Cruising on the Mighty Mississippi
I've been a lazy bum today, worked on a few pictures, caught up on this week and last weeks episodes of Under The Dome and watched the VMA's. I haven't really felt good today and I was tired, so just taken it easy.
Yesterday I went to St. Louis with my mom and step dad Chuck. First we went up in the Gateway Arch and then through the Museum of Westward Expansion under the Arch. The tram system that takes you up in the arch is hard to explain. They are little pods, each holding about 6 people. They are kind of shaped like those pull behind tear drop shaped campers, only smaller. You have to crawl through a tiny little door to get in and out of them and if you are claustrophobic the ride may not be for you! The ceiling in the tram is also very low, my step dad hit his head twice. Only in the very back seat can a average sized person sit up straight with headroom.
Once at the top of the Arch it can get crowded! There are a lot of windows to look out, but the windows are not very big. To look directly out the windows you walk up to a ledge with your legs against the ledge and bend over putting your stomach and chest on the ledge. There is a step for those shorter folks and young kids. You can stay as long as you like and take pictures and look out and they make announcements when the trams are going down for anyone ready.
At the top of the Arch you will be the highest person in all of St. Louis not considered to be flying. For a few minutes I was the highest person not flying in all of St. Louis and a good chunk of the Midwest, king of the mountain!!! lol
Security at the Arch is very tight, you will see Park Rangers everywhere so it's a pretty safe place to take the family.
The Museum of Westward Expansion below the Arch is really nice. It is free to go in also! As far as museums go you will see a whole lot more written than you will see artifacts. You can go through the museum by yourself or on a guided tour led by one of the Park Rangers. I think they push for the guided tours because most of the artifacts in the museum aren't labeled and have little or no information about them which was probably the thing I liked the least about the place. We saw a really cool wooden cart that looked like it came out of a movie set in the Middle Ages, but not so much as even a plaque telling what it was called, when it was made or what it was used for. The coolest thing in the museum was an animatronic Native American statue, but I think he only said a couple of lines. There may have been more animatronic stuff, but a few of the exhibits in that area had tarps over them like they were under construction or repair.
There are also two theaters under the arch showing historical films, but we didn't have time to go to those. It is pretty amazing the museum, gift shops, and theaters are all hidden underground below the Arch.
After the Arch we took the Riverboat Cruise on the Mississippi River. We bought our tickets to the Arch and Cruise as a package online. It is ran by the National Park Service so it's really not that expensive and surprisingly cheap. If you go buy your tickets online, you save a lot of money! You just print out the paper show it and they give you the tickets.
The cruise lasts about an hour and there are three levels on the boat. The boat has bathrooms, snack bar and two air conditioned interior areas. The paddle wheel at the back of the boat is disappointingly just for looks and doesn't turn. The boat is very stable and the only time I really noticed any rocking was when we were at the dock and a big tug and barge went by. There isn't a whole lot on the Illinois side of the river, most of the good pictures will be on the Missouri side.
After we docked my parents waited by the cruise ship. My mom had trouble getting down the stairs from the Arch and it was now well into the afternoon and getting very hot! I told her and Chuck to wait by the boats and I would walk back and get the car to pick them up. I'm glad I did, there was no way my mom could have made it, I hardly made it! By the time I walked all the way back to my car I think I had overheated.
I got in the Jeep and switched on the air conditioner and it was such a relief! I drove around and picked up my parents and then we went on to the Lumiere Casino a few blocks away. At this point I really wasn't feeling very good. We at the fancy restaurant inside called The Kitchen Buffet and Bistro. Other than Hemingway's in Springfield I think it was the fanciest place I have ever eaten, certainly not the cheapest!
The forks were very heavy, the sign of an expensive restaurant. They had several different buffet areas, but I'm an extremely picky eater I didn't sample a lot. I had a couple slices of cheese pizza, some delicious hush puppies, and loaded up on the fried shrimp to get my money's worth. I got a bun, not realizing it was a hard roll, one bite was enough, I'll taken the buns at Golden Corral any day!
For desert I had a piece of cheese cake with some strawberry glaze drizzle, a piece of lemon pie (my favorite) and a bite of a little chocolate thing I thought was a brownie. I didn't like it, it was way to rich! It was fancy though, had a little 3D musical note standing up on top made out of a pressed sugar or something. I also had a small bowl of ice cream, they had five flavors, two of which were really unique. The regular like chocolate and vanilla, but they had lemon and green apple. I tried the green apple and it tasted just like a Granny Smith Green Apple!
Still feeling bad I didn't feel like gambling a lot, the overheating combined with not getting very much sleep the night before was getting to me. I went to the high stakes room and put a dollar in one of the $1 slot machines and won $6. Then I put the $5 I had won and $20 in a $5 slot machine and lost it all quickly. I really didn't feel like playing and figured either way I'm probably going to lose it, but if I win it I might as well win it big. So I pretty much just watched my parents play the penny slot machines and took advantage of the free drinks. They had Mr. Pibb Xtera and the caffeine boost really helped to get me going again. My stepdad did pretty good and turned his $20 into a little over a hundred. I think my mom was having about the same non-winning luck I was having and lost her $20.
