Travel and lodging reservations have been made. We will travel by Amtrak train from Philly to St. Louis. It's a little more than a day and a half travel this way. The first 2 legs are the same as our trip to Seattle a few years back; including the sleeper car from Washington DC to Chicago. In Chicago we'll catch a train heading south instead of west. We have a 5 hour layover in Chicago and we are both excited about that. My brother was the first to ask me if we 'paid extra for the keeping the train upright' option. All kidding aside, the derailment just outside Philadelphia this past week is awful but it does not mean train travel is unsafe.
While in St. Louis we'll stay the first two nights in at a hotel in downtown and travel by foot or metro to the sights and the game. Then move to a B&B just outside the city and get a rental car. Our final night will be at a hotel near the airport making it less stressful to get to our morning flight home. All told we'll be on vacation for a week.
Right now I'm deep into researching the trip. This, for me anyway, is just as much fun as the travel itself. Of course we will visit the Arch but Dave will be the only one to travel to the top. My family visited the Arch in the summer of 1977 and I have vivid memories of steering clear of the tram car system that takes one to the top. I thought perhaps my memory had exaggerated this over time but my reading lately tells me it's spot on.
We've begun a list of things we might want to do. I doubt we'll be able to do it all but making the list helps figure out how we might mix and match things to get to do as much as we'd like. A drive along route of Route 66 is a must. It appears that another great road experience is the Great River Road along the Mississippi in Illinois. In St. Louis we have Forest Park, the Cathedreal Basilica of St Louis and the Brewery on the list so far. A visit to Laclede Landing and Historic St. Charles appear to be good ideas as well. Dave loves the Blues so a stop to hear some music is a must as well.
If you've visited this area, we'd love to hear your suggestions? What should we do? What should we skip?
Keep smiling and keep moving
-Paula
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