Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Air Plane Flights and Gorgeous Sights: St.Louis

Obligatory out the window picture, you can see
the arch in the middle on the right!
My trip with the ILC has officially begun, and today was an amazing way to start it off! I am blogging now from a hotel room on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

The day started with standard out-of-state travel procedures -- meeting with the cohort to receive final instructions, saying last goodbyes to parents, taking a shuttle to the airport, going through TSA, and boarding for a 4 hr flight to St. Louis. Some of the hi-lights along the way were watching Mauricio experience flying for the first time, splitting a delicious Quinoa Salad with Ernestina, sitting with Ryan on the plane and looking out the window (there was a fire down on the ground which looked pretty terrifying from 37,000 ft) and cheating at solitaire for the majority of the flight (I was literally only cheating myself, so it's ok).

Inside the Gateway Tram







Once we arrived in St. Louis things started to pick up, however. As soon as we stepped off the plane, we were all struck by the humidity (nothing compared to the Dominican Republic from which I just returned, but still striking compared to California.) After landing a little bit after 7:00 PM we had to rush through baggage claim, catch a taxi from the airport to our hotel to drop our bags off, and then hop back in the taxi to race to our tour of the Gateway Arch scheduled for 8:30 PM. We weren't sure we'd make it in time, but after some stressful sprinting and asking of directions we were able to find our tour in time to get on the tram. The tram took us up to the top of the Gateway Arch, 630 ft above the ground. The tram was tiny and a little intimidating, because in order to move inside the curve of the arch in had to shift sideways every so often instead of rising straight up like a normal elevator. This made a clicking sound that sounded far too much like wire snapping for my taste. From the top of the arch we could see an incredible view of St. Louis, including a baseball game going on in the Cardinal's Busch Stadium as well as Gateway Geyser erupting! 

The Gateway Geyser from the Arch
The Gateway arch with the first
hints of purple sky
Busch Stadium from the Arch
After the Gateway Arch, we were all starved and decided to go to the Broadway Oyster Bar for dinner. On the way. Ms. Scott pointed out the historic court house where the Dred Scott case was held. My favorite part of the walk was looking at the twilight sky, which was a brilliant shade of gradient purple fading from deep royal purple to lavender with the faintest twinkling of stars beginning to appear. (Unfortunately it didn't photograph well, so I'll just have to rely on my memory and you all on your imaginations.)  The restaurant was absolutely lovely, serving traditional cajun food with live jazz music in the room next door. Although I was a little concerned at first, they were very accommodating of me being vegetarian. While my fellow cohort members tried alligator and other adventurous foods, I enjoyed a modified version of their garlic linguini dish made with green beans, onions, asparagus, and mushrooms instead of meat especially for me. The restaurant had an inviting vibe, complete with traditional decorations and artwork and great service, and was an excellent taste of Missouri culture. We checked into our hotel room super late, but it was worth it for a great evening in St. Louis. 

Cajun Vibe

Vegetarian meal!

1 comment:

  1. Hi Alice!!!! This is grace and I hope you're having a lot of fun already! I don't have much to report on I just wanted to say hi and this reminds me of commenting on a GG blog which is kind of cute. I really miss my delegation. ;( I just finished day 2 of my Pacific Northwest road trip/college tour and saw U of Oregon and Willamate, as well as Mt. Shasta which I can tell you all about when we're both home. Learn loads!
    -Grace

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