Back in October we stopped for the night in St. Louis, Missouri on our way out to New Mexico. Don't think we spent a full 24 hours in the city but we did manage to squeeze in a little exploring before getting back to racing the sun to the horizon.
The Gateway Arch was our main goal, getting to the top of it cost Kevin McCarthy his speaker's gavel but we were willing the make that sacrifice.
Definitely was worth it. You only get ten minutes at the top before they herd you back into the clothes dryer sized elevator cars. Guess that's one way to keep you focused.
Spent the rest of our short time in the city wandering around the downtown area close to the Mississippi River.
It was that nice mix of 'Gentrification In Progress' and condemned old office buildings that's always fun to shoot.
The condemned buildings all seemed to be shedding their summer coat of cannabis seltzer advertisements.
Their scruffy look befitted their down at the heel status but if you glanced upwards you could catch a glimpse of their former glory.
Makes you wonder what happened for such structures to be allowed to fall into such a state.
Give it another decade or two and they'll be properly gentrified.
St. Louis has a good bit more of a downtown area than Louisville does but there's more of a late 1800s vibe to all brick that just makes it feel older.
Except the parking garages, no matter where you're at they always seem straight out of the 70s.
Did you know that parking lot owners are the loan sharks of the real estate world?
Would it even count as a downtown if there weren't surveillance cameras everywhere?