Peter Sellers will tell you that Balham is the Gateway to the South, but he never mentioned that St Louis is the Gateway to the West. More specifically an inverted catenary structure known as the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial is that Gateway.
At 630 ft high and only 17 feet wide at the top, this is not a monument for those afraid of heights or small spaces. To reach the top you must travel in a capsule slightly larger than a handbag.
Once at the top, if you can overcome claustrophobia and acrophobia, there are some impressive views, like this of the Busch stadium, home of the St Louis Cardinals:
The St Louis Cardinals, are a very good baseball team (but then compared to the Houston Astros, who isn’t?). It may be that they will be remembered more for their most famous player - number 5 - Albert Pujols. If ever there was a last name you needed to pronounce carefully, that must be it.
Talking of pronunciation, the Louis in St Louis is pronounced as in Jerry Lee rather than Armstrong, which is very relevant because it was Lewis (as in Meriwether) and Clark (as in William) who were sent by Thomas Jefferson into the West to chart the new territory. The Arch (designed in the 1940s and built in the 1960s) is near the starting point for their two year expedition back in 1804.
St Louis is full of interesting places and history (Forest Park is the location of the 1904 Worlds’ Fair where it is claimed that both Ice Cream and Iced Tea were invented) and is the birthplace of many famous people. In the Loop (an area full of restaurants and the location of the St Louis Walk of Fame) there are many tributes to the locals. Here’s one to Chuck Berry:
This being a line from Maybelline (yes, it’s spelled correctly) of course. The Walk of Fame is similar to that on Hollywood Boulevard, with stars in the sidewalk commemorating famous St Louisans.
Here’s one I didn’t expect to find: TS Eliot. Born in St Louis 1888 (but became a British citizen at 39 saying "My mind may be American but my heart is British.")!
Back to Chuck Berry, he still plays in St Louis, once a month at a restaurant in the Loop called Blueberry Hill:
The burgers are highly recommended, but make sure you’re hungry because you will want to try more than one.
To wash it all down, cross the road to Fitz’s where you can try their Root Beer (or Grape, Orange or other sodas). There are tours of the actual bottling plant and they sell food too so you might want to plan your trip(s) appropriately as having more than three burgers at one meal time may be considered excessive by some.
Finally, if you really want to wind down in St Lous, pop over to Euclid Street and find the Mediterranean Cafe where you can enjoy a Turkish coffee to go with your hookah (free of illegal substances, I hasten to add):
