Traveling Rat Royce

	*Greater St. Louis Area* St. Louis was founded in 1764 as a French fur-trading outpost in Spanish territory. That doesn't seem so long ago considering how old most of the towns are where I'm from! Anyway, the French acquired the land in 1800 and in 1803 Napoleon sold the whole kit n' kaboodle to Thomas Jefferson for $15 million in the land deal known as the Louisiana Purchase. Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore the new territory and they departed in early 1804. One hundred years later, the centennial of the Lewis & Clark expedition was celebrated in St. Louis by the hosting of the World's Fair and the Olympics. The World's Fair was called the Louisiana Purchase Exhibition to honor the journey of Lewis & Clark. This morning my hosts and I went down to the Riverfront to see what is perhaps one of the most famous symbols of this city: the Gateway Arch. The Arch was designed by Finnish architect Eero Saarinen and was completed in 1965. Saarinen also designed the main terminal of St. Louis' airport. At 630 feet tall, the Arch is the tallest monument in the United States. Interestingly, it took $15 million to fund construction, a figure that matches the cost of the entire Louisiana Purchase.
	Behind me is a mock paddlewheel which takes tourists up and down a small stretch of the Mississippi River, harkening back to the days of Mark Twain. The bridge is the Eads Bridge, which was completed in 1874. At that time it was the largest steel truss bridge in the world and the only bridge carrying rail traffic across the Mississippi River. Originally designed for the use by railroads, the bridge now carries cars and light rail.
	This is the Old Courthouse, which was built in the 19th century. It was the location where Dred Scott and his wife sued for their freedom and lost in a case which spanned eleven years and went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
	Here is the Basilica of St. Louis the King, otherwise known locally as the Old Cathedral. It was dedicated in 1834 and was the first Roman Catholic cathedral west of the Mississippi. It sits on the site of the previous church, which was a wooden structure. When the Arch was constructed, this was the only building in the area which was not torn down. In 1849, the steamboat White Cloud exploded and set the city ablaze. Though much of the city's business district was lost, firefighters were able to save the Old Cathedral and the Old Courthouse. One firefighter lost his life in the endeavor.
	My, what a coincidence! Last week I visited Elephant Rocks State Park, where the pink granite called "Missouri red" is quarried. And here is a street of "Missouri red" cobblestones from that very location. We had lunch in the restaurant directly behind me.
	Here I am enjoying a local delicacy - toasted raviolis.
	Back in the heyday of rail travel, this was the terminal by which people came to and left St. Louis. The last train departed in 1978 and now Union Station is a hotel and shopping mall. The fountain in front of Union Station is "The Meeting of the Waters" by Swedish sculptor Carl Milles. Though the most famous sculpture garden of his works is at his home in Stockholm, the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis also hosts a Carl Milles sculpture garden.
	Over my left shoulder is a figure of Louis IX of France, for whom the city of St. Louis is named. The building is the Art Museum, which was constructed for the 1904 World's Fair and which has remained in use ever since.
	Inside the History Museum is this figure of Thomas Jefferson He is well remembered in this city, as it seems nearly everything is named after him! Forest Park, where the Art Museum and History Museum are located, also houses the Muny, the zoo, the Jewel Box, tennis courts, two public golf courses, lakes, bicycle trails, the Science Center, and the World's Fair Pavilion. The Park was established in 1876 and is 500 acres larger than Central Park in New York City. There were so many things I didn't get to, but perhaps I will when I return to St. Louis in my retirement. There's the Missouri Botanical Garden; Cahokia; Grant's Farm, where you can see some of the Budweiser Clydesdales; the Anheuser-Busch brewery; the Walk of Fame in the Loop; Mastodon State Historic Site; the St. Louis Cathedral, which houses the largest collection of mosaics in the Western world; the St. Louis Zoo, which a Zagat survey recently rated the best in the United States; the Laumeier Sculpture Park; many fine wineries, and so much more! But I can't spend too long in one place or I'll never get to see the world.