What Dad does when you won't smile at mom for yet another picture she wants, lol!
Visiting the museum. It was great seeing how the area was discovered, inhabited, and life along the river at that time.
Getting ready to hop in our tiny little tram cart.
Checking out the view...
The Gateway Arch, also known as the Gateway to the West, is part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. It stands 630 ft tall and 630 wide at the base. Construction was completed October 28, 1965 and open to the public June 24, 1967. It is made of equilateral triangles narrowing from 55 ft per side at the base to 17 ft per side at the top. The inside is hollow allowing a tram to travel to the top. The tram compartments are small, allowing for a tight squeeze of 5 passengers to each cart. We had three adults and two kids and it was snug! Do not go if you are claustrophobic. There are two emergency stairwells consisting of 1076 steps each.
My father took my siblings and I there, when we lived in Kansas City, Missouri. I believe I was 7 and when we got there, I did not want to go up. I was too scared. I'm sure my father was not real thrilled with that, but I was allowed to remain back with an operator and actually watch the trams go up instead. So this trip was a first for all of us. There was a museum inside the we toured. There were speaking statues and tons of information. I could have spent a lot more time in there, but we still had some traveling to do that day so we couldn't stay too long. It was a perfect trip to go along with our studies this year. There was quite a bit on the Lewis and Clark Expedition, westward inhabition of land, Indians, presidential issues at that time, Peace Medals, etc.
