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The Arch in St Louis was one of our main stops. The formal name is the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, but to Malena it was just the Arch...the place that Percy Jackson fought in The Lightning Thief. She was so excited to go here! The Arch is amazing, it is actually 630 ft high by 630 feet wide, even though it looks like it is higher than it is wide. The Arch is a catenary curve, which makes it the most structurally sound of the arch shapes. You can actually go up in the Arch, which many people do not know. It is very high, and was not the most pleasant experience for Malena, especially since she was so looking forward to it! The elevators not only go up, but they also go sideways. They are shaped like the egg Mork from Ork travelled to Earth in. These same elevator systems have been in operation for 30 years. When you are going up, you can actually see the inner structure through windows at the bottom of the elevator. Some of us chose not to look. |
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630 feet up, may not seem very high, but it is very...very high. The Arch is strange to walk in because the floors are slanted downward, and arched upward at the same time. It is very hard to get vertigo under control. Malena started experience of vertigo at the top, and it tainted her whole experience of the Arch. :( Poor thing—takes after her mother that way. I did not like it at all, but once I was back on solid ground I was glad I went up. The views were incredible. It was a perfect day, and my favorite was seeing the shadow on the ground below us. However, at the end of the day, I was VERY glad to be back on solid ground!
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THIS SERIOUSLY FLIPPED ME OUT. A TRAP DOOR IN THE FLOOR OF THE ARCH. |