Day 2: Ohio to St. Louis
Dayton, Ohio—St. Louis, Missouri
We got up around 8:15 A.M. as Alicia was leaving. We left Scott's (he was still at work) and planned to get a cheap breakfast somewhere but never found anything, so we just ate stuff out of the car. We had a lot of food in the car: generic cheerios, bread, peanut butter, jelly, crackers, and granola bars. Did I mention generic cheerios?
We wanted to see Cincinnati so we cruised down I-675 and then to I-75. Construction on this road slowed the pace down and it was morning rush too. Gotta hate that Cinci rush-hour! Finally got to the city and its skyline. Not terribly exciting, a typical Ohio city. I'm finding they really all look the same. They all have about the same number of buildings and all are built in similar styles. They all look like they were built around the same time too. The architecture reminds me of the RCA (now GE) building in New York City, scaled down a bit of course.
Before long, we were on a bridge crossing the Ohio River again and going into Covington, Kentucky. Stayed on I-75 and then picked up I-275 west, the local beltway, toward Indiana and US 50. Crossing the Ohio again, we were in Indiana and turned west on US 50 to start the scenic part of the trip today. The banks of the Ohio are very industrial, power plants everywhere. There was one that we could see from a bridge with a huge cooling tower and below it a man fishing on the wide, lazy Ohio. We were on US 50 until Aurora, IN where we turned south on IN 56, which follows the Ohio River. This is a designated scenic route so my expectations were high. The road hugged the river for quite a distance but then suddenly we found ourselves among all these hairpin turns and going up a hill. They have hills in Indiana? Yes, even ski areas. We eventually made it to the top and onto a plateau where there were a few towns and houses. Many tobacco farms in this area and, of course, corn. The towns up top were Aberdeen, Center Square, Mount Sterling, and East Enterprise.
It was in East Enterprise that we passed a cookout in the center of town (the town was only about 2 or 3 blocks long and less than a block wide on either side of the street). We cruised by it and then reconsidered the offer: a hamburger, chips, and a coke for $1.00, can't be beat. So we drove back to get some lunch. I talked to the women working the grill. This woman was interesting, an older woman, short, had a few teeth missing. She was bitchin' about how hot it was next to the grill while she was cooking, smoking, and keepin' the kids out of the street all at once. We got our lunch and sat down next to an abandoned building. I asked the woman what people do around here. She replied that most people farm tobacco and corn, and continued to explain that this was a big town - it had a bank, a post office, and a volunteer fire department, all of which were so close one could throw a stone through their windows even with my unsound aim. This little cookout is to benefit the fire department. They didn't have a police force, they used the county's (Switzerland County). It was funny, whenever they ran out of food all they had to do was walk over to the grocery store across the small street to get more. We told them we were from out of town; they weren't too surprised. There were about 5 or 10 people there and everyone who drove by waved or stopped to talk. We said goodbye and continued on our merry way.
We started down toward the Ohio River again off the plateau and into the town of Vevay, IN. Passed through Madison, a sizable city with an old fashioned look, and many small towns and, of course, more power plants. The larger towns have something in common out here, they all seem to have a city hall that is similar, with a large, dome-like structure on top made out of wood. They are very distinctive. Madison was a typical small town untouched by the urbanization that I see in the small towns out east. There were clean, wide streets for parking and a lot of large, old trees for shade. The next big towns were Scottsburg and Salem. Many of the towns we are able to pass through in a matter of seconds. At Paoli, IN we turned on US 150 which later joins up with US 50. The land was still somewhat mountainous, okay, hilly, but we were driving away from the river so I expected the land would soon change. Passed through the Hoosier National Forest, nothing too impressive here. Other towns on our journey towards Illinois were Schoals, Loogootee, Washington, and Vincennes, IN on the Illinois border.
Crossed the Wabash River into Illinois where the hills began to disappear and everything was suddenly flat, straight, and boring. Too much farming. Not much to report from these parts. We were now driving through a flatness that we hadn't experienced before. The heat was reflecting off the distant pavement which is why people drive with their lights on out here. God, I'd hate to live out here. One interesting observation: there were these old bridges that crossed over creeks and paralleled the more modern bridges we crossed on. I suspect they were part of the old US 50 and the once state-of-the-art network of roads that connected the coasts before interstates came along. These were nice looking bridges, bridges that had some thought put into them architecturally, unlike the bridges they build today. This was the only source of interest along this throughway of the past. Some of the towns we passed through were Lawrenceville, Olney, and Clay City in Clay County, and again Salem (but this time in Illinois), an interstate town near I-57. What is an interstate town, you ask? A town at an interstate exit where one can choose from eight fast food joints, two-dozen 24-hour gas stations, and towering signs for each of these establishments can be seen at least five miles outside of town, ten with the flat terrain found here. Don't get me wrong, at times an interstate town has its benefits and is just what one is looking for but, more often than not, this is not a desirable destination.
