meet me in st louis

After leaving my heron friend, Bun Bun and Larry, Darryl and Darryl at the Green River Reservoir we made our way to Cole Creek Campground on the Carlyle Reservoir in Illinois, just a hop, skip and a jump (across a rather well known river) from St Louis, Missouri. We did make a stop on the way there to pay homage to a person whom I deeply respect. A person who led our country in making courageous choices during deeply divisive times. A person who suffered and gave the ultimate gift, his life, to our country in support of the belief that we should be one country and all men, no matter the color of their skin, should be treated equally. I am, of course, speaking about Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of these United States of America.

But that wasn't all we did, oh no. Once settled at Lake Carlyle we also visited the Mounds of Cohokia. What are the Mounds of Cohokia you ask? (Don't feel badly, I thought the same thing.) The mounds were built by a prehistoric Indian civilization of the Mississippian culture, think roughly the same timeframe as the Anasazi Indians (the Ancient Ones) in the southwest and the late Mayan, pre-Inca and Aztec in Central and South America. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Yes, I'll repeat that. A UNESCO World Heritage Site! St Louis was even originally named Mound City. Who knew 🤷???

We also went to Camp DuBois where Lewis and Clark prepared for and then set out on their expedition to find the northwest passage and explore the west AND we spent a day in St Louis exploring the Gateway Arch (at which I was surprised by how much there was to do and see and learn.) They have an excellent museum under the arch that creatively and thoroughly discusses topics that range from 'how does a government "discover" and "award land grants" to people when the land is already occupied by a native race and what are the consequences', 'the expansion westward' and 'impacts on wildlife and landscapes', to 'the design competition' and 'selection of the arch to represent the memorial', 'how the area was chosen and cleared for the arch', to 'the construction of the arch' and several topics in between. Then the ride to the top of the arch, (I highly recommend, unless you are wary of heights or claustrophobic), taking a steamboat ride on the great old Mississippi herself and having dinner at a restaurant, a barbecue place no less, that overlooks Cardinal Park (for you non-baseball types, that's where the St Louis Cardinals baseball team play). What a fun place to go and soak up the atmosphere of a ball game. And …they had a home game that night. When the Cardinals hit a home run they set off fireworks around the sign, which was essentially right next to us. Of course they hit a home run and I practically fell out of my chair when the fireworks errupted accompanied by the commensurate loud explosions! 🎆😱😂

One last comment… just because I've stopped complaining about the heat DOES NOT mean it wasn't still hot. Typically it's been in the upper 90s - low 100s during the day and 70s at night since West Virginia. And no, I've not adapted to these temps 🔥🔥🔥🙄😂😭

Lincoln's birthplace near Hodgenville, Kentucky. The log cabin is preserved inside the granite memorial. The memorial includes some of the symbolic aspects of the memorial in DC including the 58 steps up the front which include 2 for his 2 terms as president plus 56 for the years of life.

The log cabin he was born in.

The Cohokia mounds. It's hard to comprehend their actual size.

In the 60s this area was turned into a housing development with these amazing historical artifacts literally "in their backyards". Thankfully, they were recognized for the historic treasure that they are and measures are being put into place to not only protect the site but also increase education and awareness.

At one time, monks had a monistary and an orchard on top of this mound.

The view of St Louis from a top the main mound.

The statue of Lewis, his dog Seaman and Clark at the visitors center at Fort DuBois.

A few pics of The Gateway Arch (formerly know as Jefferson N

But that wasn't all we did, oh no. Once settled at Lake Carlyle we also visited the Mounds of Cohokia. What are the Mounds of Cohokia you ask? (Don't worry, I thought the same thing.) The mounds were built by a prehistoric Indian civilization of the Mississippian culture, think roughly the same timeframe as the Anasazi Indians (the Ancient Ones) in the southwest and the late Mayan, pre-Inca and Aztec in South/Central America. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Yes, I'll repeat that. A UNESCO World Heritage Site! St Louis was even originally named Mound City. Who knew 🤷???

We also went to Camp DuBois where Lewis and Clark prepared for and then set out on their expedition to explore the west AND we spent a day in St Louis exploring the Gateway Arch (at which I was surprised by how much there was to do and see and learn.) They have an excellent museum under the arch that creatively and thoroughly discusses topics that range from 'how does a government "discover" and award land grants to people when the land is already occupied by a native race and what are the consequences', 'the expansion westward and impacts on wildlife and landscapes', to 'the design competition' and 'selection of the arch to represent the memorial', 'how the area was chosen and cleared for the arch', to 'the construction of the arch' and several topics in between. Then the ride to the top of the arch, (I highly recommend, unless you are wary of heights or claustrophobic), taking a steamboat ride on the Mississippi and having dinner at a restaurant, a barbecue place no less, that overlooks Cardinal Park (for you non-baseball types, that's where the St Louis Cardinals baseball team play). What a fun place to go and soak up the atmosphere of a ball game. And …they had a home game that night. When the Cardinals hit a home run they set off fireworks around the sign, which was essentially right next to us. I practically fell out of my chair 🎆😱😂

Lincoln's birthplace near Hogdon, Kentucky. The log cabin is preserved inside the granite memorial. The memorial includes some of the symbolic aspects of the memorial in DC including the 58 steps up the front which represent 2 for his 2 terms as president plus 56 for the years of life.

The log cabin he was born in.

The Cohokia mounds. It's hard to comprehend their actual size.

At one time, monks had a monistary and an orchard on top of this mound.

The view of St Louis from a top the main mound.

The statue of Lewis, his dog Seaman and Clark at the visitors center at Fort DuBois.

A few pics of The Gateway Arch (formerly know as Jefferson National Expansion Memorial).

Accompanied by a couple of factoids:

1 the arch appears much bigger the closer you get to it. This is a surprising fact for all of you I know, but it's really true. The arch is huge when you're right there.

2. It is not a parabola, but a catenary arch. (🧐)

3. It is as wide at the bottom as it is tall from center to top, 630 ft.

4. Whatever it is, I like the way it looks.