Visit to St. Louis

The first place we visited was the Anheuser-Busch (AKA Budweiser) brewery. They gave a great free tour at the end of which you get two free beers of your choice. I was amazed at how vast the place was. It reminded me somewhat of Strange Brew. If you don't know what I mean, I wouldn't worry about it. Here are some pictures.














Later that day we went to see the famous Gateway Arch. According to Wikipedia the Arch "stands 630 feet (192 m) tall, and is 630 feet (192 m) wide at its base, making it the tallest monument in the United States...The cross-sections of its legs are equilateral triangles, narrowing from 54 feet (16.5 m) per side at the base to 17 feet (5.2 m) at the top. Each wall consists of a stainless steel skin covering reinforced concrete from ground level to 300 feet (91 m), with carbon steel and rebar from 300 feet (91 m) to the peak. The interior of the Arch is hollow and contains a unique transport system leading to an observation deck at the top. The interior of the Arch also contains two emergency stairwells of 1076 steps each, in the event of a need to evacuate the Arch or if a problem develops with the tram system."

Here are some pictures taken outside the Arch.











Here are some pictures of us getting in the tram and riding to the top and back down.















Here are some pictures of St. Louis from the top of the Gateway Arch




















Here is a cool panorama taken by someone...










Pictures at the top of the Gateway Arch














While we there the mighty Mississippi River was flooded and so we could not take the boat onto the river. Here are some pictures of the flooded riverfront.

We stayed at a cool english style hotel called the Cheshire Lodge. It was very affordable and located right next to Forest Park. According to the website, staying there is to "Enter the world of olde English charm and elegance." I would definitely say that is true. Here are some pictures that we took.

Finally, we spent our last day there with the McCords (Kara Osborne-McCord who Nicole knw from high school) at the St. Louis Zoo. Say, who is that animal in the picture on the right?!