St Louis PIREP -- Long

Four days off, decent flying weather, and a desire to escape winter. Does
this sound like aviation heaven, or what?

Well, two out of three ain't bad. Our plan to fly to the Hangar Hotel in
Texas (which was 81 degrees last week) was shot down by a giant arctic cold
front that rammed 10 degree temperatures all the way down to the Texas
panhandle. That, along with freezing rain and snow, forced us to amend our
flight plan to...St. Louis.

Why St Louis? It was either that, or Kansas City, and the kids had been
clamoring to see the Gateway Arch for years. So, a 9 AM departure and an
awesome tailwind allowed us to touch down at Spirit of St. Louis (SUS) in
just 1:20, with the whole day still ahead of us. The flight down had been
completely uneventful, other than KC Center cutting us off of VFR flight
following as we approached St. Louis. (What is going on with ATC that
they're not handing people off anymore?) No biggy, we called up STL and
were cleared into Class Bravo, and were eventually handed off to Spirit's
Class Delta control tower.

With our mid-morning Friday arrival we had the place to ourselves, and the
folks at Thunder Aviation were cheerful and friendly. They were very
helpful setting up our engine heater electric plug-in (more on that later),
a rental car, and the pretty girl behind the desk even called one of the
line guys into the office to share his voluminous knowledge of local
eateries! When asked for a locally-owned, non-chain, all-day breakfast
place, he immediately chimed in with "MiMi's" -- and all the heads in the
FBO grunted and bobbed in unison -- so we were soon off to find the Mother
of all Breakfasts at MiMi's...

We were NOT disappointed. MiMi's is located just a few minutes from the
FBO, and is a MUST EAT AT if you're looking for breakfast near SUS. (They
have lunch and dinner, too.) With home-made corned-beef hash, home-made
stuffed (and cinnamon-raisin) French toast, and awesome portions, we
lingered over our third cup of coffee whilst discussing our weekend plans.

With the temperatures so cold, outdoor activities were off the agenda -- but
going up in the Gateway Arch was something the kids had always wanted to do,
so -- since checking in at our hotel was still many hours away -- we headed
downtown, map in lap and 25 cents going to the first kid who could spot the
Arch...

KSUS is NOT the closest airport to downtown -- however, we had flown into
Creve Coeur before, and felt it was time to visit a new airport. (KCPS, St.
Louis downtown, looked like another possible candidate, but its proximity to
East St Louis meant that it might be scary -- is it?) Luckily, KSUS is
right near I-64, which takes you right downtown, so we were at the Arch
lickety split.

As many of you know, I'm afraid of heights in buildings. This bizarre
phenomenon manifests itself with quickened breathing, clammy hands, and a
feeling of impending doom that makes my time spent in tall buildings
extremely uncomfortable. Despite this, I was determined to go up to the top
with my kids, and I did my best to put counter-productive thoughts out of my
mind.

Then, we were led into a large theater where we watched the documentary
movie of "the making of" the Gateway Arch -- and I was treated to 30 minutes
of iron workers dangling from girders 650 feet in the air, wrestling massive
pieces of steel into position. Soon, I was nearly hyperventilating, and
desperately trying to find a face-saving way out of going up to the top of
that lowest-bidder-built contraption -- but there was no way out. At the
end of the movie it was time to get in line, and I marched off to meet my
fate...

In the mid-60s, my parents had brought me to the Arch, and I remember
staring up in awe at the then-brand-new monument to Thomas Jefferson and the
westward expansion of the U.S. We never went up in it, however (the
elevator -- half amusement park ride, half elevator -- may not have been
finished yet), so I had no idea what to expect. Incredibly, the elevator
takes you to the top of the arch inside a tiny, 5-seat egg-shaped car, so
small that I couldn't sit up straight! It goes up, then over, then up,
then over, and gives one plenty of time to contemplate how high we were
going.

Luckily, it's so uncomfortable that getting out -- even 650 feet up --
sounded pretty good. They let you out on a fairly steep stairway, and you
climb the last twenty or so steps to the observation deck. I unsteadily
approached the deck, which is lined with small windows that are more
appropriately viewed while kneeling down. (At least at my height.)
Strangely, I found this position to be utterly comfortable, both physically
and mentally, and I was able to stay up at the top until my kids became
bored with the view, and wanted to ride back down. I think the
combination of the smaller windows, and the "on-all-fours" stability made
the difference, so -- for those who have avoided the Arch due to
acrophobia -- fear not! It's a lovely view.

Then, it was off to the hotel. Mary had spent HOURS finding a place sort of
like ours, with enough room for a family to stay in comfort. The Residence
Inn Downtown was brand-spanking new, and -- at $135 per night -- was
attractively priced. A 2-room suite, with 2-queen beds and a pullout couch
meant that the four of us could sleep in comfort, and we were the very first
guests to EVER stay in that suite. They were having some growing pains
(HBO wasn't working too well, sinks weren't draining quite right, and they
ran out of everything at breakfast) -- but, all in all, it was VERY
comfortable, and just minutes from everything in downtown.

Again, on recommendation from the locals, we headed off to dinner at "The
Tap Room" ( http://www.schlafly.com/brewpubs.shtml), which turned out to be
a wonderful brew pub with great food. They had a doppelbock seasonal brew
that was worth the flight to St. Louis, and a beer-cheese soup that was as
delicious as it was unhealthy! One of their employees turned out to be a
wealth of knowledge about things to do locally, and told us that we
absolutely, positively HAD to take the kids to a place called "City
Museum" -- which elicited groans from BOTH kids. (They've been "museumed"
nearly to death, I'm afraid...)

