October 28, 2020 - St. Louis Arch and Crown Candy

At this time last year we were at an RV Rally for the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta.  The fiesta had been on my bucket list for a number of years. I signed up to crew on a balloon and met fellow crew members, Tom and Jane. They live fulltime in their motorhome and travel around the country all year long. Over the course of the week at the balloon fiesta we spent a lot of time with them and have stayed in touch. They were headed from Montana to Nashville to visit their son and grandkids before heading to Florida for the winter and stopped here in their motorhome and spent a few days. We had a good time visiting and playing "Pegs and Joker". They taught us how to play "Canasta". 

Tuesday evening Kelly had the idea of painting pumpkins. We bought some pumpkins and had a great time painting them. We then lined them up on the counter and sent pictures to our grandkids to have them pick the winners.  Here is a picture of our efforts.

My granddaughter, Violet, picked mine as the winner. It was the one on the far left. She liked the hair and the blue eyes. Jane's granddaughter picked hers as the winner. It was the one in the middle. We put three pumpkins on our porch and Tom and Jane took the other two to their grandkids.

It has been raining ever since Tom and Jane arrived. In fact they drove in snow for two days from Montana to get here. For them the rain was a welcome relief. It is nerve-wracking to drive in snow in a motorhome. They had never been to St. Louis and had never seen the Arch so yesterday we headed up there. Kelly and I hadn't been inside for over thirty years so we were anxious to go as well. The entire grounds have been re-done since we were last there. Here is a picture as we approached with all the trees in the foreground.

We had extra time before our ride to the top so we bought tickets to see the movie the on the construction of the Arch. It is quite an engineering feat. It cost $13 million to build which would be $200 million today. Here is Kelly in the theater social distancing. The four of us were the only ones to watch the video at that showing. (It pays to come early.)

Here is a selfie of us waiting to board our capsule to the top.

Here is a picture of the other three in the capsule waiting for lift off to the top. (Tom picked up a couple of souvenirs for the grandkids.) 

Here are a couple of pictures from the top. Because of Covid we could only stay at the top for ten minutes. The St. Louis skyline has changed a lot since we were last up there with a new football stadium, new baseball stadium, and new Arch grounds.

Looking over the river to the East side it has not changed much other than the addition of the Casino Queen. (The yellow building complex.)

After our time at the Arch we went into the Old Cathedral which adjoins the Arch grounds. Here are two pictures of the inside. It had all been painted a different color inside since we were last there and was quite beautiful.

We then headed out of downtown to North St. Louis to have lunch at Crown Candy. Crown Candy has been in business since 1913 and has weathered the neighborhood going down and fortunately it is now coming back. My mom as a young girl went there when she had a few pennies for candy or for a malt. The company was doing quite well until Covid hit and has been really struggling to stay open these past months. We wanted to patronize it and give Tom and Jane a little flavor of an old St. Louis neighborhood. We had a great lunch. Here is a picture of the inside with the original wooden booths. (The plexiglass and plastic dividers have been recently added.)

Jane had one of their famous malts with her lunch. I had the Killer Bacon Sandwich. It literally had bacon an inch thick on it. I couldn't eat it all and gave part to Tom who loves bacon.  Kelly had tomato soup and a cheese sandwich. Kelly could only eat half of her cheese sandwich. Tom and Jane split a soup and sandwich. It was all delicious. From there we headed back to the Interstate. On the way down St. Louis Avenue we passed a house that my grandmother ran as a boarding house when my mom was a teenager.  Sadly has been in major disrepair for many years and is in the process of being torn down. Here is a picture. It was truly a magnificent home at one time.

When we got back to Perryville no one was hungry for supper so we just relaxed and played a couple of games of Canasta.  This morning Kelly and I prepared a big breakfast and then Tom and Jane headed for Nashville, Tennessee. Hopefully by the end of today the rain will be over and they will have good weather while there for the next three weeks. We hope to catch up with them again in Florida this winter.

The new tires came in for Marge so I take her in tomorrow to get them mounted. Other than loading our clothes and food she will be ready to head South for the winter.