50 in 50: St Louis Surprise!

We’ve always reflected on driving around America that without knowledge or warning, you will come upon something both surprising and interesting. It happened again as we traversed Indiana when in the distance we saw their equivalent of the the Angel of the North. Funnily enough, it was another religious symbol, The Cross at the Crossroads.

I’m not sure if Anthony Gormley’s statue was in any way inspired by religion but this cross in Indiana certainly was and it’s only when you get close that you can appreciate the size and scale of the structure. Well worth a short detour.

Talking of structures, as we got closer to our next destination, St Louis, Missouri, you are greeted by the spectacular sight of the 630 foot tall Gateway Arch. It’s an absolute must visit place and does draw huge numbers of tourists although on the beautiful day that we visited, we didn’t have to compete with crowds of people.

For such a contemporary looking structure it’s hard to believe it was conceived in 1933, designed in 1947 and completed in 1965! It was also a surprise to Linda to learn that you can actually ride to the top of the curve and view the city and surroundings from the very small windows - I had pre-booked tickets and you can see the tiny windows in some of the attached photos.

It was confusing to try and understand how we would get to the top! It’s a curved structure and a normal lift only operates straight up or down. Correct but some genius back in the 1940s utilised roller coaster technology to create a method to get you to the top. It’s a weird four minute ride in a tiny five seater cylinder. If you are in any way claustrophobic then it could be a challenge but crikey, the whole experience was one not to be missed if ever in St Louis

I’ll let the photos do the further talking and then I might just write a short post about the Anheuser-Busch (Budweiser) brewery tour we did in follow up to the Gateway Arch. Anybody reading this might just think we are having a good time!