The First Bus Tour of the Caravan

By 7:45 am this morning all 43 of us caravaners were on the bus and ready for day of touring with our fantastic driver and guide Albert.  He really made the trip extra special with all of the interesting tidbits of information about St. Louis and Missouri in general, interspersed with some great jokes. Time flew even when we were stuck in traffic.

Our first stop was at the Old Courthouse across from the St. Louis Arch.  (to take the picture I'm standing on the courthouse steps)

The city is recreating the mall area around the arch as well as doing some work within the arch.  As a result most of the historical displays on the history of the area, as well as the building of the arch is presently at this courthouse which was the site of the Dred Scott case.  (a statue of Dred Scott and his wife sits in front)

The domed ceiling just inside had us all standing in awe with our necks craned up to see the several balconyed floors, huge wall murals, flags, banners and statues.

Time flew as we enjoyed the displays on the early history of St. Louis and the western migration that took place in the early 1800s.  Before we knew it, it was time to climb back on the bus and make the short drive to the arch (necessary because of all the construction in the area) where we rode up on the tram in the little "pods" that each hold 5 people in a barrel like "car" that kept us packed in tight for the ride to the top.

Once up there we could see quite a ways through the very narrow windows despite the rain and resulting haze.  Since it sits near the banks of the Mississippi River you can look down on lots of bridges and barges 

The courthouse we had just visited was straight out in front of us.  The construction will result in a much longer mall right to the court house and more walking area free of traffic.

There isn't a lot of space inside the viewing area, but plenty for our group to take lots of pictures both out the windows and of each other with this sign showing how high up we were.

There was a great movie on the construction of the arch - truly an engineering marvel - that we could enjoy before setting off again for our bus that was parked nearby, right next to the Old Cathedral of St. Louis so we stopped to see that.  Several years ago we toured the replacement basilica which is awesome.  But this is beautiful on a much smaller scale.

 Then we were off to Hannegan's for a delicious lunch.  It started with a tossed salad that I followed with salmon and grilled vegetables while Ken had a smokehouse dish with several different BBQed meats.  We sat with a couple from Austin, TX (she grew up in Mexico with missionary parents), our bus driver and the wife of our host couple.  What a great mix for fun conversation.  It turns out our bus driver was a professional alto sax player for 13 years traveling all over the US with well known bands.  He had stories about lots of the well know names.  This is Ken in the doorway with the "chef" that greeted us

Following lunch we did a first for us  a trip into a cemetery on a full sized bus!!! We visited the well known Bellefontaine Cemetery where William Clark and many members of his family are buried. 

From there Albert took us across the Mississippi River into Illinois to the Lewis and Clark State Historic Site which consists of a museum

and replica of the first winter encampment of the expedition. It was where the corps was trained for five months and the supplies gathered for the trip.  The small "fort" with cabins at each of the four corners and captains quarters in the middle did not allow for much manuverable space so they must have done a great deal of their training outside the walls.

This center room of the captains cabin was their sleeping and working quarters with a loft for storage of the many items purchased for the trip.  One other room was totally devoted to storage and the other had space for their support staff to sleep, cook and eat. This was Lewis' side of the room with his small "travel desk" on the table below the book shelf.

The specially made keel boat that would carry the 30 tons of supplies along with two pirogues were sailed there from Pennsylvania where they had been made.  So they had already traveled the Ohio River to the Mississippi to this River Camp near the confluence of the Missouri River.  A good deal of time was spent in figuring out the best way to pack the keel boat.  A full size replica cut away so we could see the inside areas gave us an idea of just how tightly it was packed and what they had to put into it.

These are a couple of shots of the exposed side to see that it was like inside

I simply can't imagine shopping for a voyage of unknown length, into unknown territory, with unknown needs for which all kinds of scientific instruments also had to included to help in creating maps, recording plant and animal findings, and handling all possible medical needs. Plus they knew they'd run into lots of different Indian tribes with whom they would need to interact in order to get the information and help they might need so they needed "gifts". (It is hard to read this map but take my word for it, there were a lot of different Indian tribes in the vicinity they would be traveling through.  They actually interacted with 48 different Indian tribes each with their own culture, language and interests.

Two local women were there with their Newfoundland dogs (they are huge - weigh about 115 pounds) so we could see what the dog was like that accompanied then on the trip -- Lewis' dog Seaman.

It was a mighty full but fascinating day.