Built in St. Louis between February of 1963 and October of 1965, the Gateway Arch stands 630 feet tall and spans 630 feet of state park land. Each arch leg contains a tram ride that transports visitors to and from the top, and a whopping 1,076 steps for use in an emergency. The arch is designed to withstand earthquakes, lightning strikes, and winds up to 150mph. On a clear day, the view from the top can extend up to 30 miles in both directions.
Prior to this epic road trip, our family took a couple of shorter road trips where we thought we would stop at the Gateway National Park to see the arch, but it never worked out until now. Seeing it in person finally was really neat, especially when we got to see it from far away as we were driving there.
After exploring the free museum, we boarded the tram. Each little tram car seats five (hopefully you like the people you are sitting with, cuz it's really squished) and the ride takes four minutes going up and three minutes coming down.
During part of the tram ride, you are treated to a view of the internal supports, emergency stairs/landings, and mechanical whatnot. But as the arch narrows, the walls close in on the tram and the view becomes a solid gray wall.
Once at the top, visitors have about 10 minutes to jockey for spots at the window and enjoy the views. The time passes quickly and it's hard to fully grasp the sights while also reading the various facts, stories, and history posted around the windows.
I much prefer a nature landscape over a cityscape, but seeing St. Louis from this vantage point was nice, especially since we weren't going to explore the cramped (and dangerous) city in our big rig.
After this few-hour stopover in St. Louis, it was time to make a critical decision. We'd accomplished all we wanted to accomplish and had achieved our goal of traveling in all 48 states. Should we dawdle around for a couple more weeks in Missouri and southern Iowa so we could arrive at home exactly nine months from our departure date, or should we go home and begin our new lives in Waverly a couple weeks earlier than planned? We found we couldn't resist the pull to go home. We've loved gallivanting around the U.S. together, but it was time to bring our epic road adventure to a close. So, the next day, we started high-tailing it north. Of course, when we finally arrived back at our lovely state of Iowa, we had to pull over and take a picture. :)
Thus the St. Louis Gateway Arch proved to be the D-Team's gateway to home sweet home!
Until next time, God bless!
I've seen that from a distance! We never went to the stopped or went up, but it looks awesome (and a little scary!)! 🤣
The Arch is a neat experience. Glad you stopped there.