Maren Finally Goes Tourist

Hello everyone!

Today my friend Anne, who is the only other freshman violist at UMSL, kindly offered to be my tour guide to St. Louis, so she picked me up at UMSL and we rode the MetroLink into downtown St. Louis to hit up all the touristy things that I need to see since I'm living here.

We began our tour by getting off the Metro at Busch Stadium, which is where the Cardinals play. Here I am with my newfound friend named........ummmm......something that a famous baseball player is named. I think it was something to the effect of "Dizzy Dan." Oh well....who cares about baseball anyway? Not me. Go Timbers!

We then began walking to the next item on Anne's "to-show-Maren" list, but on the way, what do I behold but a STARBUCKS! Would you believe that this is the ONLY Starbucks I have seen the whole time I've been in Missouri? It wasn't even by itself....it was connected to a hotel! If I look much happier than anyone should ever look at the sight of Sbux, you now understand why.

Next stop was the Old Courthouse near the river and the Gateway Arch. It's the building with the green domed roof. This courthouse was the place where the Dred Scott trial was held. Slaves also used to be sold on the front steps of this building. This courthouse is now only a museum because they've built a newer courthouse to use for current trials.

Here is a picture of Anne in the Old Courthouse gift shop. Anne is basically a genius, because she's the only person I've ever seen be able to beat those picture puzzle things where you have one square missing and you mess up all the other squares and you have to move them around to make the picture whole again. This puzzle in the gift shop, however, posed a bit of a challenge since it had more squares than the ones she normally annihilates. Here is her intense puzzle face:

Next we went to the Gateway Arch and the museum under it. Here's a picture of the Arch from the steps of the Old Courthouse. Note the horse and buggy in the front! :)

This Arch is so humongous.....check out this picture with Anne standing next to one of the legs!

If you stand right under the arch and look up, it's really hard not to fall over.

In the museum under the arch, there were definitely a lot of fake, stuffed animals. I think maybe they were going for some sort of mood....."rugged" or "settler" perhaps. This sign under the longhorn reads: "Please do not touch. Only live animals can grow new hair."

Here is Anne and I in the gift shop for the Arch Museum. They sell real live, dead sea sponges that you can use in the shower as sponges. Honestly, I thought that sea sponges and regular sponges that you wash with were always different....apparently not. Anne looks much too happy for holding a dead creature.

Here I am in one of the little trams that take you up to the top of the arch. Five people fit in one of these, and it's a bit tight...Just make sure you wear your deoderant before you go up, or your co-riders will seriously have four unpleasant minutes of awkward.

Here I am at the top of the arch....630 feet in the air! Oh goodness, it's a good thing it wasn't windy today!

Our last stop: Laclede's Landing. This is an area near the Arch that is more old fashioned, complete with cobblestone streets. The Mississippi River is pretty flooded right now because of hurricane season, and one of the streets over here was closed off for obvious reasons. (Yes, I did make sure to touch the water. I have now been in the Mississippi river. Woooot!)

There you have St. Louis, my friends. I hope you enjoy the pictures! :)

Love,

Maren