After leaving Marceline, it was just a few hours' drive through the rest of Missouri. All of which was mostly farm land, especially when our Garmin took us on a couple of little detours down two little farm roads that were practically one lane.
On our way to Marceline, we saw our second fire in the two days. The first was in Kansas, in the trees behind a farm. We had the big billow of smoke from several miles away, and several trucks riding past it, so we were sure someone had reported it. This second one was much smaller and was more of a "Hey, does that look like smoke?" As opposed to "Oh my gosh, smoke!" It was in a triangular median at an intersection. Smoldering hay that had been on fire was scattered all over the grass. Apparently, a tractor-trailer hauling hay had caught on fire because at the end of the median we saw the charred, smoking remains of the trailer. There was no sign of the truck itself, nor that anyone had tried to put it out. It looked like it had just burned out on its own.
Missouri clearly favors the large rolls of hay. Every inch that wasn't a city or town was covered in farmland. We saw a few bales of the rectangular variety, but not enough to dent the competition.
The drive was mostly open highway and very little traffic until we got into St. Louis. Even then, all of the heavy traffic was going the other direction. This was fantastic for us, because we'd taken our time in Marceline (even cancelled our dinner reservations) and it was almost 7:30. We were hoping we'd have some time to do a few things, so we went straight to the Arch without even checking into our hotel (we hoped for the best on the chocolate).
As we got close to downtown, we kept wondering when we'd see it, then all of a sudden we did. Our initial view was blocked by some trees. From that point on, we had no trouble seeing it as we just got closer and closer. We parked in the parking deck with no problem (which, fortunately, was reasonably cool) and went straight to the park.
Wow, you just can't believe how ginormous this thing is. I mean, it's just amazingly huge. Far bigger than we expected. We kept trying to take a good picture, but I think you have to get like six miles away to get the whole thing in.
The best you can hope is to just get a section, preferably with the curve so that you can tell what it is. It's really mind-boggling when you walk around and look at it from below. I just had to know how they built the thing.
We also saw the Eads bridge, built by Andrew Carnegie. It was a marvel of engineering when it was built in 1874, the longest arch bridge at the time. People were afraid to cross it, so Carnegie sent an elephant over it first, based on the popular belief that an elephant won't trod where it's not safe. I recognized it right away, having recenty learned about it on The Men Who Built America.
The actual name of the complex is the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (Jefferson being Thomas Jefferson), with the Arch being the centerpiece. It looks across the Mississippi River, showing the way West.
Amazingly, the visitor's center is completely underground, beneath the Arch. It's quite big, too. Since it's a National Park, we had to go through security and empty everything out of our pockets.
I was the only one who entertained the thought of going to the top, and even I was iffy on that. But it was a moot point. Tickets to the top were already sold out for the day. We wanted to see the "making of" movie and rushed to get tickets. Unfortunately, the line moved very slow, but luck was still with us and we made it just before the lights went down.
The movie was absolutely fascinating. The construction crew built both sides of the Arch at the same time and then met in the middle. It was built in pre-made sections, stacked up and welded in place as they went along, inside and out. From a distance, the joints look smooth as a baby's behind. But when you look at it up close, you can see (and even feel) the welds.
When they were building the two sides, eventually they got too high for the cranes and had to attach building platforms to the backs of each side of the Arch. The tracks couldn't cover a whole side, so every time they moved the platform, they'd have to take track from the bottom and move it to the top. Then when they were done, they had to reverse this process to get the platforms back down.
The biggest challenge was the top sections. Once they got past a certain point, the two sides of the Arch leaned too far inward to be stable on their own. So, they had to add a span between two that also acted as another work platform to install the remaining sections. Half the job was building all the apparati just to build the Arch, all of which then had to be disassembled afterwards.
The most dramatic part was the installation of the final section, which was pretty tiny compared to all the rest. First, they had to spread the two sides (which also didn't quite line up) apart a few extra feet and raise the final piece up by crane attached to the span. Because of all the tension, they had to hose down the installation area to keep it cool and only had a short window to get it done. Even though we knew how the story ended, it was still a real nail-biter.
The oddest part of the movie is that it was made in the 1960s, when the Arch first opened, and hasn't been updated since. It's really dated, with overly stern narration and a bad Mannix/Kung Fu movie soundtrack. We got quite a kick out if that.
But the best part of the visitor's center was the great Lewis & Clark section on Westward Expansion. The first thing you see is a rough-hewn statue of Thomas Jefferson looking off to the distance. Behind him is a large, round room that honestly tells story from both sides. It gives equal attention to the explorers and Native Americans.
The room was full of both simple and elaborate displays that told all about the Native Americans, the explorers, and the settlers. There were also several animatronic figures in front of painted backdrops that would talk directly to you, though most of them were covered up because they were out of order. The Red Cloud animatronic seemed to be the only one working and immediately reminded us of the Old Tonto scenes in The Lone Ranger. Honestly, I think the whole area would be better served if they just took them out. It really didn't match the quality of the rest of the displays.
The best part was the circular back wall covering the Lewis & Clark expedition, with giant photos from various locations and quotes from their journals, typos and all. Most of the locations were all places that we'd just been in the last two weeks, so it was like re-living our trip all over again.
By that time, it was after 9:00 and we were getting pretty hungry. We wanted to eat somewhere nearby, but we were exhausted, too. So, we decided to just go check into the hotel and eat there.
The hotel had a great classic hotel bar, all mahogany wood with a mural of jazz musicians along the ceiling. The menu was simple and just what we wanted, served by the bartender/waiter, who was fantastic. We got there just in time, since the kitchen was only open for twenty more minutes. Just what the doctor ordered for a good night's rest. Only one more stop before home.
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