Day 4 - Crossing the Mighty Mississippi

Paul Mullan
Sep 23, 2017
2 min read

We left Illinois this morning and headed to the Chain of Rocks Bridge that crosses the Mississippi but the volunteer who should have unlocked the gate had slept in!

Nothing much to see so we crossed the river and into the state of Missouri and her largest and important port city St Louis.

The old road weaves through some of the more dubious parts of the city and reflects the wide gap between the 'haves' and 'have nots'. There had been concerns over riots the previous weekend but our intel suggested things were quiet now so we moved on into the CBD.

The Arch towering over the central district was built in 1965 and never fails to amaze those who venture into her tiny elevators to check the view, 600 ft up in the air.

The Blueberry Cafe on the outskirts of town has a famous gathering point for many artists over many years and the owner Joe Edwards has made it his business to welcome them into his establishment.

His special relationship with Chuck Berry saw the musical genius perform 209 concerts in the Duck Room at Blueberry. Joe took time for a photo with this Kiwi crew and commented that the last high profile modern day artist to attend one of Berry's performances was New Zealand's own Lord who was mesmerised by the older artist's skill.

What was equally interesting today was the artwork on many of the shop windows right opposite the cafe. No, it wasn't some fresh approach to brightening up the street... but a direct result of the riots that saw dozens of windows smashed three days ago.

Too many in fact to have the glass replaced so soon and the resulting boards used to secure these premises were hastily painted to mask the reality that was last weekend.

Meramec Caverns were open after the huge floods in May washed them away. The groups' vote for 'Highlight of the Day' was taken out by 'nature' today as the natural stalactites and stalagmites create the most amazing formations deep inside the mountains.

The caves also provided a perfect hiding place for the notorious Jesse James once! A lessor known fact is that the owner of Meramec Caverns was the inventor of the bumper sticker, coming up with the novel idea to promote his attraction situated four miles off Route 66.

The remainder of our afternoon was spent ducking to and fro across the original road that straddles the i44 into Cuba and the Wagon Wheel, our accommodation for the night.

We were greeted by 'Gee' on a personal crusade to show the world the meaning of 'Peace' by pushing his tricycle clear across the country. Right now he's at day 119 on the road... and we're only at the close of day 4!