6/30/2018

St Louis, MO   95F/88% humidity

On to the next phase of this trip: the Lewis and Clark Trail. The drive across the full width of the state of Missouri from Kansas City to St Louis on I-70 proved to be a bit of a freeway slog across mostly flat farmland with occasional rolling hills. I didn’t realize how big Missouri is — it took nearly 5 hours. With Cheryl at the wheel and Jim using GPS and Apple Maps we efficiently navigated our way through St Louis straight to our B&B. Boy, times have changed since the days of navigation via a map in your lap!

The city neighborhoods we drove through arriving in St Louis were on the gritty side, but when we pulled up in front of Napoleon’s Retreat B&B we realized that we were in a neighborhood of restored old mansions akin to the Painted Ladies of San Francisco. With our trip planning, we always try to mix in a few B&Bs, quite often restored vintage homes with great breakfasts. After a while, you learn that at these places you shouldn’t necessarily expect convenient outlets to plug in all your electronics, or magnetic key-cards, or lightning connectivity. It’s more a chance to take a deep breath and appreciate some of the more traditional virtues such as style, old-fashioned elegance, or great personal service. That’s what we had here.

Photo 0483. Cheryl & Carol at the front door, Napoleon’s Retreat B&B
Built in 1880 in the French Second Empire Style
Wow! How about that paint job!

Our innkeeper Stacy advised that the house had been built in 1880 in the French Second Empire style, which refers to the era of Napoleon III’s dictatorial rule of France in the mid-1800s. The whole neighborhood in the vicinity of Lafayette Park (just one block away) is loaded with old mansions of this vintage. The style includes narrow houses, mostly 3 stories high with 2 windows and a main entrance on the ground floor, 3 windows across the 2nd and 3rd floors with a Mansard roof on the 3rd floor. Jim was quick to pick up that the house number of the B&B (1815 Lafayette Avenue) was the year of Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo! Clever.

Photo 0485. More late 1800s houses down the block    Photo 0490. Vintage door hardware

Photo 5751. Chatting in the B&B front parlor over a glass of wine.
That’s Napoleon over the fireplace with Josephine at his side.

Photo 5749. The front hall                           Photo 5738. Our room, the Lafayette Room.

Photo 0469. Table set for a wonderful breakfast of grape & yogurt tart starter,
crustless quiche and roasted potatoes. Nice way to start the day.

It was only about a 10-minute drive from Napoleon’s Retreat to downtown St Louis for our day of downtown sightseeing. We had a little confusion about picking up our “will call” tickets for the tram to the top of the Gateway Arch. The Grand Opening of the new underground visitor’s center was still two days away, so we went to the Old Courthouse to pick up the tickets. Wrong! We had to get them at the new underground Gateway entrance 2 blocks away. The 9-block walk from the parking structure to the Old Courthouse already had us dripping with sweat in the 90-degree, 90% humidity. So what’s another two blocks! In such heat another 2 blocks is misery! – being from Seattle we clearly are not accustomed to this heat!

Photo 5769. Old Courthouse Doric columns & glass.

Photo 5764. Getting a glimpse of the Arch thru the trees.

But thank god for small wonders — the new underground entrance & visitor’s center is well-air-conditioned. AHHHH!

Photo 5801. Glass wall at the new underground Gateway Arch Visitor’s Center

We had been warned about the tiny tram cars for the ride to the top of the Arch … only large enough for 6 people jammed in … with no windows. Not a place for folks that have a problem with claustrophobia! But if you can get past the tight tram, the views from the top of the Arch are sensational!

Photo 5857. Folks looking out of the tiny windows at the top of the Gateway Arch

Photo 5844. View of downtown St Louis from the top of the Gateway Arch.
Cardinals’ Busch Stadium at far left; Old Courthouse (1862) at center.

Photo 5910. The tiny observation windows at the top of the Arch.

Photo 5898. The full Gateway Arch, downtown St Louis.

After the trip to the top of the Gateway Arch, we returned to the Old Courthouse to see the Museums “Exploring the West” and “Clash of Cultures”.

Photo 5925. Back to the Old Courthouse       Photo 5773. The Old Courthouse Rotunda.

… where there was some great art works and exhibits in the Old Courthouse museums emblematic of the coming clash of cultures.

Photo 5953. “The Buffalo Hunt”, by William R. Leigh

Photo 5963. “The Coming of the Iron Horse”, by Frank C. McCarthy
Mural at the St Louis Old Courthouse “Clash of Cultures” exhibit

Photo 5933. A stylized map of the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis & Clark Expedition

We finally wrapped it up around 5 p.m. and made our way back to the car through the heat and humidity to our trusty old Toyota Sienna van whose A/C system has performed like a champ, able to handle the 95 degree heat like it wasn’t even there.

On the way back, when we got to the Lafayette neighborhood, we circled around to Park Avenue and stopped in at the Square One Brewery & Distillery that we read about earlier, to see if we could get a table. And surprise: no problem! Our timing was about perfect because within about 20 minutes that place was packed! Jim and I shared “Black & Brown Nachos” thinking the quantity would not be too bad if we split it … but sheesh!!! it was like a mountain of chips dripping with cheese when the waitress brought it! Great food, but once again, the intent of having something reasonably light for dinner was blown completely out of the water … the story of this trip: always too much to eat!

Tomorrow will be the true start of our Lewis and Clark odyssey, beginning with the L&C State Historic Site across the river from St Louis in Illinois, where the expedition party spent the winter of 1803-1804 at Camp River Dubois preparing for a mission of a lifetime.