St. Louis, Missouri: Gateway to the West

Our next venture took us to St. Louis, Missouri...gateway to the west! Why St. Louis you ask? Why not! I'd been here before for work but I never really got to "see" St. Louis. There's lots to learn...

The city is on the banks of the Mississippi River and was founded by the French in 1764. Named for King Louis XI, it was a fur trading post. In 1801, it became part of the Louisiana purchase and then became the jumping off point of the Lewis & Clark expedition to find a route to the Pacific Ocean.

To commemorate the purchase and the president that made it, an arch was built. It's 630 feet tall and made of stainless steel. It sits on the west bank of the Mississippi river and can be seen from most anywhere in the city of St. Louis. Construction started in 1963 and was completed in 1965. It was opened to the public in 1967. It was originally named for Thomas Jefferson but it eventually became Gateway Arch National Park.

To go to the top, you need to climb into this tiny little pod that holds only five small to medium sized people. The door closes and there are no windows. If you're claustrophobic, you might have a small problem. It takes about 4 1/2 minutes to get to the top as the pod jerks and goes sideways before it rights itself again. It's a little disturbing because you don't know what to expect.

Once you get to the top, there are about six little windows on each side of the arch. From below, they look like little slits. You can go up on each side of the arch. At the top, there's a rope that splits the sections. Half those windows go to the south arch.

You have to kind of lean over to look out. One side looks to the Mississippi River and the other side looks over St. Louis. There's not a lot of room to maneuver up here and you only get about ten minutes at the top.

The views are amazing! This is the St. Louis side. After you've had a look around, it's back in the pod for the three minute ride down to the bottom. Yup, it goes faster on the way down.

On the bottom floor of the arch, inside the visitor center is a museum. It's a combination of the history of St. Louis and the making of the arch. This is an exhibit about the Old West where the buffalo used to roam.

This is the "Old Courthouse". Construction started in 1816 and wasn't completed until 1828. It was, at one time, St. Louis' tallest building. By 1839, Missouri had been a state for a while and St. Louis had tripled in size. They needed more room so a new courthouse was designed but it encompassed the original courthouse in the East Wing. 

One of the original courtrooms that has been restored. In 1846, possibly in this courtroom, Dred Scott and his wife sued for their freedom. They won in Missouri but Irene Emerson, their "owner", appealed and the Scotts lost in the Missouri Supreme Court. The case went on and eventually went to the U.S. Supreme Court where they lost. Irene remarried and deeded the Scotts to a man named Taylor Blow. Mr. Blow manumitted them in 1857. Sadly, Dred Scott died in 1858. 

The cupola of the courthouse. The building ceased to function as a courthouse in 1930. However, it became part of the Gateway National Park in 1940. It's open as a museum, free of charge. There are two renovated courtrooms. It's definitely worth a visit.

Another cool place to go that is also free is the St. Louis Art Museum (SLAM). The museum was originally part of Washington University. In 1909, the museum split from the university.

The building itself is really cool. I think it's bigger than we imagined. We were only there for a couple of hours and we only saw what was in the main building. But, what we saw was pretty amazing!

This is called "Water Lilies" by Claude Monet. It's part of a triptych - One part is in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. We saw that!

They had something from all the masters. The Dreamer by Pierre Auguste Renoir.

They had sculpture as well as paintings, though paintings are my favorite type of art. This is "Little Dancer of FourteenYears" by Edgar Degas. There were ladies there that were making drawings of this statue. 

The SLAM is located in Forest Park. This is a view of Art Hill and it's right across the street from the Museum. It's a beautiful park to walk around it. Unfortunately, it was close to 100 degrees the day we were there. But, also located in this park is the Missouri History Museum (also free) and the St. Louis Zoo. The park is 1300 acres and there are all kinds of things here. If you're in the area, check it out!

We wanted to try something uniquely St. Louisan so John found this place called the Blackthorn Pub. We followed the GPS through a neighborhood and we thought we'd entered the wrong address but no. This pub is at the end of a residential street. How cool!

The thing to get was St. Louis -style pizza. Huh? We'd never heard of such a thing but we decided to give it a shot. We ordered and it took AN HOUR to get it. After a while of waiting, we got a little silly. This is me doing jazz hands to the 80s music being played in the restaurant.

