Our first stop would actually be Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site in Collinsville, Illinois. Several years ago Claude and I took an anniversary trip to Natchez, Mississippi. Then we drove the Natchez Trace Parkway to Memphis, Tennessee. In Natchez, Mississippi there was a large 'mound' preserved there and several smaller mounds. I was fascinated learning about this culture of people that lived in the United States so long ago. This Friday we would visit the largest community north of Mexico of the Mississippian culture, Cahokia Mounds.
We started our tour at the Visitor's Center. This huge concrete plaza in front behind the little retaining wall, had colorful line drawings painted on it. These were where different years of buildings would have stood and what their shape would have been when they existed. We arrived just as they were starting the movie about Cahokia Mounds. After the movie we walked through the museum of artifacts and maps and charts, etc. They have a reconstructed section of the village in the museum with mannequins positioned throughout performing the things done in daily life. The neat thing about this particular village is that it backs up against the glass wall behind where the screen is in the theater for the movie. The last scene of the movie is when they raise the screen and light up the village so you can see one side of it through the glass. Very cool.
We went to the doors to the 2, 200 acres the State of Illinois protects. You can walk around this acreage and view the 70 remaining mounds of the 80 that existed originally. When we got to the door, we realized it had started to rain. No thunder and lightning but enough rain one should use an umbrella if they were going to spend any time in it. We opted to browse the gift shop and see if the rain slowed down.
The gift shop yielded postcards, 'tanka' jerky (buffalo) and a Christmas tree ornament. Katelyn was happy to find a machine that smashed pennies so she could increase her collection of smashed souvenir pennies of all of her travels.
We checked the sky again and found the rain had slowed enough to head outside. We found where a parking lot by the largest of the mounds was located while in the gift shop and that would be our destination. But first I had to get pictures of the great marsh across the street from the Visitor's Center. Turned out the deer were just coming out to graze. I wouldn't have expected that until the evening but maybe grazin' is good after a rain. At the far back of this picture are two deer, I promise, you might not see them here but they are really in the back of this picture walking toward the water.
Then Claude chauffeured us over to the Monks Mound parking lot. Let me share first a couple of postcard pictures that give a sense of what this community would have looked like:
Monks Mound is the largest prehistoric earthen construction in the Americas. It contains about 22 million cubic feet of earth. All this earth was dug from 'borrow pits' and transported in baskets on people's backs to form this mound that covers 14 acres and is 100 feet tall. The chief lived in a building on the top of the mound and would conduct ceremonies and govern from this location. It was named after French Trappist monks that lived on a nearby mound from 1809-1813. Monks Mound is the largest mound in the pictures above.
Our goal for this tourist spot was to climb to the top of Monks Mound and view what we could see of the rest of this State Historic Site. We really didn't have time to walk all the paths. Stairs have been built where the steps would have been for the mound. You climb these and are asked to stay off the grass covered earth sides of the mounds. Monks' Mound is actually in two levels. They have been kind enough to provide a bench to sit on after climbing to the first level. Then you climb a 2nd set of stairs to the top.
Katelyn set to exploring what she could see from this wonderful height. Bless her heart, she was the first to spot the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. Since it was a cloudy day and hazy after our morning rain, it was not easy to find the Arch. She was very excited to see it through the haze.
I'm including a picture of two adult people at the top of Monks Mound just at the curve before the flat top. This give a perspective of the size of this mound.
This view is of a lot of the top. I'm at the end near the stairs we climbed to get to the top to take this picture. Claude is directly opposite me at the far edge of the top and Katelyn is on the right side of the top. This is a lot of dirt to haul by hand in baskets to make this mound!!
From the top you can see some of the other mounds and Woodhenge. Woodhenge is the equivalent of Stonehenge and was made of tall tree trunks planted in the ground at specific intervals to determine the changing seasons and ceremonial dates.
Here is a good picture of Katelyn and Claude sitting on top of Monks Mound while I finish taking pictures.
We next headed to Woodhenge. WAY in the background of this picture is a smaller mound and behind it is Monks Mound. This is only one piece of Woodhenge as you can't get it all in one picture from up close. I did take the picture with a telephone pole on the right to show the height of the posts in Woodhenge.
