and one more from st. louis

Part 3: Around Town

Friday. I had no plan in mind - the whole point of the trip had been the show, and I was quite unprepared in terms of any other sights. Well, that's not entirely true, I'd kicked around going to the Anheuser Busch brewery (not for the beer, you understand. I don't like beer, I only wanted to visit the Clydesdale stables and see the horses), the revamped Union Station, the botanic garden... funnily enough, last weekend, when I was back home, both Chicago Sunday newspapers featured St. Louis as a getaway destination. What timing! So. I slept in. After the dinner I'd had the previous night (the al dente fettuccini with tomatoes and great giant chunks of onions) I decided I wanted to get a really nice breakfast. I asked the very helpful hotel staff for suggestions. Not only did I get a great suggestion, but I got a ride from the hotel shuttle driver. Breakfast was at Rooster, a cute little crepe shop and coffee house that be at home, I think in someplace like Evanston. Since crepes were the specialty of the house, I got a baked apple one. Oh, and a big honking vanilla latte. The crepe was HUGE! And really good.

Called the shuttle driver to come and get me. Over crepe, I decided to check out the Gateway Arch. Because really, I can shop just about anywhere, but the Arch is very distinctively St. Louis and since I was taking off later in the afternoon, decided to head there. Outside the Arch, I was overwhelmed by how BIG it is. I started debating - to go up or not to go up?? I asked myself then what would Patti do?? I'm not proud of this, ok, but I didn't get a lot of sleep and I was punchy as hell. And I actually did think about what she would do, even as I was questioning the wisdom of this philosophy, and I decided that she would probably go to the top of that bitch and no mistake. She seems bold, you know? Fearless. So that's what I decided to do. I got my ticket and the guy asked me (as he gave me the wrong change) if I had any claustrophobia issues or fear of heights etc. I said "I don't think so... guess we'll find out, huh?" And he did not seem amused. On with the show. I got in line with a bunch of families with screaming kids. Fun. We were escorted into an area, in front of teeny tiny doors. They would show us a film, and then the little doors would open and we'd get into a teeny tiny capsule that would bring us to the top of the Arch. 630 Feet. Yikes. Inside, I was with 4 other people, crammed into this tiny thing. Great. As the thing started moving, you could see the inside of the Arch, whizzing by and it was not comforting. What did I get myself in to?? Finally, we're at the top. I get out, take some pix, the view is AMAZING! and then I start freaking out. Don't ask me why. I was like ok, this has been great, can you get me down now please? So I got in line pretty fast to go down. While we were waiting for the return pods, you could feel the thing shaking in the wind. I ended up riding down with some fellow Chicagoans (suburbanites, too!) which was great, even though I think I probably looked pretty green on the ride down. I pretty much bolted out of that little pod and out into the sunlight as fast as I could. Fresh air and sunshine, with my stomach issuing protests the whole way. By the time I got out, it was time for lunch. My cab came to the hotel to take me to the airport shortly thereafter...