This cheesy mess is St. Louis style deep dish pizza. It's very similar to Chicago-style but the difference, according to google, is in the crust. What I will tell you is that it was delicious...and filling. I ate one piece. When we went in to order, we were going to get a large so we'd have leftovers but the bartender said we'd be eating pizza for a week. John said, "Medium?" and the bartender shook his head. So we got a small and still ate pizza for breakfast and dinner the next day.

In Gateway Arch National Park you'll also find the Basilica of St. Louis, King of France. The parish started in 1766 meeting in a tent. In 1770, build a log structure for them to meet in. By 1818, they'd constructed a building of bricks. By 1834, the city had grown quite large an a new church was needed. This structure was built on an old cemetery. Anyone buried here was reinterred as the Second Catholic Cemetery. The church is still in use. You can go inside but be sure to check the hours. I thought it was open until five and it was not.

Another thing you should know about St. Louis is that it is a baseball town. The St. Louis Cardinals are the home team here but back in 1875, they were known as the St. Louis Brown Stockings. They played at a place called Sportsman's Park.

At the St. Louis Cardinals Museum and Hall of Fame we learned that the Brown Stockings joined the National League in 1892 as the St. Louis Browns. In 1899 they changed their name to the Perfectos and their color to "a lovely shade of Cardinal". A sportswriter overheard the comment and started calling them the Cardinals. In 1900, they made it official and changed the name to the Cardinals.

The Cards have quite the history. In 1953, Anheuser-Busch bought the team and changed the name of Sportsman's Park to Busch Stadium.

In 1966, a new stadium was built and it was called Busch Memorial Stadium. In the photo above, the white outline at the top is where this stadium sat. The marker is located on what was part of the infield of that stadium. This stadium was in use until 2005.

The St. Louis Cardinals are in second place for having won the most World Series Championships. The first was in 1926 when they beat the New York Yankees (who have won the most). Their most recent win was in 2011 when they be our Texas Rangers.

In 2005, Busch Stadium (Busch Stadium III) was built. In order for it to be ready for the next season, the construction was ongoing during the 2005 season. Once the season was over, they were able to complete it. You can see in the earlier picture that the stadiums overlap a bit. The St. Louis Cardinals are the only team to have won a World Series during the inaugural year of their stadium.

Because the stadium is in downtown St. Louis, it's hard to get a photo of the whole thing. We were on the top level of the parking garage across the street and this was the best we could do.

Here comes Fredbird! He's the mascot for the St. Louis Cardinals.

A view from our seats at the game. You can see the Arch from all over the city, including here in the stadium. Our tickets were for a day game. What were we thinking! It was almost 100 degrees but luckily, we were in a part of the open air stadium that had shade.

The fans got hats when they came into the game. I chose to wear mine. John wore his Rangers cap.

Sadly, the Cardinals lost to the San Diego Padres. The heat must have gotten to them.

We had fun in St. Louis. The Arch is beautiful and you can't help but take photos. I really liked this one but then I like to see monuments lit up at night.

A little over 300K people live here. We didn't venture too far out of the downtown area except to go to the Art Museum. We did go into one of their local grocery stores: Schnuck's. The company was started in 1939 and is the largest privately held grocery store. It's still run by the family.

There are several big companies headquartered here in St. Louis. Anheuser-Busch and Wells Fargo Advisors to name a couple. They also make Tums here! Right in this building across from the ballpark.

If you have a chance, you should definitely check out St. Louis.

Jefferson City, Missouri: Rich History, Modern Charm

The scenic route doesn't just take you to places in Texas, it goes everywhere. And this particular time, it took us to Jefferson City, Missouri.

Jefferson City was founded in 1821 on the bank of the Missouri River as the site of the capital of Missouri. It was specifically setup to be the capital of the state and is centrally located between Missouri's two biggest cities. The city was named for Thomas Jefferson.

