Arch

To get to the top, we ride in the glorified bucket that seats five people.  Anyone over 5'5" has to slump to fit into this bullet shapped "tram".  I did meet a nice couple there.  They are from San Diego (but did not know SurferGuy) and they have a daughter that lives in Japan!  I didn't know her, though.

At the top, I could see for miles and miles.  Jo2 had a complete stranger (a guy from England!) take our picture.  

1. Jo2 told me the Arch is made out of stainless steel.  
   
2. In a 50 mile per hour wind, the arch can sway about 1-1/2 inches....at a wind speed of 150 miles per hour the Arch would sway 18 inches!!  
   
3. It took 2-1/2 years to complete the building of the Arch.  (Jo's mom saw it before the center piece was put into place!)
   
4. 6400 people can travel to the top on the busiest of days.
   
5. Inside the Arch, there is the Museum of Westward Expansion.
   
6. The Arch is actually named the "Gateway Arch" because St. Louis  was once called the Gateway to the West.  
   
7.  The architect won a competition by turning in a small "matchstick" model.  And the Arch was built for UNDER $15 million.
   
8.  There is a Grand Staircase that leads up to the Arch from the Mississippi River.  And during the floods of 1993, the river came up to step 23 (of about 70 that Jo could count).  
   
9.  This October, the Gateway Arch will be 40 years old.
   
10. Did you know that the Arch is 630 feet tall (or 63 stories high)?  (That is 2/3rd the height of the Eiffel Tower, 1/2 the height of the Empire State Building and 2 times the height of the Statue of Liberty!!)  
    
11. On one side we could see the city of St. Louis and the other side was the Mississippi River and Illinios...but I couldn't see RobinG, either.  You can see 30 miles in both directions!
    
12. When building the Arch, each of the legs were built first.  As they built toward each other a "brace" was used to keep them from moving away from each other.  The final piece was put in in October 28 of 1965 and there was a HUGE party in St. Louis to celebrate!!

last look

Next:  Beer!!