Tiny Plastic Houses

Let’s Visit: The St. Louis Arch

Once discussed, the adventurous crew of 10 was assembled and squished into 2 smallish cars. We spent the 30 minute drive recounting tales, calling pets at home, singing songs and dodging road construction. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, we reached the waterfront park and the Arch. We walked up from our parking space near the river and, after a brief stop at the port-o-pot (thanks Mae), we reached the bottom of the ten million steps leading up to the base of the Arch. We climbed in relative silence (besides the occasional "Miranda, get BACK over here" and "No, Mae, I can't carry you up the steps") and reached the base fairly quickly, well behind the rest of the group, as usual! ;D

We waited in a long security checkpoint line, while the group sweated out Mary's pocket knife nestled in her purse and Hollie's metal limbs. Neither were an issue and we quickly gained access to the bottom portion of the Arch.

This bottom portion consisted of a museum-type area (focusing on all that Missouri history they make you study in elementary school), a modern-day gift shop (fully functioning and stocked with trinkets to garner your hard earned $$) and a reproduction settlers era general store (also full functioning and ready to take your $$ – although the book on beauty that included tips on arsenic consumption really piqued my interest and, if I'd had any $$ to give them it would have been mine, along with a book on how to raise a proper daughter .

We first perused the museum, where Mae fell in love with the strange animatronic indian and what she deemed her "princess carriage". There were many displays and much information to discern. Pretty interesting, really.

Then, we went to the general store, where they sold 1¢ candy (Not 1¢, I might add), various period (reproduction) reading materials, some supplies and some canned goods. The store's pseud-owner had to scold Mae and Miranda for fighting as we passed his candy counter.

"You're not causing trouble in MY shop, are you?" He asked loudly and pointedly, staring at both over his glasses as if they'd just committed the most heinous of crimes. They both froze and immediately hid behind good old Momma, making sure to deny their wrong doing as they went. "You wouldn't make trouble in My shop, would you?" he asked again. They both agreed that was not a good idea …

Afterwards, he engaged them in conversation about their home and why they were there, finishing the conversation with a hand shake and sending them on their way. They were so surprised by him (and a little scared) that they were good the rest of the time we were in his shop! (A feat, to be sure).

We then briefly visited the restrooms, the water fountain and the gift shop (in that order) before meeting up with the rest of the group. (Well, what we could find of them, anyway. Mary and Mae got separated for a bit, but we eventually found them, just in time for the trip home.)

Racing down the highway and making a pit stop at a BK to grab the
little ones a bite on the way, got us to the hotel just in time to
dress everyone and run to the wedding.

Final Impression: Pretty Alright

The Arch can be fun, but it can also be crowded and dull if you have to be there too long. Prices are expensive when it comes to souvenirs (when are they not?) and refreshment (at least compared to KC). We found, once there, that trips to the top of the Arch take several
hours of waiting and line sitting, something we did not have enough
time for on this trip. Next time, we'll have to plan ahead and get there early! ~H

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This entry was posted on Thursday, September 24th, 2009 at 1:59 pm. It is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.