Visiting The Gateway Arch Nat’l Park – The Overlook And The Museum

Around 11 a.m. we left Walmart heading for St. Louis. It was an uneventful drive, although I can’t say much about it as I was busy booking things we wanted to do at the Gateway Arch National Park. The tram to the top of the arch, a movie about the construction process and the riverboat cruise all required reservations. Plus I needed to book a place for us to stay. We chose Draft Kings At Casino Queen in East St. Louis, MO. primarily because it is directly across the river from the National Park.

Although Rob had the route to the Casino in the GPS (actually we always use Google Maps these days), being a typical large city downtown the route was convoluted and a little confusing but we finally made it there with no screw ups. There were a few bridges along the way but thankfully they all had a clearance of at least 13’4″ (we need 13’0″). We didn’t need to check in – we made our reservation on-line (or call), paid for it and received a confirmation via email which had a gate access code. When we arrived at the gate, the high keypad didn’t seem to work so I called and we were given a new gate code. Rob had to hang out the window to access the lower keypad which at first didn’t seem to work but eventually did.

Site 608 was a 70′ long pull thru but the view was of a telephone pole and a huge gray box probably housing utility stuff. Since this was not exactly what we expected, I called and asked if we could move to site 516 (only 50′). After sitting on hold for what seemed like at least 15 minutes, finally someone answered and said that we could move to that site. Much nicer view – we could see the Arch through some trees but much better than the first site. In general the park was pretty much a parking lot and not real scenic because it was located in a somewhat industrial area.

It was pretty warm when we arrived with temps in the high 70’s, low 80’s and slightly humid. Glad we had a 50 amp electrical connection so we could run the AC.

As mentioned, during our drive to St. Louis, I made the reservation for the movie depicting how the Arch was built (10 a.m.), taking the tram up to the top (11:30 a.m.) and the Riverboat Cruise (1:45 p.m.). As with all National Park’s, seniors with the America the Beautiful pass get the $3 admission for free, but there is no discount on the tram or movie and only a $2 senior discount (no America the Beautiful Pass required) on the cruise. The total cost for both of us for the “See Everything Combo” was $77. That breaks down as follows: See Everything Combo regular rate is $41, less free admission = $38, less $2 senior discount on the cruise= $36. Times 2 = $72 plus a $5 “convenience fee” for the online reservation = $77.

Once settled into our new spot at the campground, we drove over to the nearby Mississippi River Overlook, which is located at the western edge of the Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park, “the park with a view”. The park is on the opposite side of the river from the Arch and provides spectacular views.

Beautiful views of the Arch and the St. Louis skyline.

But the real fun began the next day! We parked in the Stadium East parking garage around 8:00 a.m. which Rob had booked using iParkIt where the cost would usually be $9 but with a 20% discount for signing up, our total for the day was $7.20.

At nearby Chili Macs Diner, we had breakfast, about a 10 min walk from the garage. A greasy spoon with decent food. We both had two eggs, bacon, hashbrowns and toast. Can’t beat the price – only $6.10 for each of us.

After breakfast, we walked to the Visitor Center and Museum where we had to wait for a few minutes for it to open at 9 a.m. Once inside we had to go thru security before entering the museum.

Oh my, the museum was totally awesome! Located underground between the legs of the arch, there was so much to absorb and see – you could spend hours taking it all in. At 9:50 a.m., the Tucker Theater opened playing a fascinating movie about how the arch was constructed.