Hey, just so you know ... this post is now about 13 years and 10 months old. Please keep that in mind as it very well may contain broken links and/or outdated information.

Our reservations for the tram to the top of the Arch were for 8:50 so we were up and out of the hotel by 8:15. We hit up a downtown Starbucks for our morning drinks and were in the parking garage of the Gateway Arch Riverfront area by 8:30.

Wow. Like Mount Rushmore, seeing the Arch in person is a lot different than seeing it in videos or photos.

All of the park facilities (the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, the gift shop, ticket counters, etc.) are underneath the Arch itself, so we went through the security line and into the cooler underground area (it was already starting to get pretty hot). My daughter and I immediately got into line to take the tram to the top and soon were enclosed in the tiny car on our way 630 feet up. Wow, what a view.

We spent about 20 minutes marveling at the sights and then took the tram back down to ground level. The museum was now packed! I’m glad we went as early as we did. Unfortunately, we found out that our planned riverboat cruise had been canceled due to the flood level of the Mississippi River.

So we had a little extra time to check out the museum. Just like the other two national parks/monuments we had visited previously on the trip, my daughter picked up the Junior Ranger packet to earn her final badge as we walked around and read about the Louisiana Purchase, the Lewis and Clark expedition, and the general westward expansion of the United States. After listening to a presentation about the average family’s experiences on a covered wagon train out west, my daughter laughed as I likened it to our current road trip. How did the settlers survive without a GPS, iPhones, interstates, hotels, and rest areas? It really put our whole trip into perspective.

It was now about lunch time and we needed to hit the road to Atlanta. First, though, based on a suggestion from a friend, we went to Ted Drewe’s for ice cream, which was really good (nothing like ice cream for lunch!). Then it was back on the road … at this point our planned sightseeing was done and it was time to go home.

We crossed immediately into Illinois over the river, watching the Arch disappear from view behind us. Before leaving Illinois, we made a quick stop in Metropolis to check out the Superman statue (our last quirky stop of the trip, no time for Rock City this time).

Back in the car we drove through the western corner of Kentucky and then back into Tennessee. We stopped for dinner at a Red Robin just south of Nashville and soon were driving through the mountains north of Chattanooga.

We finally made it to our hotel just north of Atlanta (just a little later than expected). Tomorrow, we go home!

GPS statistics after Day 8: