One of the first places we went, on recommendation from the hotel bartender, was the Ferris wheel in Forest Park. Forest park is a HUGE urban park in the middle of St. Louis. It is 500 acres larger than Central Park in New York, and is home to the St. Louis Zoo, Science Center, History Museum, and many miles of hiking and biking trails and other recreational facilities. Here's the view of downtown St. Louis from the Ferris wheel. Can you see the Arch?
View of the workings of the Ferris wheel. Forest Park was the site of the 1904 World's Fair. At the time, there was a massive "observation wheel" (first conceived by Mr. Ferris - hence the more common name) erected. Each car of the giant wheel could accommodate 60 people and the wheel lifted them 250 feet into the air! There's an interesting virtual exhibit on the 1904 wheel on this site. The wheel currently in place to commemorate the centennial of the World's Fair is dwarfed by the original, but nonetheless is a great way to get your bearings and enjoy a sunny day!
Big smile in anticipation of the ride!
After our spin on the wheel, we decided to check out the St. Louis zoo. It is supposed to be one of the best in the country, and we had fun checking out the fauna, but it was a little sad, too. On the one hand, zoo's do a lot of good raising public awareness about issues threatening animals. On the other hand, the animals in the zoo can't be happy. I was especially saddened by the gorilla exhibit - the big silverback, though magnificent, seemed depressed and angry. I couldn't bring myself to take his picture. The Zebra, however, didn't seem to mind having their pictures taken.
The king of the jungle takes a catnap in the shade.
A free roaming peacock pauses just long enough for me to catch his colorful tail on camera.
Gorgeous, if somewhat stinky, flowers were outside the zoo.
I loved the color and pattern of the leaves. Can anyone tell me what kind of flower this is?
That night we went to the S and G concert. Of course, no photography was allowed. They didn't even sing Kodachrome. But the concert was great and I was humming "The Only Living Boy in New York" for days afterward. By the way, we stayed at the Renaissance Suites in downtown St. Louis. It was a GREAT hotel with huge, beautifully appointed rooms and very reasonable rates. I wanted to bring the bed back to Austin with me, it was so comfortable. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who is planning to visit the area. The next morning, we managed to squeeze in the obligatory trip up the famous Gateway Arch, which was only a few blocks from our hotel.
Though it takes about 2 hours to get through security and to the top of the Arch, it is worth it, if only for the pictures!
View from the bottom.
To get to the top of the arch, you ride in a five-person pod. It's a little clausterphobic, so we chatted nervously with our podmates (who happened to be from Austin!) on the way up. Luckily, the ride is short - just 5 minutes or so.
Looking up the inside of the Arch toward the observation room.
View from the observation room of the Mississippi river and the bridge whose design inspired the design of the Arch.
View of downtown St. Louis from the top of the Arch.
J9 triumphantly performs the Gateway Arch disco!
After our trip to the top, we encountered a sand castle competition in front of the Capitol.
Figured we'd better get at least one photo of us together, seeing as how it was our anniversary an all! A self-portrait would have to do!
