St. Louis Arch- a must for all tourists!

Sacha and Julianne examine the exhibits in the arch interactive museum. Yikes! They've discovered buffalo and bear.

You see an array of pictures of the arch and from inside the arch. The arch represents the gateway to the West, though we don't think of it as the west, St. Louis was the edge of the western frontier at the end of the 19th century. The arch is impressive from an engineering stand point. It stands over 600 feet high and tourists have always been able to travel to the top of the arch where there are a number of lookout windows. The travel involves situating oneself in a small compartment, a bit like an old fashioned Ferris wheel cage, except you are enclosed. There are 5 seats to a compartment and as the car travels up and down the arch, it continues to right itself so that the passenger is always sitting in a vertical position though you are traveling up and down one side of an arch. The view is spectacular as are the shots we got of the arch's shadow. We also snapped some shots of the park and lake surrounding the arch as well as some of the interactive historical replications.