Ports of Call - USA - Missouri - Saint Louis
Most visitors to St. Louis satisfy their wanderlust along the world’s most fabled highway – Route 66. Others arrive in leisurely fashion on a Mississippi riverboat, tieing up under the shimmering Gateway Arch, the city's most famous landmark.
At the Museum of Westward Expansion beneath the Arch, visitors can learn how folks moved by Conestoga wagons instead of mini-vans or view the ribbon of modern roadways stretching out below from the 630-foot-high viewing platform at the top of the Arch.
Whichever way visitors arrive, they begin their “66” adventure at its St. Louis starting point: The Old Chain of Rocks Bridge. The mile-long span was the original Route 66 crossing from Illinois into Missouri.
Down the road, the Museum of Transportation’s collection of more than 300 trains, planes and vintage automobiles will put you into overdrive. At Route 66 State Park, a former roadhouse is now a free museum with ephemera and exhibits about the Mother Road’s travel heydays.
The oldest “66” tourist attraction remains the coolest. It’s always 60 degrees inside Meramec Caverns. Nicknamed “America’s Cave,” the amazing natural phenomenon served as a hideout for Missouri outlaws Jesse and Frank James. The cave’s awesome interior is five stories high.
The family entertainment mecca of Branson is off the Mother Road and Lebanon, Missouri, is home to the Route 66 Museum and Research Center.
Photo: Courtesy Majestic America Line
Main attractions in St Louis, Missouri include:
Anheuser-Busch Center
Black World History Museum
Daniel Boone Home & Boonesfield Village
Cahokia Courthouse State Historic Site
Casinos
Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis (New Cathedral)
St. Louis Toy Museum
First Missouri State Capitol State Historic Site
Gateway Arch-Jefferson National Expansion Memorial
Gateway Arch Riverboats
Gateway Classic Cars, Antiques & Treasures
Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site (White Haven)
Scott Joplin House State Historic Site
Lewis & Clark State Historic Site
St. Louis Children's Museum
Mastodon State Historic Site
Meramec Caverns
Museum of Westward Expansion
NASCAR SpeedPark
Old Chain of Rocks Bridge
Route 66 State Park
Saint Louis Science Center
Saint Louis Zoo
Six Flags St. Louis