The St. Louis skyline.
Continued on US 50 till IL 127, which we took north to hook up with I-70. IL 127 was desolate, flat, and completely straight. We pushed toward St. Louis and my friend Dwayne's place on I-70 and began to see the skyline. We passed right next to this hill which I thought looked like an American Indian mound. We found out later that it was the Cahokia Mounds State Historical Site. Three interstates merge into the bridge that crosses the Mississippi River so traffic started to backup in East St. Louis, which at least allowed us to snap a picture of the St. Louis skyline.
Went on I-64 / US 40 to the outer part of the city where we turned in and tried to find Dwayne's house. We drove around for a bit and finally found his house after retracing our steps a bit. We went to go call him and finally got inside around 6:30 P.M. We decided to get a bite to eat; Dwayne wanted it to be something that said St. Louis. We hopped on the Metro train and went downtown to Union Station. This was a very clean, indoor/outdoor mall where there were fountains and jazz bands playing under a partially covered roof. Inside was a mall filled with people. We looked in a National Park store and ate at some chili place. We had a spunky waitress who was able to take our order by memory and was able to remember all the sides and options we requested. She was good at boisterously yelling across the restaurant whatever she wanted or needed. Chili and eggs are a big thing here, doesn't make a lot of sense to me, I passed on that. I complimented her on the water and she told me to tell my friends about the place and asked me if I wanted a job there. I told her my friends probably would not make the long trip just for the water. We moved on to the old part of the station which was reminiscent of Union Station in DC. The ceiling is high and dark and the structure is very old.
We left the station and boarded the Metro again for the Gateway Arch. We walked down toward the river by the old Amtrak station. Saw the many gambling boats on the Mississippi, which were quite drab. The least they could have done was to make them aesthetically pleasing. Not like a Disney production or a Las Vegas nightmare, but something that's not a burden to the senses. Right now they resemble floating boxes where they have maximized their space in order to fit the highest number of people, it certainly does not add to the noble history behind the Great Mississippi. By the Mississippi are cobblestone bricks that just merge into the river. Dwayne showed us where the flood line was in the great floods last summer; where we were standing would have been about 20 feet under water. We made our way up to the Arch which is actually the first national park we visited, the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. There is an underground museum beneath the Arch.
| Height | 630 feet (192 m)—63 stories |
|---|---|
| Span | 630 feet |
| Foundation | 60 feet deep |
| Weight | 43,000 tons |
| Sway | Up to 1 inch in 20 mi/hr wind |
| Built | 1963-1965 |
Keep in mind that the Statue of Liberty is only 305 feet and the Washington Monument is 555 feet high. Below, in the Museum of Westward Expansion, is an entire museum devoted to all facets of the expansion, from the Louisiana Purchase to the American Indian Experience to the Lewis & Clark Expedition but we had no time to visit. To the west of the Arch is the Old Courthouse where the Dred Scott case was heard and the history of St. Louis is commemorated. You remember the Dred Scott case - 1857, blacks were denied citizenship, the Missouri Compromise was voided, and, some would say, it was one of the causes of the Civil War. We did not go into the courthouse, but I would have liked to. The Mississippi, which runs beside the Arch, flows at a sluggish pace of three miles per hour and is only 12 to 15 feet deep. This is certainly not its widest part.
We had to be back to meet another friend of Dwayne's who was in town for the evening. As we were coming out of the visitors center under the Arch we heard booms. We emerged from the tunnel to see brilliant fireworks illuminating the sky. Nobody seemed to know the reason for the fireworks display that night, but, no complaints here, they were beautiful, lighting up the dusk sky, the Arch, and the skyscrapers. For some reason these fireworks seemed to mark a wonderful beginning to the trip; sort of acted as a preview to the unexpected things that we would soon experience on our travels.
We were meeting a bunch of Dwayne's friends at an ice cream place (situated on historical US 66) which I can't remember the name of, but it is one of the most popular landmarks in town. We finally made it to the ice cream place after going to Becky's house (one of Dwayne's friends), then to Becky's Grandmother's house. The place was packed, tons of people there and virtually no one at the Baskin Robbins next door. We (Dwayne, Me, Andy, Becky, and the engaged couple who are moving to Pittsburgh) were all going back home and his friends invited us to watch a movie at their house but we decided to go back to Dwayne's and hang out. The three of us talked for a while but Dwayne had to get up early to go to church, so we went to bed around 1 A.M.
