Month: August 2016

Gateway Arch, St. Louis, MO

We’re having a wonderful time on our trip through the Heartland. We have a lot to share with Easin’ Along readers and we will share all of it with you over the next few weeks, but today we want to tell you about a few of the highlights of our visit to St. Louis, MO.

After a lovely visit with our niece, Jonnie, and her husband Caleb (Army Lieutenant), in Clarksville, TN we set out for St. Louis and Scott Air Force Base.  After checking into a spacious room on base, we went into town for a ride up to the top of one of the most prominent landmarks in America–the Gateway arch. We were able to park near our destination and walk to the entry. With the help of our National Park Senior Pass and a military discount, we were admitted for a fee of $8.00 (age does have benefits).

The line was short and we were loaded into an elevator within minutes for a ride to the peak of the arch which is 630 above ground.  We were cautioned that the elevators and the viewing area was a bit confining and if claustrophobia is an issue, think before going.

Well, I’m 6’4″ and EVERYTHING is tight for me, but I decided to suck it up and go for it. Good decision…the view was tremendous.  The viewing area was full, but everyone was considerate and moved away from the smallish windows quickly to allow others to share the view. We could see St. Louis and beyond.

That evening we went to dinner at Cunetto House of Pasta at the suggestion of a friend from church.  This restaurant had excellent reviews on Trip Advisor and we were eager to give it a try even though we knew that it might be crowded on a Friday night. As it turned out, the crowd was heavy, but we were promptly seated at the rear of one of the dining rooms and smothered with great service by a very pleasant waitress.

Helen (adorable wife) ordered an incredible serving of Filet of Sole that had been lightly breaded and covered with a mushroom cream sauce.  This out of this world dish also came with a side order of pasta Alfredo which was more than anyone could eat.

I chose a pasta dish which consisted of Linguini, shrimp, and crab. It was good, but to be completely honest, it was not great.  There was a lot of parsley in it, and it came across as slightly bitter to me.  Oh well, Helen couldn’t finish her Sole, so I was allowed to share.  Again, it was awesome.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next morning we checked out and set our GPS in the direction of the St. Louis Cathedral or Basilica as it had been designated by the Pope John Paul II on his visit to the cathedral in 1997. We had heard that the mosaics were not to be missed and we were not disappointed.  The tiles, many designed and installed by Tiffany Studios in addition to other artisans, cover 83,000 square feet. The installations began in 1912 and were completed in 1988.  The beauty and detail of the artwork are impossible to describe in words…this is a must see for all. After our cathedral visit, we moved on to the Missouri Botanical Garden a few miles away.

Regular readers of Easin’ Along know how much we love flowers so it should be no surprise that we were excited about this part of our trip to St. Louis even though we were running short on time. Nevertheless, this too was a must see for us, so rather than pay attention to the individual gardens we strolled through the paths as they came to us and dwelled on the beauty of the blooms.

The Missouri Botanical Garden was founded in 1859 and is a National Historic Landmark.  It is well known as a center for botanical research and science education. The Garden covers 79 acres and there is something beautiful to see everywhere one casts their eyes.  I let my camera record the beauty for viewing on a cold winter day when I need a lift.  A few of the more delightful flowers we spotted are shown below.  I hope you enjoy them.

Needless to say, there were many millions more flowers to see and we will post a picture gallery of them in the coming days to share them with everyone.  Please come back next week when we will take to to the origin of the Santa Fe Trail in Leavenworth, Kansas.

In the meantime, we’re just smellin’ the roses and Easin’ Along…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here they are:

Well, we’re off!  Through the next few weeks we will be Easin’ Along through the Heartland of the United States.  As we write this first post we just arrived in St. Louis after a fun night in Clarksville, TN near Ft. Campbell – home of the 101st Airborne. 

Hopefully there will be some time to post updates as we make our way through some beautiful country. We will also post our usual update every Friday.  In addition, please check out the Easin’ Along Facebook page for information as to our whereabouts. Our journey will take us through MN, the Dakotas, WI, IL, and around the shoreline of Michigan up to Mackinaw Island. We’re pumped!  Join us again soon.

You can handle the pace…we’re just Easin’ Along.

 

 

There undoubtedly are many Federal Government programs that have outlived their usefulness, but thankfully our National Parks are not among them.  These precious treasures are gifts we have given to ourselves and hopefully will live on forever.  This August the National Park Service will officially observe its 100^th birthday and Easin’ Along wants to celebrate with them.  

Helen (adorable wife) and I were preparing for our trip to explore America’s Heartland over the next four weeks so; we looked back over our trip from last summer to see what worked and what didn’t.  Without question, our trips through four National Parks were at the top of the list of what worked exceptionally well. Therefore, as we pack to hit the road again in the coming days, we thought we would re-visit those four splendid experiences and share them with Easin’ Along readers during the Park Service birthday party.

The four National Parks we visited were all in the eastern part of the United States.  I have listed them below and have links posted to our visits. During these visits we made use of one of the benefits of growing older…The National Park Senior Pass. The details of this program were also covered in an earlier post and I have posted a link to this one also.  I hope you will share those experiences with us again and sing Happy Birthday to our National Parks as we celebrate with each one of them.

Wright Brothers Memorial – The aviation industry was born here and the story of its birth is a compelling one. We were treated to a presentation of that first flight that had us glued to our seats. For a link to this post, click here.

Cape Henry Lighthouse – The first lighthouse constructed with Federal funds.  This small park is located on the Virginia coast and offered beautiful views of the shoreline.  For a link to this post, click here.

Cape Cod National Seashore – A National Park that features staggering beauty where solitude reigns. Don’t miss this one. Click here for the link.

Franklin Roosevelt Home and Presidential Library – Visit Springwood, and the Presidential Library to experience the life and the accomplishments of a remarkable figure in American history. For a link to this post, click here.

National Park Senior Pass – A great value for us Senior Citizens.  For a link to the details of the program, click here.

I hope you enjoy these tributes to some of our National Parks and that you’ll come back next week and join us in St. Louis as we travel America’s Heartland. We’’ll be Easin’ Along for now…