St Louis

Day 3 was a day to visit and explore St Louis (Missouri) - enjoyed a prearranged tour of the city. Richard the tour guide arrived at the park for a 9am start and we set off in the bus with George as the driver. Richard was very knowledgeable on the sights of St Louis, a little too much information to absorb while passing the buildings on the bus.

Stopped at the Gateway Arch (630 ft/192m monument takes its name from the city's role as the "Gateway to the West"during the westward expansion of the United States in the 19th century); sighted Eads Bridge (combined road and railway bridge across the Mississippi River connecting the cities of St Louis Missouri and East St Louis Illinois); stopped at Union Station (magnificent great Hall with a whispering arch and had lunch at Anheuser-Busch InBev Brewery.

The Gateway arch was built on the Mississippi river front to commemorate the western growth of the US.

Gateway arch very visable in the skyline of St Louis

Eads bridge largest man dug piers back in the 18th century, according to our guide

Union Railway Station

The station Hall was very grand

With it's stained glass windows

The architect had even designed a whispering wall at the entrance curved structure. 

Inside the Station was incredible - detail around the clock in the Hall

Continuing our tour we drove through Soulard neighbourhood (known for it's blues scene); Forest Park sighting The Jewel Box (conservatory), History Museum, Art Museum, Zoo, Old Courthouse (1839), Aloe Plaza fountain sculptured by Carl Milles, The Meeting of the Waters  - symbolizes the union of the Mississippi & Missouri Rivers.

Sculpture, Carl Milles fountain, The Meeting of the Waters - Aloe Plaza 

Looking from the Gateway Arch towards the city

Had a tour and lunch at the Anheuser-Busch Brewery, home of Budweiser 

Free samples - everything is huge proportions in USA! Hels was ticking over after the first sample!!

A very glamorous brewing house

Some of the buildings and the clock tower in the brewery 

With the tour drawing to a close we drove passed Busch Stadium (baseball), stopped at Cathedral Basilica, Lafayette Square (very fancy homes). A very full, but enjoyable day tour of St Louis.

Cathedral Basilica

The cathedral has 4.5 million mosaic tiles covering the walls and ceiling 

The roof has 3 domes, this is the main middle dome

Just amazing art work with mosaic tiles

Route 66 - LaSalle to St Louis

Day 2, Route 66 - LaSalle to St Louis 273 miles

After a good night's sleep we all woke slowly to a cool morning. Had a group meeting and Gerry pointed out some of the highlights we could visit on our travels to St Louis today.

Sunrise at our RV park

Left around 10am and headed off on the Motorway, turned onto Route 66 and drove to Pontiac where we spent time in the Route 66 Hall of Fame which was great.  Also visited the War Museum (hundred dummies dressed in army, navy, air force uniforms) plus Pontiac Oakland Auto Museum. Had a great coffee at 'Coffee & Scone'.

One of the model cars on the footpath in Pontiac

A feature in Pontiac of Route 66

The Pontiac Route 66 museum

This VW travelled route 66 and is in the museum

The Pontiac - Oakland Auto Museum 

Drove Route 66 to Lexington then back onto Motorway 55 which travels parallel to Route 66 in a lot of areas. Turned off Motorway and headed to Auburn where there was a rare 1.4 mile stretch of brick road (Route 66). "Billy" directed us back to Motorway travelling through farms and horse studs which was a nice detour.  Back on Motorway 55 and hightailed back to RV Campground (Granite City Campground) where Helen did some washing before having a good Happy Hour until the mozzies came out!

A section of the original road

Starting to find various cars along the road

A rare 1.4 mile stretch of brick road

A well earned happy hour at the end of the day.

Route 66 - Chicago to LaSalle

Day 1, Route 66 - Chicago to Lasalle - 99 miles

Caught the Shuttle Bus from our Hotel to the Motor Home Depot where we were debriefed and then let loose on the road!!   Our first stop was Walmart, shopping in 2 stages having lunch in between. Set off for the RV Park listening to the voice of Billy Connolly on our Tom Tom - telling us we weren't listening when we made a wrong turn!!  Plenty of traffic and rain did not make for relaxed driving (especially getting used to driving on the right hand side ).  Arrived late, had tea @ 9pm then unpacked boxes of new crockery, cutlery, linen etc into cupboards.  Very excited about our journey ahead.

After picking up the motor home our first stop was Walmart.

Helen let me go and find the camp chairs, which I did but happened to pass the biggest jar of cheese balls I've ever seen, so had to buy them.

When we left Walmart it had started to rain which made it more challenging to get use to driving on the right hand side.

Our first RV park at LaSalle after leaving Chicago

Chicago

After leaving Niagara Falls we bused to Toronto and flew to Chicago, having a few nights before picking up the Motor home. Stayed at Inn of Chicago - bit of a change of view from Niagara as looked straight into a brick wall!!  Went for a walk around a few blocks and found a fresh food Market where we had coffee and purchased some fresh fruit.  Had a 'debriefing' during Happy Hour then joined some of our travelling couples for tea at Lux Cafe (beautiful art deco building serving all types of food).  Helen and I shared a meal which was delicious and filled us up.

Flying over Chicago before we landed

Up and away this morning walked to Millennium Park (25 acres of beautiful landscape, architecture and public art) to catch the Chicago Double Decker bus for a Downtown Tour.  We stayed on the bus for the entire 2 hour tour seeing the Art Institute, Hilton Chicago, Adler Planetarium Buckingham Fountain, Sheraton Hotel, Navy Pier, Chicago Theatre to name a few.  The host on this tour was quite a character and very informative.  Weather varied from minute to minute, warm for a while then cold with a chilly wind (that's Chicago apparently!)  

Looking across Lake Michigan to downtown Chicago

Our guide Cosmo on the double decker bus in front of the Adler Planetarium.

The Wrigley's building

The Field Museum.

Sculpture in between city buildings

A lot of gardens in the streets

 Well kept garden beds on the footpaths

The Buckingham fountain shoots up to this height on the hour.

Statue of Jack Brickhouse - a hall of fame broadcaster.

The beginning of Route 66

Walked back to hotel for warmer clothes then off to Lux Cafe again for a great meal.  Headed out again for the Night Tour which was great although sitting on the top deck was very cold! Had a great view of the buildings lit up at night - no flashing neon lights like New York but very tastefully done.  The loop was the same as the daytime but looked so different at night. Highly recommend the Night Tour of Chicago.

All the buildings and streets look different at night.

The Britannica Building

Trump Tower and the Wrigley's building

Chicago doesn't have any advertising signs lit up at night

A different view across Lake Michigan