Day 15-17 of Autumn 2023 Trip to Mountain States, Driving Back

by admin

The final three days of my autumn 2023 trip to the mountain states. I drove back east, visiting a few cities and checking out some urban attractions and museums.

Gateway Arch

Going from Durango to Chicago, I had the option of taking I80/I72/I70. The southern route of I70 was the longest, but it passed two major cities (Kansas City and St Louis), which I hadn’t visited before. In particular, this meant I could check out Gateway Arch in St Louis, a memorial to the nation’s pioneering spirit in exploration.
So this post would be about Oct 3-5, the last three days of my autumn 2023 trip to the mountain states.

KU Natural History Museum

Along I70 in eastern Kansas was the college town of Lawrence, where I checked out two museums belonging to Kansas University: Spencer Museum of Art and KU Natural History Museum. I didn’t find Spencer Museum of Art that interesting, but for the natural history museum, it’s like a hidden gem.
It turned out that Kansas University had a pretty decent paleopathology division, that embarked on excursions (mostly Wyoming and Kansas, but all over western US) and unearthed a fair selection of fossils, that was on display here.

Plesiosaur Flipper
Triceratops Skull
Mosasaur Fossil
Bison Fossil

One of the larger species of Bison, found in Logan County KS. A flint arrow shot into animal under the right shoulder blade while it’s still alive. This bison was estimated to be from the Ice Age, at least 20000 years old.
Fossil of Woodland Muskox
Fossil of Xiphactinus Audax
A fast-swimming and predatory fish.
Head of Platecarpus Tympaniticus Fossil
Fossil of Uintacrinus Socialis
A free-swimming crinoid, highlighted in paint.

Apart from the fossils, the other exhibits of the museum were insects, reptiles, and specimen of larger animals. The reptiles were mostly (non-venomous) snacks behind glass windows. I did find one exhibit of beehive interesting (p2 below). It’s indoors, behind glass windows so people could view it without risks of being stung. A transparent tube (p3 below) connected the beehive to the outside world, so actions of the worker bees could be viewed up close, like how they used their hind legs as pollen baskets.

Phosphorescence of Minerals
Bee Hive
Tube Connecting Beehive to Outside
Fossil of Plants and Shells
Insect Fossils

I planned to spend the night of Oct 4-5 in St Louis, checking out the city’s art museum and gateway arch during the day before and after. While searching for places to stay, I found this “Casino Queen Hotel” across the river in Illinois, that was cheaper than most hotels in St Louis for no obvious reason.

Hotel Room
Hotel Room
Hotel Room

It turned out that the room was sort of okay. I stayed in a Caesars property in Las Vegas back in March (which cost three times as much per night) and frankly I couldn’t tell the difference. There was some wear on the furniture (but unlike Caesars, nothing missing). I didn’t have to put up with second-hand smoke all over the property. It felt to me that the “casino” part of the property was subsidizing the “hotel” part, but unlike Las Vegas properties, the “casino” and the “hotel” were in two separate buildings so I couldn’t see how that worked out.

View of Gateway Arch across River

Just a short drive from the hotel was “Mississippi River Overlook”, an elevated overlook facing Gateway Arch across the river. To access the highest point (above embankments of Mississippi River) while complying with ADA, it’s a long walk with a series of switchbacks (I was puzzled why they didn’t bother building stairs). I arrived at sunset with the warm orange colors lighting up the distant horizon as the city lights turned on.
It’s a bummer that a few power lines got into the views of Gateway Arch. In the photos below, I Photoshopped them away.

Gateway Arch
Gateway Arch
Gateway Arch
Old Courthouse across Mississippi River

A quick look around and I found I was surrounded by factories and mostly undeveloped land, a far cry to the metropolis of St Louis across the Mississippi River. I had no idea why nobody seemed to be interested in developing such prime lands.

Gateway Arch

The next morning, I checked out Gateway Arch. The south side of Eads Bridge featured a pedestrian walkway, allowing me to walk to this memorial while watching it emerging closer from a background of high-rises. (This also saved me parking and transit rides.)

As for the arch, it’s built as a monument to the westward expansion of the United States. Earlier in this trip I came across a few emigrant routes to the west (Oregon Trail, Santa Fe Trail), and it’s appropriate that the monument be erected in St Louis, Missouri, the start of most of those trails, and its catenary shape as if a bridge to new frontiers.

As a side note, the monument was set up partially to revive St Louis’ waterfront district. And by doing that, a few blocks of buildings were tore down. I guessed in 21st century terms this was called “gentrification” and would never take place.

