St Louis PIREP -- Long

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"

Jay,

Glad you enjoyed your stay in my fair city - and no, your probably
don't want to fly in to St. Louis Downtown, especially if you just plan
to rent a car and go sightseeing. One wrong turn and you will be in a
very, very wrong part of town! East St. Louis has big metal shields on
each side of the highways that run though it, not to keep road noise
down for those that live there, but to keep stray bullets from hitting
motorists. I've lived here my entire life, and I truly wish I was
making that up.

Schlafly is a definite must-see when in town, and if you ever get a
chance to come back through I'd also recommend checking out our art
museum - despite St. Louis not being really well known for it, the
locals consider the art museum to be much more interesting that the
history museum. They litterally have gobs of stuff jammed in there.

Another place that's great for cheap eats is Reynolds Roadhouse on
Dorsett (out in the burbs'). It's been there for about 80 years or so
(my grandfather used to eat there, when it was in the middle of a corn
field, on his way to his job at a local truck farm). Regardless, its an
old-fashioned greasy spoon (emphasis on the greasy) thats cheap, fast,
good, and open for breakfast and lunch.

Glad you enjoyed your stay!

Regards,
Bryan Porter

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"

Better to visit St. Louis when it is cold than on a 110
degree summer heat wave. You can dress to stay warm, but
you can't cool off when outside.

As for Lindbergh, you should read his War Diary, as a
civilian working for Henry Ford as a tech rep, he flew
combat in the Pacific and if I remember the details, would
have been an Ace. He also was a war criminal and if the
Japanese had captured him he would have be executed, since
he was not in the military. Like a lot of people before
December 7, 1941, he was against the USA joining the war in
Europe. After Pearl Harbor he tried to re-up and was banned
by FDR. Henry Ford hired him to get the aircraft production
lines going.


--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFI,A&P

--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.
some support
http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/secondamendment2.htm
See http://www.fija.org/ more about your rights and duties.


"John Doe" wrote in message
nk.net...
| 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"
|
|
|

I don't understand. Latley the crime rate in east St. Louis has fallen
due to the fact there is nothing left to steal and no one left to shoot.

LOL


wrote in message
oups.com...
|I don't understand. Latley the crime rate in east St. Louis
has fallen
| due to the fact there is nothing left to steal and no one
left to shoot.
|

Schlafly is a definite must-see when in town

Absolutely! Although their beer was outstanding, what made that brew-pub
so special was their hired help. Everyone went WAY out of their way to be
helpful to us, and it's obvious that they were all very proud of their city
and their restaurant.

The only other place I've seen this attitude to such a degree is here in
Iowa City, to be honest. When people love living in an area, it is
reflected in everything they do -- and the good folks at Schafly's have that
in spades.

and if you ever get a
chance to come back through I'd also recommend checking out our art
museum - despite St. Louis not being really well known for it, the
locals consider the art museum to be much more interesting that the
history museum. They literally have gobs of stuff jammed in there.

We want to see ALL of Forest Park, on a nice, warm day. I don't know if
I'll get the kids through an art museum, but everything else looks
fantastic. And, since it's only 1:30 away from home, I suspect we'll be
doing some day-trips in the summer, when it stays light till 9 PM .

Glad you enjoyed your stay in my fair city - and no, your probably
don't want to fly in to St. Louis Downtown, especially if you just plan
to rent a car and go sightseeing. One wrong turn and you will be in a
very, very wrong part of town! East St. Louis has big metal shields on
each side of the highways that run though it, not to keep road noise
down for those that live there, but to keep stray bullets from hitting
motorists. I've lived here my entire life, and I truly wish I was
making that up.

Sorry to hear it, Bryan -- I know what it's like to watch your hometown be
destroyed from within. Racine, WI, was a wonderful place to grow up, until
the gangs from Chicago and Milwaukee decided to set up shop. Mary and I
were sooo glad to get our kids out of those schools -- and they weren't
nearly as bad as East St. Louis.

I forgot to mention that we visited the old court house, which stands in the
shadow of the Arch. A very interesting place in its own right, and worth
wandering through if you're in the neighborhood. (It's the site where the
Dred Scott case was heard...)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

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.

I think we will land there, next time we do a day trip to St. Louis. It's
just too handy!

Thanks for the info...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

As for Lindbergh, you should read his War Diary, as a
civilian working for Henry Ford as a tech rep, he flew
combat in the Pacific and if I remember the details, would
have been an Ace. He also was a war criminal and if the
Japanese had captured him he would have be executed, since
he was not in the military.

This is covered quite well in Martin Caidin's outstanding book about the
P-38 Lightning, "Fork-Tailed Devil."

Lindbergh was just an amazing man, living in an amazing time.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

I've landed at Downtown airport a number of times as well, and it is a short
taxi ride to the hotels, etc.

The FBO is just like any other airport's, although the ride from the airport
to the city was through a wasteland. The scenery reminded me of the early
Mel Gibson movie with the Tina Turner music (I forget the name, sorry)