  By 8pm we were ready for some dinner.  Di and I have been craving Italian food for some time now because we can't ever find a good Italian restaurant in any of the cities we've been too, so Brian and Michelle drove us all to a highly recommended Italian restaurant.  

Charlie Gitto's is in an area of St. Louis called The Hill

The food was awesome!

We had a great meal at Charlie Gitto's and then it was time to head back to the hotel and say goodbye. We had been looking forward to seeing Michelle and Brian for so long and we had such a great time with them that we really wanted our time together to go on for a few more days.  They are continuing their adventure by flying to Galveston, TX and exploring that part of the country and Di and I must continue ours.  It meant a great deal to Di and me that they came out to visit it us and we will be forever grateful that they did.  Di and I spent a good part of today remembering some of what Michelle and Brian said to make us laugh and we laughed again in the recounting of it.  Thanks again, Michelle and Brian!