Gateway Arch and St Louis Riverfront
Tour Boat on Mississippi River
Gateway Arch
Gateway Arch
Gateway Arch
Gateway Arch
Gateway Arch

When (many years ago) I first learned it’s possible for visitors to reach the top of Gateway Arch, I was rather shocked. After being to the top of many other monuments (Washington Monument, Statue of Liberty) I guessed it shouldn’t be that much a surprise. Given its catenary shape, the top of the arch was accessed through a unique tram system, combining features of an elevator and a Ferris wheel.

I took a video of the tram rideup:

3 minutes and 9 seconds, 2160p30fps, 7Mbps/174MB for H265, 8Mbps/182MB for H264.

Once on top, we were given a few minutes to soak in the views through a few small windows. It’s possible to look directly down (p1 and p6 below), so it’s probably not for those with severe fear of heights. Apart from that, it’s a rainy day so the views weren’t crystal clear. Nonetheless, it’s still an amazing experience looking down over downtown St Louis.

Looking Down from Gateway Arch
Downtown St Louis from Gateway Arch
Interior of Gateway Arch at the Top
Old Courthouse
Busch Stadium
Looking Down from Gateway Arch
Mississippi River from Gateway Arch

At the bottom of Gateway Arch it’s an NPS-run museum with some history of the arch and the city of St Louis itself. In short, I liked it better than Missouri History Museum in Forest Park.

Saint Louis Art Museum

In the remainder of these two days, I checked out St Louis’ art museum, located in Forest Park. It’s not as huge as I anticipated, but still with a decent collection. Below were some of the highlights I picked.

Saint Louis in 1846

By Henry Lewis.
Steamboats crowd a riverfront lined with warehouses that extend into the distance, evidence of the bustling economy in St. Louis during the 19th century. Across the river, a wagon train has set up camp. “Bound for Oregon” is written on one of the wagons.
Henry Lewis came to St. Louis in 1836 to create scenery for the St. Louis Theatre. During his stay, he made several trips to document scenes along the Mississippi River. In 1846, Lewis likely sent this painting to New York City for exhibition. He wrote, “This view is taken from the Illinois shore, and you may rely on it being a correct one of our City as I took great pains in making the sketches and also took advantage of the Daguerreotype [an early form of photography]. . . although this city now contains a population of near forty thousand souls still the opposite shore remains in all its natural wildness.”
Surveyor’s Wagon in the Rockies

By Albert Bierstadt.
The vast, open expanse of prairie, which dwarfs the lone figure in its midst, is bounded only by the rise of distant mountains. Though small in scale, this study effectively evokes a sense of overwhelming isolation. Best known for his dramatic paintings of the West, Albert Bierstadt also made more intimate sketches that capture with equal power the expansive grandeur of the Rocky Mountains.
Bierstadt painted Surveyor’s Wagon in the Rockies in 1859 while part of a government survey party bound for the Rocky Mountains. Artists like Bierstadt wanted their largely Eastern clientele to know they had actually seen the landscape they painted. Travel through the area was nearly impossible, however, without the provisions and expertise provided by military or government expeditions.
Daniel Interpreting to Belshazzar the Writing on the Wall

By Benjamin West in 1775.
This painting tells a dramatic biblical story from the 6th century BC. Babylonian king Belshazzar, in blue robes, committed an act of sacrilege by using sacred Jewish vessels during a lavish feast. When mysterious writing appeared on the wall, the prophet Daniel, clad in brownish-red robes, interpreted the message to foretell the downfall of the king’s empire. Within hours, Belshazzar was dead.
Born in rural Pennsylvania, Benjamin West trained in Italy and became Historical Painter to King George III. Exhibiting the painting in 1776, just months before American colonials declared independence, West hoped that Daniel’s warning to a prideful king would encourage reconciliation between Britain and the American colonies.
Sadak in Search of the Waters of Oblivion

By John Martin in 1812.
The dramatic subject for this painting came from Tales of the Genii, written by James Ridley and published in 1764. Sadak is a Persian nobleman whose wife is abducted by the Sultan. In exchange for her safe return, Sadak undertakes a perilous journey to get a sample of the Waters of Oblivion.
The painting depicts the nobleman clinging to a rock at the bottom of the painting, dedicating the rest of the canvas to the rocky precipices that Sadak must surmount. Rays of light emanate from the upper left, suggesting that Sadak will ultimately obtain his goal.
Interior of St. Peter’s, Rome

By Giovanni Paolo Panini in 1731.
The vastness of the nave of St. Peter’s is the true subject of this painting. Intended as a keepsake from the original owner’s visit to Rome, the picture accurately records the appearance of the great Roman basilica. The artist has, however, manipulated one detail. He has moved the papal coat of arms in the ceiling one section (or bay) farther into the fictive space of the picture, thus emphasizing the size and grandeur of the building.