This is the Union Hotel. It was built in 1855 as the Missouri Hotel. After the Civil War owner Charles Maus renamed this hotel the Union Hotel to reflect his sentiments. It's located near the railroad tracks. In the 1960s, the building was purchased by the state with the intent of demolishing it. There was a campaign spearheaded by Elizabeth Rozier to save the building, which they did. For a long time, the Missouri State Parks used the upper floors of the building as offices while the lower floor was used as the Amtrak passenger station. In 2019, the building was closed due to structural issues. Local preservationists are trying to lobby funds from the state to save the building.

Not far from the Union Hotel building is Lohman's Landing. This building was originally built in 1839 by James Crump. It was later purchased by Charles Lohman who came to Jefferson City in 1848. During the steamboat era, the building was used as a warehouse, the headquarters and living quarters of the wharf master. This building was a grocery store, a tavern, a telegraph office and a hotel as well. When the Missouri Railroad came to Jefferson City, it revitalized the area. It's considered the oldest building in Jefferson City and now serves as the visitor's center.

As I mentioned, Charles Lohman came to Missouri from Germany in 1848. He first landed in St. Louis before coming to Jefferson City. Not only did he own the building known as Lohman's Landing but he was also a merchant. The building on the far right was his store. Two of his sons, Louis and Charles, worked in the store at some point. Louis, built the building next door. The Lohman Opera House was building in 1885 and hosted traveling performers. It now houses a catering company.

Not only is Jefferson City the capital of Missouri, it's also the county seat of Cole County. This beautiful building is the Cole County Courthouse. The first courthouse was built in 1837. In 1896, there was a fire that basically left the stone husk of the building. The new courthouse was rebuilt using some of the stones from the original. The courthouse was designed by Frank Miller. When a fire broke out in 1918 destroying part of the structure, it was rebuilt using Miller's plans. It was completely renovated in 1971.

In 1855, the Missouri Pacific Railroad completed a line from St. Louis to Jefferson City. This train depot was built in 1898. In 1982, the building was purchased by the Union Pacific Railroad.  Passenger rail service by Union Pacific stopped and Amtrak took over. Union Pacific still has freight service to Jefferson City but the building is no longer in use. It was used as a commercial business for a while but it is now closed. It's too bad the city or Union Pacific doesn't open it as a museum. Unfortunately, because it's been neglected, it has fallen into disrepair.

St. Peter's Catholic Church is across the street from the state Capitol. The original church was built in 1856. The current building was dedicated in 1883. The Governor of Missouri is inaugurated on the stops of the Capitol just as the clock on this church strikes twelve noon.

This is the third capitol building for the state of Missouri. The first building was erected in 1826 and sat where the governor's mansion is now. In 1837, there was a fire that destroyed the building. The second capitol was erected in the current location in 1840. Then in 1911, it was struck by lightning and it burned. Construction on the current capitol building began in 1913 and was completed in 1917. 

Inside the building on the first floor is this magnificent staircase that goes up to the second floor.

Also on the first floor is the Missouri State Museum. It's free for you to walk around and check it out.

A view from the second floor. According to our tour guide, the murals on the ceiling were painted elsewhere and then plastered to the ceiling.

There's a very famous painting in the lounge for the House of representatives. It's done by Thomas Hart Benton and he painted this mural on site. It's the only painting in the capitol that was actually painted here. The mural takes up the whole room and it's scenes of everyday Missourians. There were several scenes from the mural that were controversial like this woman changing a diaper. Not sure why that raised a ruckus but there you go. There were also scenes of the slave trade that were controversial. That I understand. 

This is the Gallery for the House of Representatives for the state of Missouri. On the far right wall is a gnome. Nobody knows why it's there or who put it there. 

On the front steps of the capitol is a statue of the city's namesake, Thomas Jefferson.

The Governor's Mansion was completed in December 1881. It's located on the site of the original state capitol. It was built using labor from the the nearby prison. Governor B. Gratz Brown was the first governor to live in the residence and it has been home to the Missouri State Governor ever since. It has three stories and 13 bedrooms. Originally, there were no closets or bathrooms. You can tour the mansion for free but only on certain days of the week.

Not long after establishing Jefferson City as the capital of Missouri, lawmakers determined that they needed a prison. The Missouri State Penitentiary was built in 1836. It's located on the Missouri River less than two miles from the capitol. I operated as a maximum security prison from 1836 to 2004 making it the oldest continuously operated prison west of the Mississippi.

