Arch and a feeling of dejavu

When we first started planning this trip, there were no formal excursions offered by Viking listed for the hotel days. We found it odd that in an itinerary where both end cities are different than any of our port cities, there was only excursion choices for our days on the ship. We reached out to customer service and the rep insisted that there would never be any excursions rather a rep would be available to suggest things for you to do on your own. 

As the weeks went by, excursion options showed up on the website for our hotel time in St. Louis. One of the excursions mentioned the Gateway Arch but described it more as a drive by. We booked the afternoon version of this tour called "St. Louis, the "Gateway to the West," which was an included tour. If you're new to Viking, they will offer one excursion in each port that is included and is often a general city highlights style tour. This is oftentimes also a walking tour so consider your own personal mobility as well as cost when checking out tour options. 

Our main goal for St. Louis was to experience the ride up to the top of the Gateway Arch. To cover our bases, we went online to the official Gateway Arch website months beforehand and purchased tickets for the 9:30AM tour. We received them in email right away and brought the printouts with us. The website cautions that passing through security can take up to 30 minutes and the tram experience can take 45-60 minutes to complete. Booking one of the first tram rides of the day was our best bet at having the least crowds at the security checkpoint and the least wait at the trams. After a limited but included buffet breakfast at the hotel, we ordered a rideshare to take us to the Gateway Arch. The hotel is only a short drive away and even with a little morning traffic we arrived in plenty of time. 

Front entrance and exit:

Entire circle center:

We breezed straight through security, our only hinderance being that Dad was required to take off his belt as well as empty our pockets. Security is just across from the ticket desks. Head left if you still need to buy tickets, head straight if you want to chat with rangers at the information desk, and head back toward the doors to the right to enter security. After that it's an easy walk down to the lower level where we stopped to chat with a kind gentleman at another information desk who gave us lots of tips about other things to see in St. Louis. 

We soon headed over to the person checking tickets at the entrance to the south tram as directed on our tickets. Once our tickets were scanned in, she handed us each a boarding pass to hand to the next employee showing we were counted off as being in tram car #2. Each tram rider is required to ride in the tram with a total of 5 people so they count you off as you check in. The only line we encountered was the 15-20 people who had already passed the ticket checker as we all had to wait until it was truly 9:30AM. A young gentleman employee monitoring this next section helped chat up the group cracking jokes while we waited those 10-15 minutes. 

Before we turned the corner to where the numbered trams are boarded, the young gentleman called out our group numbers in descending order to pose for a group picture which could be purchased after the ride. This way, those in the higher numbered trams could file down the staggered steps and get in place without having to push past those of us in the lower numbered trams at the top of the steps.

You are required to step up into the tram car and must be able to crouch down at the same time to avoid hitting your head. Once inside, you can't help but be shoulder to shoulder and bumping legs making all thankful that everyone wore deodorant this morning. While the ride doesn't last very long, it can be uncomfortable if you're claustrophobic. We made the best of it by chatting up the family of 3 after learning that they had spent time where I grew up. 

These pictures were taken after we had returned. When you exit the trams, you walk across the landing until you're past the railing. Then you head up the steps while the next tour group is being held back from descending the stairs on the opposite side of the railing. 

There is a sample of the trams by the bathrooms at the main entrance so you can see how small it is before getting in line to buy tickets. The door is see through glass so you will be able to see the mechanisms and inner metal framework of the arch as you ride. There is lights always on inside and airflow. You will feel some slight rocking and creaking at times as the tram moves along the curves of the arch.

Once you exit the trams at the top, you have about 20 more steps to climb and at one point have to squeeze past the people who are waiting to get into the trams for their ride down. At the top, another employee keeps track of the time reminding the group how much of about 10 minutes they have to look around. This space at the top of the arch is fairly open to move around but all of the windows are narrow rectangles centered in the middle of each panel. There are raised platforms that you can either stand or kneel on if you need some height help to see. Otherwise it's a good bit of leaning over at the waist and resting on your hands or elbows. 

The river side where our ship would have been if it didn't actually dock in Alton, IL. 

There are window panels to look out on both the river and the city sides. To keep the flow of the crowds moving, you exit out the opposite side (so in our case out where the North Tram people come in) and return to your numbered tram once there. They rope a chain across the doorways while your group is inside the peak and then open only the opposite side while giving out verbal directions.

Plenty of space to stand upright and it wasn't too munch of a hunch over for Dad who is around six feet tall. 

You can even get in some facts while enjoying the views.

Moving on to the city side of the arch:

The shadow of the arch on the ground below. That circle in what looks like a grassy field is the circular entrance for the arch. It was wild to realize that all of the museum, theater, trams, ramps, cafe, and gift shop are housed underneath that grassy field.