We were going to stop at this historical Route 66 custard place in St. Louis I knew about, but we were all still so full from the buffet we didn't have room. We we were leaving St. Louis though I thought I would stop in and try White Castle, their burgers are small I could eat one to try them surely.
I have tried the White Castle frozen hamburgers like you can get at the grocery store, but never at an actual White Castle. I have Harold and Kumar in my head telling me how great it will be. So I stop at the White Castle by Six Flags, it's not busy, one couple eating inside. We order our food and I'm looking for a place to sit. I notice most of the tables are filthy with food crumbs, rings from where people had put their drinks, etc. We find a semi-clean table to eat at I open up my first hamburger. I take one look at it and there is no way I'm going to eat it! The bottom bun is soaking wet, the meat is kind of sticking to it and the meat doesn't even really look like meat. It looks more like half meat, half paste or something. All our hamburgers were like that. My mom and I said we were going to take them home for the dog. My step dad who will eat just about anything tried his and said they were disgusting. I stole a couple of my parents french fries and they were cold and slightly under cooked. I had seen a sign on the window walking in for "Chicken Rings". They are a large flat nugget with a hole in the center like a chicken nugget. They have three types, original, ranch and buffalo. I picked the buffalo and they put them in a bag, add the seasoning and shake them. The seasoning was clumpy, a clump here and a clump there, not spread around on them at all. They were at least edible, even though one bite would be like original and one bite like buffalo thanks to the clumpy seasoning. This was enough to make me never want to go to another White Castle again!
On the way home I stopped in Cuba and showed my parents the World's Largest Rocking Chair on Old Route 66. That was about it for the trip and we headed on home.
Watching the VMA's today I finally saw what everyone was talking about with the Miley Cyrus performance. The way she looked and acted aside, her singing was terrible! Lady GaGa showed a lot more butt than Miley did! But I think the thing was is Lady GaGa had a great artistic performance, Miley's was just a bunch of vulgarity loosely thrown together for shock value that screamed for attention. People have this Disney image of Hannah Montana still in their heads, so it's not as expected as it is coming from Lady GaGa. Whether Miley Cyris likes it or not she has a lot more responsibility on her shoulders to be a good role model than Lady GaGa does. She is coming from Disney and Hannah Montana and has a lot younger fan base, so has a responsibility to them. I think she is putting herself first, she can't let go of the spotlight. Her performance was terrible, the shock value is the only thing holding her career above water.
Yesterday I went to St. Louis with my mom and step dad Chuck. First we went up in the Gateway Arch and then through the Museum of Westward Expansion under the Arch. The tram system that takes you up in the arch is hard to explain. They are little pods, each holding about 6 people. They are kind of shaped like those pull behind tear drop shaped campers, only smaller. You have to crawl through a tiny little door to get in and out of them and if you are claustrophobic the ride may not be for you! The ceiling in the tram is also very low, my step dad hit his head twice. Only in the very back seat can a average sized person sit up straight with headroom.
Once at the top of the Arch it can get crowded! There are a lot of windows to look out, but the windows are not very big. To look directly out the windows you walk up to a ledge with your legs against the ledge and bend over putting your stomach and chest on the ledge. There is a step for those shorter folks and young kids. You can stay as long as you like and take pictures and look out and they make announcements when the trams are going down for anyone ready.
At the top of the Arch you will be the highest person in all of St. Louis not considered to be flying. For a few minutes I was the highest person not flying in all of St. Louis and a good chunk of the Midwest, king of the mountain!!! lol
Security at the Arch is very tight, you will see Park Rangers everywhere so it's a pretty safe place to take the family.
The Museum of Westward Expansion below the Arch is really nice. It is free to go in also! As far as museums go you will see a whole lot more written than you will see artifacts. You can go through the museum by yourself or on a guided tour led by one of the Park Rangers. I think they push for the guided tours because most of the artifacts in the museum aren't labeled and have little or no information about them which was probably the thing I liked the least about the place. We saw a really cool wooden cart that looked like it came out of a movie set in the Middle Ages, but not so much as even a plaque telling what it was called, when it was made or what it was used for. The coolest thing in the museum was an animatronic Native American statue, but I think he only said a couple of lines. There may have been more animatronic stuff, but a few of the exhibits in that area had tarps over them like they were under construction or repair.
There are also two theaters under the arch showing historical films, but we didn't have time to go to those. It is pretty amazing the museum, gift shops, and theaters are all hidden underground below the Arch.
After the Arch we took the Riverboat Cruise on the Mississippi River. We bought our tickets to the Arch and Cruise as a package online. It is ran by the National Park Service so it's really not that expensive and surprisingly cheap. If you go buy your tickets online, you save a lot of money! You just print out the paper show it and they give you the tickets.
