Road Trip (Day 2) - The Land of Arch

Shrugging off the tiredness from the previous night, we started the day really early so that we could make the most of our stay at St. Louis. By 8:00 am we were strolling down the Broadway in downtown. I am always awed by the downtowns of big cities - those tall buildings, neon lights, perpendicular streets and avenues...they never cease to amaze me. But I wasn't very impressed by the St. Louis downtown though. For starters, there weren't any really impressive tall buildings and most surprisingly the downtown wasn't crowded at all. A lot of the buildings desperately needed a coat of paint and glasses to make them look posh and shiny. There were no fancy stores or events happening around downtown too....and unlike New York there was no vibrancy or life in the downtown of the city. The only color in the downtown was due to the Cardinals and the Rams banners flying all over.

Next we decided to visit the famous Arch of westwood expansion. The arch stands 630 feet high, about 200 feet taller than Washington memorial and about 300 feet taller than the statue of liberty. Infact it's the tallest man made monument in America. It was built in the early 60's to open the West towards expansion and development and stands on the Mississipi river bank. We also took the trolley up the top of the monument...and I must add that we had a really spectacular view of the city. Infact as you drive in to the city of St. Louis, the arch is the first thing that hits your eye, even when your well outside the city limits.

We also caught up on other attractions like the Union station in the city. We ended our stay at St.Louis by visiting the Anheuser Busch's Budweiser facility. The free tour was welcome, but very uninteresting. The tour however ended in a very good note at the hospitality room, with free unlimited Budweiser drinks. However moderation took charge of me, as I had to drive 300 miles to Kansas in the evening.

The drive back to Kansas started at a bad note - stuck in a stop-go traffic in St. Louis for about 1/2 hour and then as things were starting to clear up and I was making up for some lost time I got stuck in the heaviest downpour I have ever seen in US. With almost zero visibility I was following others at 30 mph on the interstate. But things soon turned worse, and as I saw a platoon of cars pulling over to shoulder and halting, I decided to do the same and wait for the rain to subside. Things returned to normalcy in another 1/2 hour and I was cruising at top speed on the slippery road. We are currently at the outskirts of Kansas City and about 50 miles from our destination Topeka, KS...stuck in a stop- go traffic of the city agian :(.

( I hope Quality Inn has wireless so that I can post this blog)