2018 07 07 - 07 09 White Haven, Downtown St. Louis and friends

Ulysses S Grant Homestead, St. Louis, Missouri - 7 Jul 2018 

The rehabilitation work completed now the first floor is open to visitors. If the paint job looks a little off, the "Paris green" was verified by some original doorway paint at the back of the house before it was expanded. This house was purchased from General Grant's father-in-law, Colonel Dent. The original plantation was worked by several hundred slaves owned by the Dent family. 

The back of the house is where the house slaves would enter from the below ground "winter" kitchen behind the panel. The summer kitchen is separated from the main house off the left hand side of the photo. Behind the summer kitchen is the ice house where river ice is cut into large chunks and covered with sawdust to slow thawing for preserving food over the summer months. Next to the ice house is a huge chicken coop capable of holding about 200 chickens. They collected eggs for sale and consumption. One of the dogs had been trained to catch selected chickens for family consumption.   

Family photos and personal items. 

These are representative clothing of the Civil War era. 

 Jefferson National Expansion Memorial and St. Louis Gateway Arch, St. Louis, Missouri - 9 July 2018

After a four year renovation, the entrance has been moved from outside the Arch legs to the base of the Arch which also housed the Museum of Westward Expansion, with exhibits on the pioneers, Native Americans, miners, railroad workers, cowboys and others who collaborated and clashed as the American West was opened. This Memorial sits close to the starting point of the 1804-1806 western exploration campaign of Lewis and Clarks' Corps of Discovery. 

The new entrance allows for direct access from downtown St. Louis without having to cross any streets and dealing with car and truck traffic. The entire Memorial is 91 acres and includes the former St. Louis Courthouse. 

Closeup of the new entrance has a reflecting pond in the middle and directs visitors around the raised grassy areas towards the entrance doors. 

In line for our ride "To The Top". Each leg of the Arch has a series of 8 connected pods with five seats. The trip up takes 4 minutes while the trip down only takes 3 minutes. Completed in 1968 at a cost of $13 million ($77.5 million in 2016). At a height, and width of the legs, of 630 feet of stainless steel, it is the world's tallest man-made monument in the Western Hemisphere and Missouri's tallest accessible building. 

A cross-section of the arch's legs are equilateral triangles, narrowing at the bases from 54 feet to 17 feet at the top. Twenty-six feet of the foundation is in bedrock which makes the arch resistant to earthquakes and is designed to sway up to 18 inches in either direction. From the top, left to right - The new Anheuser-Busch Stadium, Market Street and the America's Center Convention Complex on the far right. 

The new Anheuser-Busch Stadium, home the St. Louis Cardinal Baseball team.

The Old St. Louis County Courthouse, built from 1864 to 1894, is now part of the Gateway Arch National Park. The famous 1846 Dred Scott citizenship case was heard in the west wing before the remodeling began in 1855. The case was ultimately decided by the US Supreme Court in 1857 which ruled the Scotts did not have grounds to sue as they were not citizens. Slave auctions were held in the Courthouse Probate Courts near the East door until 1861

The America's Center Convention Complex is home to four distinct meeting facilities under one roof: Cervantes Convention Center, The Dome at America’s Center, the St. Louis Executive Conference Center and the Ferrara Theatre.

The Old St. Louis Cathedral or Basilica of St. Louis, King of France. The first cathedral west of the Mississippi River and until 1845 the only parish church in the city of St. Louis. Construction began in 1831 but earliest records suggest a tent was used in 1766 until 1770 when a small log house was built. The name was changed to Basilica of St. Louis after a larger church was built in 1914 farther west in the city's Central West End neighborhood.

Time for lunch and since we are here might as well head to the new Ballpark Village and the Budweiser Brew House for salad and sandwiches with a brewsky chaser. 

Reunion with Old Friends - 8 July 2018

Tom and Joanne Childress have been friends of Bob's since High School. We all attended the University of Missouri - St. Louis and attended each others weddings. 

They came out to see our new home...

And somebody decided they were good friends to have around. We couldn't agree more.