The cruise lasts about an hour and there are three levels on the boat. The boat has bathrooms, snack bar and two air conditioned interior areas. The paddle wheel at the back of the boat is disappointingly just for looks and doesn't turn. The boat is very stable and the only time I really noticed any rocking was when we were at the dock and a big tug and barge went by. There isn't a whole lot on the Illinois side of the river, most of the good pictures will be on the Missouri side.
After we docked my parents waited by the cruise ship. My mom had trouble getting down the stairs from the Arch and it was now well into the afternoon and getting very hot! I told her and Chuck to wait by the boats and I would walk back and get the car to pick them up. I'm glad I did, there was no way my mom could have made it, I hardly made it! By the time I walked all the way back to my car I think I had overheated.
I got in the Jeep and switched on the air conditioner and it was such a relief! I drove around and picked up my parents and then we went on to the Lumiere Casino a few blocks away. At this point I really wasn't feeling very good. We at the fancy restaurant inside called The Kitchen Buffet and Bistro. Other than Hemingway's in Springfield I think it was the fanciest place I have ever eaten, certainly not the cheapest!
The forks were very heavy, the sign of an expensive restaurant. They had several different buffet areas, but I'm an extremely picky eater I didn't sample a lot. I had a couple slices of cheese pizza, some delicious hush puppies, and loaded up on the fried shrimp to get my money's worth. I got a bun, not realizing it was a hard roll, one bite was enough, I'll taken the buns at Golden Corral any day!
For desert I had a piece of cheese cake with some strawberry glaze drizzle, a piece of lemon pie (my favorite) and a bite of a little chocolate thing I thought was a brownie. I didn't like it, it was way to rich! It was fancy though, had a little 3D musical note standing up on top made out of a pressed sugar or something. I also had a small bowl of ice cream, they had five flavors, two of which were really unique. The regular like chocolate and vanilla, but they had lemon and green apple. I tried the green apple and it tasted just like a Granny Smith Green Apple!
Still feeling bad I didn't feel like gambling a lot, the overheating combined with not getting very much sleep the night before was getting to me. I went to the high stakes room and put a dollar in one of the $1 slot machines and won $6. Then I put the $5 I had won and $20 in a $5 slot machine and lost it all quickly. I really didn't feel like playing and figured either way I'm probably going to lose it, but if I win it I might as well win it big. So I pretty much just watched my parents play the penny slot machines and took advantage of the free drinks. They had Mr. Pibb Xtera and the caffeine boost really helped to get me going again. My stepdad did pretty good and turned his $20 into a little over a hundred. I think my mom was having about the same non-winning luck I was having and lost her $20.
We were going to stop at this historical Route 66 custard place in St. Louis I knew about, but we were all still so full from the buffet we didn't have room. We we were leaving St. Louis though I thought I would stop in and try White Castle, their burgers are small I could eat one to try them surely.
I have tried the White Castle frozen hamburgers like you can get at the grocery store, but never at an actual White Castle. I have Harold and Kumar in my head telling me how great it will be. So I stop at the White Castle by Six Flags, it's not busy, one couple eating inside. We order our food and I'm looking for a place to sit. I notice most of the tables are filthy with food crumbs, rings from where people had put their drinks, etc. We find a semi-clean table to eat at I open up my first hamburger. I take one look at it and there is no way I'm going to eat it! The bottom bun is soaking wet, the meat is kind of sticking to it and the meat doesn't even really look like meat. It looks more like half meat, half paste or something. All our hamburgers were like that. My mom and I said we were going to take them home for the dog. My step dad who will eat just about anything tried his and said they were disgusting. I stole a couple of my parents french fries and they were cold and slightly under cooked. I had seen a sign on the window walking in for "Chicken Rings". They are a large flat nugget with a hole in the center like a chicken nugget. They have three types, original, ranch and buffalo. I picked the buffalo and they put them in a bag, add the seasoning and shake them. The seasoning was clumpy, a clump here and a clump there, not spread around on them at all. They were at least edible, even though one bite would be like original and one bite like buffalo thanks to the clumpy seasoning. This was enough to make me never want to go to another White Castle again!
On the way home I stopped in Cuba and showed my parents the World's Largest Rocking Chair on Old Route 66. That was about it for the trip and we headed on home.
Watching the VMA's today I finally saw what everyone was talking about with the Miley Cyrus performance. The way she looked and acted aside, her singing was terrible! Lady GaGa showed a lot more butt than Miley did! But I think the thing was is Lady GaGa had a great artistic performance, Miley's was just a bunch of vulgarity loosely thrown together for shock value that screamed for attention. People have this Disney image of Hannah Montana still in their heads, so it's not as expected as it is coming from Lady GaGa. Whether Miley Cyris likes it or not she has a lot more responsibility on her shoulders to be a good role model than Lady GaGa does. She is coming from Disney and Hannah Montana and has a lot younger fan base, so has a responsibility to them. I think she is putting herself first, she can't let go of the spotlight. Her performance was terrible, the shock value is the only thing holding her career above water.
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