You should have landed at St Louis Downtown. The view is out of this world.
The kids would have been able to see the arch from the air and you get right
on the freeway/bridge to downtown St Louis and avoid any bad parts of town.

I spent 4 years there and never had an issue. What a great place to fly out
of.


"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:bBbKf.779091$x96.337555@attbi_s72...
Four days off, decent flying weather, and a desire to escape winter.
Does this sound like aviation heaven, or what?

Well, two out of three ain't bad. Our plan to fly to the Hangar Hotel in
Texas (which was 81 degrees last week) was shot down by a giant arctic
cold front that rammed 10 degree temperatures all the way down to the
Texas panhandle. That, along with freezing rain and snow, forced us to
amend our flight plan to...St. Louis.

Why St Louis? It was either that, or Kansas City, and the kids had been
clamoring to see the Gateway Arch for years. So, a 9 AM departure and an
awesome tailwind allowed us to touch down at Spirit of St. Louis (SUS) in
just 1:20, with the whole day still ahead of us. The flight down had been
completely uneventful, other than KC Center cutting us off of VFR flight
following as we approached St. Louis. (What is going on with ATC that
they're not handing people off anymore?) No biggy, we called up STL and
were cleared into Class Bravo, and were eventually handed off to Spirit's
Class Delta control tower.

With our mid-morning Friday arrival we had the place to ourselves, and the
folks at Thunder Aviation were cheerful and friendly. They were very
helpful setting up our engine heater electric plug-in (more on that
later), a rental car, and the pretty girl behind the desk even called one
of the line guys into the office to share his voluminous knowledge of
local eateries! When asked for a locally-owned, non-chain, all-day
breakfast place, he immediately chimed in with "MiMi's" -- and all the
heads in the FBO grunted and bobbed in unison -- so we were soon off to
find the Mother of all Breakfasts at MiMi's...

We were NOT disappointed. MiMi's is located just a few minutes from the
FBO, and is a MUST EAT AT if you're looking for breakfast near SUS. (They
have lunch and dinner, too.) With home-made corned-beef hash, home-made
stuffed (and cinnamon-raisin) French toast, and awesome portions, we
lingered over our third cup of coffee whilst discussing our weekend plans.

With the temperatures so cold, outdoor activities were off the agenda --
but going up in the Gateway Arch was something the kids had always wanted
to do, so -- since checking in at our hotel was still many hours away --
we headed downtown, map in lap and 25 cents going to the first kid who
could spot the Arch...

KSUS is NOT the closest airport to downtown -- however, we had flown into
Creve Coeur before, and felt it was time to visit a new airport. (KCPS,
St. Louis downtown, looked like another possible candidate, but its
proximity to East St Louis meant that it might be scary -- is it?)
Luckily, KSUS is right near I-64, which takes you right downtown, so we
were at the Arch lickety split.

As many of you know, I'm afraid of heights in buildings. This bizarre
phenomenon manifests itself with quickened breathing, clammy hands, and a
feeling of impending doom that makes my time spent in tall buildings
extremely uncomfortable. Despite this, I was determined to go up to the
top with my kids, and I did my best to put counter-productive thoughts out
of my mind.

Then, we were led into a large theater where we watched the documentary
movie of "the making of" the Gateway Arch -- and I was treated to 30
minutes of iron workers dangling from girders 650 feet in the air,
wrestling massive pieces of steel into position. Soon, I was nearly
hyperventilating, and desperately trying to find a face-saving way out of
going up to the top of that lowest-bidder-built contraption -- but there
was no way out. At the end of the movie it was time to get in line, and
I marched off to meet my fate...

In the mid-60s, my parents had brought me to the Arch, and I remember
staring up in awe at the then-brand-new monument to Thomas Jefferson and
the westward expansion of the U.S. We never went up in it, however (the
elevator -- half amusement park ride, half elevator -- may not have been
finished yet), so I had no idea what to expect. Incredibly, the elevator
takes you to the top of the arch inside a tiny, 5-seat egg-shaped car, so
small that I couldn't sit up straight! It goes up, then over, then up,
then over, and gives one plenty of time to contemplate how high we were
going.

Luckily, it's so uncomfortable that getting out -- even 650 feet up --
sounded pretty good. They let you out on a fairly steep stairway, and
you climb the last twenty or so steps to the observation deck. I
unsteadily approached the deck, which is lined with small windows that are
more appropriately viewed while kneeling down. (At least at my height.)
Strangely, I found this position to be utterly comfortable, both
physically and mentally, and I was able to stay up at the top until my
kids became bored with the view, and wanted to ride back down. I think
the combination of the smaller windows, and the "on-all-fours" stability
made the difference, so -- for those who have avoided the Arch due to
acrophobia -- fear not! It's a lovely view.

Then, it was off to the hotel. Mary had spent HOURS finding a place sort
of like ours, with enough room for a family to stay in comfort. The
Residence Inn Downtown was brand-spanking new, and -- at $135 per night --
was attractively priced. A 2-room suite, with 2-queen beds and a pullout
couch meant that the four of us could sleep in comfort, and we were the
very first guests to EVER stay in that suite. They were having some
growing pains (HBO wasn't working too well, sinks weren't draining quite
right, and they ran out of everything at breakfast) -- but, all in all, it
was VERY comfortable, and just minutes from everything in downtown.

Again, on recommendation from the locals, we headed off to dinner at "The
Tap Room" ( http://www.schlafly.com/brewpubs.shtml), which turned out to
be a wonderful brew pub with great food. They had a doppelbock seasonal
brew that was worth the flight to St. Louis, and a beer-cheese soup that
was as delicious as it was unhealthy! One of their employees turned
out to be a wealth of knowledge about things to do locally, and told us
that we absolutely, positively HAD to take the kids to a place called
"City Museum" -- which elicited groans from BOTH kids. (They've been
"museumed" nearly to death, I'm afraid...)

