This morning we woke up to clear blue skies… a chance to get to what we missed yesterday. But first, we met with cousin Susan and part of her family for brunch. Thus began a frustrating morning. The restaurant where we were to meet her is a seven minute drive, but!! This is the 4th of July weekend and the city had its parade down Market Street. As we approached Market Street, we found all the cross streets blocked by police vehicles. We asked a couple of officers how we could get to our destination which is across the street from Busch Stadium. The instructions provided by the police officers sent us around in circles and we finally wound up on the Interstate and took it to our destination… total travel time was over 30 minutes.
Next frustration… I wanted to get back to the hotel before heading back to Cahokia. Guess what… no way without going back to New York and turning around. After some more bad advice from police officers, we decided to go to Cahokia. Because the nearest Interstate entrance that would take us across the Mississippi was blocked, we had to go quite bit west of downtown so that we could go east. Eventually we made it to Cahokia.
We parked next to Monks Mound and I walked 100 feet up the stairs to get to the top of the mound. Susie did not join me because of her knee. I finally got to see the view from the highest point in Cahokia.
After leaving we went back to the hotel… the streets were finally open. I left Susie in the hotel and walked to the Gateway Arch. I spent about twenty minutes taking pictures and headed back to the hotel. With crowds in the area of the Arch I didn’t even try to get into the Arch and ride to the top… maybe next time.
In the evening we met cousin Susan and her daughter Lauren and granddaughters for dinner. We had a great time getting to know our newfound cousins in St Louis.