We'd never heard of it, but he was so adamant that we jumped it to the head
of our list for the next day, ahead of the Anheuser-Busch brewery tour...

Then, it was back to the hotel for a long soak in the hot tub, and off to
bed. What a great day!

Saturday dawned the coldest EVER for that date in St. Louis. Yeesh -- some
winter escape! Still, we ate at the hotel's free breakfast, which was
adequate. (They actually ran out of coffee, which is a wonderful way to
start a riot on a Saturday morning, trust me!) Then, it was off to the
"Museum."

City Museum (http://www.citymuseum.org/home.asp) is built in and old (and
gigantic) shoe factory, and is anything (and everything) BUT a traditional
museum. In fact, we were there for seven hours, and my kids can honestly
(and ecstatically) boast that they didn't learn ANYTHING in that entire
time -- at least not in the traditional sense. The museum is a rich
benefactor's LSD acid trip rendition of too-much-money meets
amazing-old-industrial-setting. The old roller conveyors, once used to
move shoes throughout the factory, have been converted to people slides.
That's right, you can slide down a multi-story roller conveyor, just, well,
because!

Several floors have been converted to authentic-looking caves, with many
nearly inaccessible places that the kids love to explore. We lost my son in
there for over an hour. There are hundred-foot-tall coils of welded
re-bar, that the kids can crawl around inside of, and you can climb inside
one of these wire-mesh tubes all the way up to...a Lear Jet. Not, one, but
TWO business jets are mounted on top of welded wire mesh-accessible towers,
along with a school bus, a trolley, and a host of other stuff. Why? I
have no idea -- but it is WAY cool.

There is also an aquarium with big, plexiglass tubes that allow you to climb
around inside the tank with sharks and giant turtles, and a circus (with
real acrobats performing), and a skateboard park, and...it went on, and on,
and on. At first we thought $72 admission for the four of us was absurdly
high, but by the time we left, we realized that this "museum" was truly one
of the most amazing places we had ever seen.

If you have kids, and you ever get to St. Louis, you HAVE to take them
there. It's that cool.

By the time we got out of there, it was too late to hit the Budweiser tour,
so we headed off to the marvelously restored Union Station for dinner.
This massive, beautiful, 100+ year old train station -- once destined for
the wrecking ball -- had been restored to its splendor and converted to a
shopping mall and top-dollar hotel. Mary and I had visited, back when it
was first re-opened, but that was "B.K." (before kids), when we had sat in
the Hyatt drinking fire-warmed benedictine and brandies with old college
friends....

Now, we were drinking diet Cokes and hunting for dinner, and were beckoned
into a barbecue joint by a huge black man wearing a greasy old apron, with a
cigarette dangling on his lips, shouting "Come and get it!" as we walked
by...

We opted for the "Family Dinner" for $30, which included a rack of ribs,
half a chicken, mashed potatoes and beans. The ribs were AWESOME, the
chicken and sides were okay, and the service was hilariously bad. But,
still, the price was right, and the old train station was a real trip.
Then, it was back to the hotel for a long hot tub and sleeping late...

Today, we slept in, almost missed breakfast, and then headed off to the
Missouri History Museum, located in Forest Park -- the site of the 1904
World's Fair. This museum (a "real", traditional museum) houses a terrific
Charles Lindbergh exhibit, and sells a wide variety of unique, one-of-a-kind
Lindbergh posters and knick-knacks, made exclusively for them. Our Charles
Lindbergh Suite has several sparsely-decorated walls that need some
"in-fill", so this museum was a must-see for us on this trip, and the kids
suffered through it with gritted teeth...

As always, I found myself fascinated with Lindbergh. They have scaled the
exhibit back a bit since we were last here (back in '02-'03, when we first
bought the hotel), but it still fills the better part of a wing, and
includes many items that you simply won't ever see anywhere else. On
display you can see the original Nazi medal that was awarded to Lindbergh by
Herman Goebbels and Adolph Hitler, right before the outbreak of World War
II. You can almost *feel* the evil emanating from it, as it lays
innocently in a display case next to the "America First" display that
outlines Lindbergh's pacifism in the face of the looming World War.

Then, later in life, there is a picture of Lindbergh literally hugging a
tree, as he playfully shows off his ecological activism. The ironies and
seeming contradictions in this one man's life are quite remarkable, but they
always reflect back to that one moment of glory, when he crossed the
Atlantic and almost single-handedly made air travel acceptable and
accessible.

Alas, I had to drag myself from the museum, after we had loaded up on
posters, prints, key chains and Christmas ornaments. There were some snow
showers predicted to move in, and Mary wanted to get off the ground
soon...so we high tailed it back to Thunder Aviation.

Atlas was still sitting right where we left him, plugged in and ready to go.
As Mary started her preflight, I reached under the nose blanket to unplug
the engine -- and felt no heat whatsoever. I traced the cord back to the
Thunder Aviation outlet, only to discover the ground-fault breaker popped.
The engine was entirely cold-soaked, and the temperatures had dropped to
near zero for our entire stay...

I pushed the breaker in, and we headed back inside, knowing that we weren't
going anywhere for at least an hour. So, the lady at the desk made some
fresh chocolate chip cookies, the kids turned on "Dallas SWAT", and we
settled back to wait while the engine heater struggled to bring that big ol'
O-540 out of the deep freeze.

1:15 later, Mary started the engine, with the JPI engine analyzer showing 41
degree oil -- just *barely* warm enough to start. As always, though, Atlas
ran like a champ, and we were soon winging our way home, after spending a
fantastic 48 hours in one of America's truly great cities!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"