Road Trip, Day 1, Part 2

Parking by the Jefferson Westward Expansion Memorial, the site of the St. Louis Arch, I exited my car and spent a few minutes wandering around the park. It’s placed immediately beside the Mississippi River, and I was now farther West than I had ever been before. Pretty exciting stuff. The arch itself is wider than I’d imagined; actually, I later learned that it is exactly as wide as it is tall. Underneath the arch is a museum dedicated to the Westward Expansion in general, and Louis and Clarke in specific. I looked at some stuffed wildlife and read a few plaques before getting my ticket to ride the tram to the top of the arch.

Now, this tram bears mentioning. Because it travels through a curved structure, it needs a peculiar design to keep the guests sitting upright. To do this, it takes the basic principle of an elevator and combines this with a suspended tram, the seven cars being suspended from a set of rails above. Then, a Ferris Wheel design is introduced, with the cars all swiveling to maintain an appropriate level. Finally, out of what I can only guess is the imagination of an eccentric engineer who has read too much science fiction for his own good, the cars are designed as something like spaceship escape pods. They are small, white, spherical parabolas, somewhat rounder than eggs. They are no wider than six feet across at any point, and one must enter crouching and sit leaning forward on a stool to ride them. Five people are crammed into this ridiculous, but amusing, contraption. Sadly, in the rush to board and depart, I was unable to get a picture that does the cars justice.

Upon departing, I found myself at the top of the Gateway Arch. I snapped a series of pictures.

This is the general direction of home, far away across the Mississippi, miles of farmland, and so many small cities. I bid it farewell, not knowing how much I would soon miss it, and turned boldly toward the West.

This, of course, is the mighty city of Saint Louis. The old courthouse is apparent in the foreground, as well as the Annheiser Busch stadium and a few other historic sites to which I can’t put names. The Busch Stadium itself amused me quite a lot, due to hours spent playing Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2, an extraordinary PC game. In one mission of the Yuri’s Revenge expansion pack, the player has to liberate St. Louis from Yuri’s evil mind control. To do so, one has to make his way across the city, sneaking past Soviet patrols, and then plant C4 on the Busch Stadium, where Yuri’s mind-controlling device is being kept. After doing so, you get to pretty well level the city in the process of weeding out the Soviets. Obviously, I’ve done a great deal of scholarly work in my life, since the Gateway to the West now reminds me primarily of a fictional, futuristic Cold War.

After the arch, I went to the Saint Louis Cathedral Basilica, which, I learned, has been revered by various Popes as the greatest American cathedral. I still prefer the National Cathedral myself, but I must say that Saint Louis has a fine church.

At first I thought the art was somewhat under impressive, until I realized that virtually all of the walls and ceilings of the Basilica, including the great dome, are covered in detailed mosaics. These were handcrafted by a particular family of artists, and are quite beautiful. It was staggering to realize the years it must have taken to cover the sanctuary alone in murals made from tiny bits of stone. I wandered through the Basilica taking pictures of these mosaics. It was interesting to note that, intertwined with the geometric patterns and Bible stories were images of the Basilica’s construction, such as this one:

I also found a number of Latin transcriptions. This one

was the first that I was able to translate. It means, “Lord, Grant to Them Eternal Rest.”

After a prayer in the Basilica’s chapel, I went to the visitor’s desk and inquired as to where I could find something tasty and local for dinner. The clerk recommended “The Majestic,” telling me that they serve both great local food and wonderful Greek. The restaurant has been on a street in St. Louis since the 1930’s, and has contributed to making the area the standard for local cuisine.

The Majestic is an interesting restaurant, very much a family diner.

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The booths particularly caught my eye, as they were clearly church pews which had been sawed up and made to fit a single table. I liked it.

I had some of the most amazing Greek food I have ever eaten. All the dishes I had were things I’d eaten before, but were without exception superior to any form of them I’d eaten.

The gyros, tsatsiki, and spanakopita were all good. The grape leaves were unusual, both for the hollandaise sauce that was poured over them, and because they are the only stuffed grape leaves that I have managed to swallow and, even more shockingly, somewhat enjoy. The true pinnacle of the meal was the pita, which was perfect in every way. It was grilled, and had a rich but not overwhelming flavor of butter which made it so much more than a device for conveying the gyros to my mouth. Delightful.

Shortly after dinner, I left St. Louis and headed to Columbia, Missouri, two hours West. There, I planned to spend the night with Pastor Travis Tamerius, of Christ Our King Presbyterian Church. He gave me the address, and I arrived at the house about ten minutes early. Noting the basketball goal and white exterior that he described in his directions, I went to the door and knocked. I received a “Who is it?” through the closed door. Upon responding, I got a “Why are you here?” Thinking that Pastor Tamerius was joking, I laughingly responded that I was looking for a bed for the night. After a short exchange, the door opened, and I was confronted with two large, African American college students. Perhaps, I thought, I have made a mistake. I apologized, retreated to my car, and called Pastor Tamerius. As it turns out, there is a house one street up from his which has the same street number and exterior description. Eventually, I passed a pleasant evening of conversation with my host, had a good night’s rest in a thoroughly un-masculine room, and headed out once more.