Once we returned to the bottom, we stopped at the cafe for a soft pretzel to split and two sodas. 

The cafe's tables are flanked by a large mural timeline showing the path taken to build the Gateway Arch as a sign of westward expansion. I couldn't help but notice how there were several references to Lewis and Clark whose path we learned so much about on the ACL river cruise.

We briefly took time to check out the 3-D models on display:

Of course we spent some time in the gift shop where I found a wooden magnet and Dad insisted on buying a wooden Christmas ornament because he thought it would make a nice magnet.

There is a hotel literally across the street from the Gateway Arch so we headed to their entrance before calling for a rideshare back to the hotel. As it turns out, we stopped right in front of the Viking branded tour buses that had just brought the included tour's morning participants to the arch. We joked about trying to hitch a ride until our rideshare arrived. This was an experience that was definitely worth the time and worth getting up early to beat the crowds. We were outside waiting for our rideshare by 10:45AM. 

For reference, the schedule of tours offered for today - even some of these were not on the website beforehand. If they weren't already sold out, you could choose to sign up for any of these tours with the Viking representatives in the hotel.

St. Louis, the Gateway to the West (Easy activity level/8:30AM or 1:30PM/Duration 3.5 hours/ Included cost)

Missouri Botanical Garden (Easy activity level/12:30PM/Duration 3.5 hours/Included cost)

Anheuser-Busch Brewery (Easy activity level/1:00PM/Duration 2.5 hours/ Cost $89 per person)

National Blues Museum (Easy activity level/2:00PM/ Duration 2.5 hours/Cost $99 per person)

Favazza's Dinner On The Hill (Easy activity level/5:00PM/Duration 3.5 hours/Cost $189 per person)

After some time relaxing back in our hotel room, we left a little early to meet the group for the Viking sponsored included tour, "St. Louis, the "Gateway to the West." I'm glad we gave ourselves some time to walk back from the other wing  because we ended up having to go past the Viking desk which was supposed to be our tour meeting place and rush all the way down another corridor to a different wing to meet the buses outside. I'm not sure if it was a case of a lot of people showing up early so Viking started directing everyone to the buses or they just decided to make everyone meet at the buses instead. If that was the case, it would have been a lot more practical to have the buses come around front to pick us up since the Viking Desk was merely around the corner from the front entrance. 

Once on board the bus after all that speed walking, I was ready to get a breather while our guide took us on this long city tour.  The only thing different than we saw on our own this morning was a quick drive through Forest Park hearing about the 1904 World's Fair after which we parked in front of the Missouri History Museum long enough for our guide to tell us that it's a free museum and its most famous exhibit is the Spirit of St. Louis. After that, our city tour was a brief repetitive spiel from our guide that repeated the same facts we learned during the hotel transfer. Our guide had her narration ready to last only as long as it took us to drive from the hotel to the Gateway Arch. She made us all wait in the main lobby space while she retrieved our movie tickets. While there were a couple choices, our tickets only allowed us to watch the Monument to the Dream documentary film and were for a showing that started about an hour after our arrival. These tickets would have cost us each $7. We all had to follow our guide like dutiful schoolchildren through security (just when you thought you were going to get to keep on your belt for the rest of the day Dad!) and then she had to lead us all to where the movie theater was so we could see where to meet for the movie time. I was expecting her to suggest we all synchronize our watches as well.

Dad and I passed the time by wandering through the museum exhibits. The exhibit area is completely accessible and made up into little themed alcoves. The movie theater opened at the back row where there were handicap seats marked off on a level platform so you could easily push a wheelchair past them until you reached a seat. The typical movie theater hinged seats were all in rows after you started walking down steps. 

A kudos to The Gateway Arch Museum for offering these little booklets next to the displays that offered the same information on the placards but in accessible options like large print.

After the movie, our guide instructed everyone to meet her back at the lobby. Several of us beat her back to the lobby and after a while many started walking back up to the bus. She soon arrived and had us all crowded around by these front glass windows waiting for everyone else to show. At least one or two couples informed our guide that they were going to stay in order to do the next scheduled tram ride. They were fine with the idea of having to get their own way back to the hotel. 

When you are stuck standing around waiting so you start trying to take artsy photos:

I didn't realize until watching the movie that the top pieces of the arch were designed so you could see the windows from the outside that we'd looked out from while inside. 

Once back outside, I really started to notice how much the arch turned as it came down the other side. It isn't a simple rainbow horsehoe shape. 

I'm glad we had the opportunity to do the tram ride during our time in St. Louis and that we got to it before the crowds. However, I think it would have been more ideal for us to not have booked the included Viking tour and simply took our time with the museum exhibits after our tram ride while the crowds were still light. Dad had considered buying tickets to do the virtual reality experience but opted out when it seemed like too much of a time crunch before the afternoon tour.