The wall and guardhouse that went around the prison. The prison was known as the "bloodiest 47 acres in America" due to the high number of assaults. The prison housed several notable inmates such as James Earl Ray, who assassinated Martin Luther King, Jr. He was incarcerated in 1959 for armed robbery. In 1967, he escaped by hiding in a bread box in the truck that drove between the prison bakery where he worked to the Renz Farm.

Another famous inmate was Pretty Boy Floyd. He was incarcerated at MSP in 1925 for robbing a payroll truck of $12,000, his first offense. He was released in 1929. After that he became a notorious murderer. You can tour the prison itself but keep in mind, there's no air conditioning so plan accordingly.

Directly across the street is the warden's house. Built in 1888 using prison labor. It was named the Colonel Darwin W. Marmaduke House after the first warden to live there. Currently, the house is occupied by the Jefferson City Convention and Visitor's Bureau. The back garage area and basement houses the Missouri State Penitentiary Museum.

The museum is pretty cool. It's $2 to get it and they have all kinds of artifacts from the prison. This was the warden's office. If you don't have the 2 - 3 hours for the prison tour, stop by here and check out the museum.

Also in Jefferson City is the Carnegie Library building. Andrew Carnegie funded 33 libraries in the state of Missouri and this was one of them. It was built in 1902. Carnegie donated $25,000 under the conditions that the city purchased the land on which the library sits and the city council had to maintain the library. The library was in service for almost a century before it was replaced by the Thomas Jefferson Library building. This building was scheduled for demolition but public outcry saved it. It now houses the Cole County Assessor's office.

The Jefferson City bridge built in 1953 replacing the original bridge that was further downstream. The bridge spans the Missouri River which is the longest river in the US, beating the Mississippi River by a mile.

We stayed mostly in downtown Jefferson City. I liked it quite a bit. It was very walkable. There are about 43K people that live here. The biggest employer is, of course, the State of Missouri. It's a lot different than Texas. It was very hilly and green. There were tons of older houses downtown some of which had been turned into businesses. There's also a ton of history here.

If you're nearby, stop in for a visit. There's lots to see.

Galveston, Texas: Queen City of the Gulf

In all the times that I've driven down to Galveston, Texas, I can't believe I haven't added it as part of the scenic route. Especially in light of the fact that we love this city!

Galveston is a city with tons of history. Before it was anything, it was a hideout for the pirate, Jean Lafitte.

There's a historical marker and the ruins of his house, Maison Rouge. He lived in Galveston from 1817 until 1820, when he was asked by the United States Government to leave the island. Upon doing so, he burned his home, the fort and the village.

By 1860, Galveston was the "Ellis Island of the West". This is the immigration station in Galveston.  The station itself opened in 1906. Between 1907 and 1914, over 50,000 immigrants came to the US through Galveston. This building was erected in 1933 and was in use as an immigration station until 1940.

In 1900, one of the worst natural disasters struck Galveston. A hurricane demolished the city killing between 6000 and 12000 people. These two dorms for St. Mary's Orphanage were practically on the beach. The buildings were demolished by the waves. All ten of the Sisters of Mercy were killed. Only three of the ninety plus children survived.

This is currently the Bryan Museum. Originally, it was another orphan's asylum that was built in 1895 by Henry Rosenberg. This building was also damaged during the storm of 1900 but was rebuilt in 1902. The Orphanage closed in 1967. In 2013, it was bought by JP Bryan and he converted it to a museum. 

One of the most iconic buildings in Galveston is the Bishop's Palace. This home was built in 1892 by Walter Gresham. He and his wife had nine children. The house survived the hurricane. In 1923, the catholic diocese purchased the house and the Bishop Christopher Byrne lived there until 1963 when the house was opened to the public. Located on Broadway Avenue, The Bishop's Palace was in the highest spot on the island. During the 1900 storm, the flood waters rose 15 feet submerging quite a bit of the city. After the storm, the entire island was raised about 17 feet by pumping sand underneath the buildings.

Directly across the street is Sacred Heart Catholic Church. The original building was erected in 1892 but was lost in the storm of 1900. This building was erected in 1903.