Now we were going into St. Louis to find the Gateway Arch and ride to the top. Claude did this years ago when we were in the Air Force and living in California. He was sent to St. Louis for two months for some kind of training. Nissa was a little one under two years old and I was very, very, very pregnant with Andie and we stayed behind in California. So he was excited about having an opportunity to this again.
I took soooooo many pictures of the Arch. I'll only include a few. We were very fortunate that we easily found the parking garage and headed to the top level to park. This top level exited right into the park around the base of the Arch. The first picture is Claude and Katelyn walking through the park to the Arch. The second is of the Arch through the trees in the park.
We entered the security to get into the base of the Arch. Once again we didn't think to have Claude leave his pocket knife in the glove compartment of the car. The security is like airport security. We figured we would lose another pocket knife to another security system. Claude took his knife out of his pocket and put it in the basket with his change and wallet, they ran it through the security camera and let him enter. Not A Word!!! Unbelievable. We were very grateful we wouldn't have to purchase another pocket knife.
I got in line for our tickets. Claude and Katelyn scouted for food. We had not eaten since that teeny tiny breakfast buffet at the hotel. They came up with a blueberry muffin for me and water. I got the tickets and the available time for the tram to go up the arch was over an hour away.
We spent most of that time going through the Museum of Westward Expansion. There are other documentary films you can pay a fee to see but the Museum of Westward Expansion if free. We managed to go through it backwards. Silly us. But there were wonderful things to view and several places to sit. I got several shots of Katelyn pretending to touch the exhibits. One of my personal favorites was about baseball. They had a wall set up with baseballs in it. There were diagrams of how to hold the baseball to throw certain kinds of pitches. The baseballs were attached to some type of elastic so they would pop right back in the wall. Katelyn really enjoyed trying each pitch.
Time passed fairly quickly and then it was our turn to stand in the line for the tram. They pass out numbers for the tram car you will be loaded into. These cars are really little enclosed cubicles with 5 seats so that 5 adults sit knee to knee. The door closes and you have two tiny windows that you can see a minimal of dark stairs. You stay sitting upright. The tram cars are made so they click into an upright position a few times as you leave the curve at the base of the Arch. Then you have a period of a quick smooth ascent. Then a few clicks as the tram cars keep themselves upright as you finish at the top. I think they operate sort of like ferris wheel cars do. The entire ride up is about 4 minutes one way. There are 8 tram car (cubicles) so they can take about 40 people at a time to the top. When you get to the top you walk up stairs to the very center of the top of the arch. Again there are long windows that you can look down at the Mississippi River and St. Louis. Then it becomes your turn to get in line again to get another tram car assignment for your trip down the Arch.
While waiting in the first line to get on the tram to go to the top, we were given cards with the number 6 on them. There were 3 of us and we knew that meant we would have two other people assigned to car number 6 with us. This lady and her son were given cards and told to come and stand by us in the line. They were from Florida. She was very friendly and immediately told us she was VERY claustrophobic. She anticipated she would scream all the way to the top. She repeated that story with great animation several times and told of times where she had done just exactly that. Then she looked at my hubby and said, "You will save me, won't you?" I just had to shake my head and assure her she asked the 'wrong' person. Oh My!!! The very selfish part of me marvels at people who KNOW they can't do something for a very a valid reason and then thrust themselves into it and make the others who paid dear money to enjoy a once in a lifetime experience miserable. That is the selfish part of me. I admit it resides in me and I do have these feelings. Fortunately, another couple was also assigned to come and stand in line with us. After careful observation, I noticed the new couple had the number 6 on their cards and the claustrophobic lady had number 8 on her card. Yippee!! I say this unabashedly. I can also state for the record the other couple we did ride up with were of like mind and cheer that she was not in their car. Katelyn did say she saw 'claustrophobic lady' at the top of the Arch and I did NOT hear her scream once. Such silliness.
It is 630 ft at the top of the Arch. We had good views of Eads Bridge, Casino Belle, Busch Stadium and the City of St. Louis. Great fun and several pictures were taken.