We'd never heard of it, but he was so adamant that we jumped it to the
head of our list for the next day, ahead of the Anheuser-Busch brewery
tour...

Then, it was back to the hotel for a long soak in the hot tub, and off to
bed. What a great day!

Saturday dawned the coldest EVER for that date in St. Louis. Yeesh --
some winter escape! Still, we ate at the hotel's free breakfast, which
was adequate. (They actually ran out of coffee, which is a wonderful way
to start a riot on a Saturday morning, trust me!) Then, it was off to the
"Museum."

City Museum (http://www.citymuseum.org/home.asp) is built in and old (and
gigantic) shoe factory, and is anything (and everything) BUT a traditional
museum. In fact, we were there for seven hours, and my kids can honestly
(and ecstatically) boast that they didn't learn ANYTHING in that entire
time -- at least not in the traditional sense. The museum is a rich
benefactor's LSD acid trip rendition of too-much-money meets
amazing-old-industrial-setting. The old roller conveyors, once used to
move shoes throughout the factory, have been converted to people slides.
That's right, you can slide down a multi-story roller conveyor, just,
well, because!

Several floors have been converted to authentic-looking caves, with many
nearly inaccessible places that the kids love to explore. We lost my son
in there for over an hour. There are hundred-foot-tall coils of welded
re-bar, that the kids can crawl around inside of, and you can climb inside
one of these wire-mesh tubes all the way up to...a Lear Jet. Not, one,
but TWO business jets are mounted on top of welded wire mesh-accessible
towers, along with a school bus, a trolley, and a host of other stuff.
Why? I have no idea -- but it is WAY cool.

There is also an aquarium with big, plexiglass tubes that allow you to
climb around inside the tank with sharks and giant turtles, and a circus
(with real acrobats performing), and a skateboard park, and...it went on,
and on, and on. At first we thought $72 admission for the four of us was
absurdly high, but by the time we left, we realized that this "museum" was
truly one of the most amazing places we had ever seen.

If you have kids, and you ever get to St. Louis, you HAVE to take them
there. It's that cool.

By the time we got out of there, it was too late to hit the Budweiser
tour, so we headed off to the marvelously restored Union Station for
dinner. This massive, beautiful, 100+ year old train station -- once
destined for the wrecking ball -- had been restored to its splendor and
converted to a shopping mall and top-dollar hotel. Mary and I had
visited, back when it was first re-opened, but that was "B.K." (before
kids), when we had sat in the Hyatt drinking fire-warmed benedictine and
brandies with old college friends....

Now, we were drinking diet Cokes and hunting for dinner, and were beckoned
into a barbecue joint by a huge black man wearing a greasy old apron, with
a cigarette dangling on his lips, shouting "Come and get it!" as we walked
by...

We opted for the "Family Dinner" for $30, which included a rack of ribs,
half a chicken, mashed potatoes and beans. The ribs were AWESOME, the
chicken and sides were okay, and the service was hilariously bad. But,
still, the price was right, and the old train station was a real trip.
Then, it was back to the hotel for a long hot tub and sleeping late...

Today, we slept in, almost missed breakfast, and then headed off to the
Missouri History Museum, located in Forest Park -- the site of the 1904
World's Fair. This museum (a "real", traditional museum) houses a
terrific Charles Lindbergh exhibit, and sells a wide variety of unique,
one-of-a-kind Lindbergh posters and knick-knacks, made exclusively for
them. Our Charles Lindbergh Suite has several sparsely-decorated walls
that need some "in-fill", so this museum was a must-see for us on this
trip, and the kids suffered through it with gritted teeth...

As always, I found myself fascinated with Lindbergh. They have scaled the
exhibit back a bit since we were last here (back in '02-'03, when we first
bought the hotel), but it still fills the better part of a wing, and
includes many items that you simply won't ever see anywhere else. On
display you can see the original Nazi medal that was awarded to Lindbergh
by Herman Goebbels and Adolph Hitler, right before the outbreak of World
War II. You can almost *feel* the evil emanating from it, as it lays
innocently in a display case next to the "America First" display that
outlines Lindbergh's pacifism in the face of the looming World War.

Then, later in life, there is a picture of Lindbergh literally hugging a
tree, as he playfully shows off his ecological activism. The ironies and
seeming contradictions in this one man's life are quite remarkable, but
they always reflect back to that one moment of glory, when he crossed the
Atlantic and almost single-handedly made air travel acceptable and
accessible.

Alas, I had to drag myself from the museum, after we had loaded up on
posters, prints, key chains and Christmas ornaments. There were some snow
showers predicted to move in, and Mary wanted to get off the ground
soon...so we high tailed it back to Thunder Aviation.

Atlas was still sitting right where we left him, plugged in and ready to
go. As Mary started her preflight, I reached under the nose blanket to
unplug the engine -- and felt no heat whatsoever. I traced the cord back
to the Thunder Aviation outlet, only to discover the ground-fault breaker
popped. The engine was entirely cold-soaked, and the temperatures had
dropped to near zero for our entire stay...

I pushed the breaker in, and we headed back inside, knowing that we
weren't going anywhere for at least an hour. So, the lady at the desk
made some fresh chocolate chip cookies, the kids turned on "Dallas SWAT",
and we settled back to wait while the engine heater struggled to bring
that big ol' O-540 out of the deep freeze.

1:15 later, Mary started the engine, with the JPI engine analyzer showing
41 degree oil -- just *barely* warm enough to start. As always, though,
Atlas ran like a champ, and we were soon winging our way home, after
spending a fantastic 48 hours in one of America's truly great cities!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"