Also part of the Holy Family Diocese in Galveston is St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica. It was completed in 1848 and survived the hurricane of 1900 with minimal damage.

Holy Family diocese in Galveston has five churches on the island and St. Patrick's is one of them. The church was built in 1877.

During the 1900 storm, several people went to the church to wait it out. Unfortunately, the church collapsed during the storm and those inside died. The photo above shows the church after the storm. The photo is part of a collection in the Galveston Historical Museum, which is housed in the Old Galveston County Courthouse. It's free and definitely worth a visit.

Another of the iconic buildings on Broadway is the Moody Mansion. The house was built by Narcissa Willis in 1894. When she died, William Moody bought the house for his family. The house survived the storm of 1900. The Moodys were a very prominent family in Galveston. He was a banker and financier. After her father's death, Mary Moody Northen lived in the house until she died. The house is now a museum and well worth a visit.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Sam and Rosario Maceo ran Galveston. They owned a club called the Balinese Room. The club itself was at the far end of the pier that went 600 feet into the Gulf. In the back room of the club was a gambling room. The Texas Rangers tried for many years to raid the place but failed every time. When the band would see the police coming, they would play the song, "The Eyes of Texas are Upon You". That was the warning. By the time the authorities got the the gambling room, all evidence of the illegal games was gone.

The original Balinese room closed in 1957. In the 1970s, it had been reopened as a dinner club by Johnny Mitchell. It was reopened again in 2001. Then in 2008, Hurricane Ike destroyed the entire pier. All that's left of the Balinese room is this pier pergola. 

The Grand Galvez Hotel opened in 1911 as the Hotel Galvez. It's across the street from the beach.  In 1940, WL Moody bought the hotel and updated it to include a pool. From 1941 - 1944, the coast guard commandeered the hotel to use as its wartime headquarters. In 1965, the hotel was closed for remodeling. It survived Hurricane's Carla, Alicia and Ike. And, of course, there are rumors of hauntings. I've always wanted to stay there but have not yet had the pleasure.

At one point, Galveston was called The Wall Street of the South. On the Strand, which is the street closest to the bay side water front, there were banks, wholesale houses, cotton factors, grocers, commissions merchants and dry goods companies.  The building on the left was Hendley's Row. Built in 1850, it's actually four buildings with a brick wall between them. That was to help prevent fires from spreading from one building to another. The buildings were erected for the Hendley brothers who were merchants and cotton factors. During the Civil War, the building served as a watch post. Now it contains stores and restaurants on the first floor, offices and/or apartments on the upper floors. And, of course, there are rumors of hauntings.

This is the Grand 1894 Opera House. It has survived all the hurricanes that have hit Galveston. It's now a performing arts house. We saw a play there during the Dicken's on the Strand festival. 

We were in the upper balcony so we got some nice pictures. The play we saw was "A Christmas Carol".

The play fit into the whole "Dickens on the Strand" theme. It was a cool theater and I was very glad that I was able to go inside and see it. It's over 100 years old. I love that Galveston is all about preserving its history.

Galveston is such a great town. We usually go in the winter when there aren't many tourists. This year we went in July. It was not nearly as crowded as we would have thought. We're told the beaches aren't nearly as nice as those in other places, which is fine with me. We liked to walk on the seawall but not necessarily go in the water. The seawall was built after the 1900 storm as sort of a barrier between the Gulf of Mexico and the city itself. 

About 54K people live on the island. They have two big grocery stores: Kroger and Randall's. They also have a few one-off grocery stores. When you drive down Broadway, you still see a lot of the grand homes but, for as many that have been saved, there are just as many that have been torn down and replaced by parking lots or tire stores. 

There are several fast food chains but not many chain restaurants. For an island with only 54K people, they have a ton of good restaurants! Gaido's has been there since 1911. It is still run by the same family (fourth generation!). The food is good. Other restaurants include the Original Mexican Cafe, Shrimp N Stuff, Boulevard Seafood, and Mario's Seawall, just to name a few.

Every time we go down, we think we need to move here. Once we get through Houston, we know that we're close and the excitement of getting there builds. The vibe of the city makes you think of "Island Time". When we see the bridge, my body and my mind start to relax. I know it's going to be a lovely time.