We all totally enjoyed our trip up to the top of the Arch. So far on Friday we were on top of Monks Mound and on top of the Gateway Arch. Not a bad Friday so far. We also found we were grateful for that great cloud cover all day. The temperature was in the 90's and having clouds overhead really made the heat not nearly as bad as if the sun were shining directly on us.
Now we figured, if we hurried, we could get to the riverboats for a cruise up and down the Mississippi River. Claude and I have found we really enjoy seeing a city from this perspective. It gives one a very different view of the city than a ride through it does. Katelyn had never done a riverboat cruise so this was something she was also very interested in doing. The walk to the riverboats was just out the base of the Arch and down the grand staircase to the street that runs along the Mississippi River. Then just down that street a bit to the riverboat dock.
We got there just in time for the 4:30pm cruise. This was great because the next one would not have started until 6pm. Claude got the tickets and we headed to the top deck of the boat. Our boats name was 'Tom Sawyer'. Once again I got more shots of the Gateway Arch from different perspectives and some shots of scenes along the Mississippi River banks. Here are a few of my favorites - 1) A horsedrawn carriage in front of the flood wall, 2) Eads Bridge with Casino Belle in the archway, 3) the American flag with clouds behind and 4) Katelyn with the Gateway Arch behind her.
Our poor riverboat captain tried to get us through our entire tour and then back to the dock before the real rain hit. However...by the end of the cruise there was lightning in the sky. We left the top deck for the sheltered decks below. As we put into port the rain came down in buckets, I do mean buckets. We were drowned getting from the boat to the cover of the port and the little cafe on the port. We decided to sit it out at the tables in front of the cafe under their cover. I'm posting a picture of Claude sitting at one of the tables. The gray behind him is the rain. The next picture is the view from that table with only a little shower coming down. Buckets I tell you, buckets!
Now, I did have umbrellas, three of them actually. However, they were in the car in the parking garage. That was a street, the grand staircase and a park away. Katelyn and I hit the gift shop. They had ponchos for $2 each. I bought 3 of them. Katelyn also managed to find the penny smashing machine for the riverboats. She smashed her souvenir penny while I searched for a Christmas ornament. After we were successful on both counts we headed back to Claude, donned our gorgeous rain gear and headed for the car. By the time we got to the car the rain was just a little sprinkle.
Our final stop for the day was for dinner. When we travel we try very hard to find local places to eat. I asked some friends who were familiar with St. Louis to recommend some things. I found some ideas on the Internet. We were set to dine in unique spots for this portion of our trip. This was also my birthday and I was ready for a nice big dinner, my blueberry muffin was not creating a full feeling in my tummy anymore.
Our dining destination was Pappy's Smokehouse. We were able to find our way there fairly easily. They had a sign on the front door asking us to enter through the back door. Hmmmmm... We got in the back door and found a line. Hence the need to use the back door so you are at the end of the line easily. Something tells me they do this a lot!! Also by the back door was a sign stating they were already out of ribs and brisket. Hmmmmm... This tells me they are a VERY popular place to eat and the food should be good.
My cell phone rang so I quickly told Claude what I wanted but that I wasn't choosey and I headed outside to take my call. It was the mini-Marx's with a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday to Ma. I told Andie after that I wished I had a recording of that. They were both right on key and at full volume. It was wonderful.
Then I headed back in to find Claude and Katelyn closer to the counter and with a notice there were only a few servings of chicken left. The Pappy's Smokehouse sign and menu state they are open until whatever hour OR until they are out of food. We got to the counter and there was no more chicken, only pork. We each ordered pulled porked dinners. I was very happy they had sweet potato fries and green beans. It was a delicious meal even if our selection was extremely limited. I would highly recommend it to anyone visiting the St. Louis area. But I would suggest you get there early. We got seated and it wasn't but a few minutes and they were out of meat completely. They told us they had an unusually long lunch hour and it ran right into dinner hour. There was a ball game in town that night and that may have had something to do with it.
With dinner enjoyed we were on our way to find our hotel. The next two nights were in the Comfort Inn. Both these two nights were also covered with points and were free to us. What a great way to travel! We nestled in the Comfort Inn and managed to eat our cake for dessert. Happy Birthday to ME!!!
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