The Mississippi and the Gateway to the West

Today I went up to the top of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri. It was incredible. Even just standing next to the towering stainless steel monument inspires awe and a bit of sun-blindedness. The simple design and the way it reflects the sun makes it the perfect symbolic gateway to the land believed to be the answer to everyone's dreams... It's a monument to Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase, though I don't know how many people actually know that.
The arch stands in the middle of a grassy park, but I saw the pictures. They tore down many of the old brick buildings along the waterfront (which were probably the original city) to make way for this glamorous silver tower. It's sad to me because of all the history that was lost. All they saved of the area was a church and the old courthouse from the 1800s where they tried the Dred Scott case. Don't get me wrong, the arch is amazing, and it was loads of fun to get into those little pods that make up the tram to the top and watch the spiral staircases out the tiny windows that let you see the interior structure. And the view from both sides of the observation deck are amazing. The land is so flat you can see forever in either direction. On one side you have the Mississippi River and on the opposite bank is Illinois. On the other side, behind the turquoise dome of the Old Courthouse, St. Louis stretches out into the horizon. It really is a big city. Or rather, several clusters of sky scrapers linked together by corridors of low end housing. 630 feet at the apex allows for some pretty breath-taking views.

After we left the gateway behind we drove through Kentucky to Nashville, Tennessee. While passing a lake in Kentucky I noticed some trees along the banks that looked like they were wrapped in cotton candy... Then I realized that the gauzy substance was spider-web. Being arachnophobic, this did not sit well at all and I proceeded to be very glad I was in a moving car.

At any rate, I got to Nashville without being eaten by giant bird-catching spiders, and am now enjoying the company of my friend Oleg who I first met on my first jaunt around this country in a similar manner to this. Though I'd actually known him online for a while before meeting him in person. I met him because I commented on his website.
So now I am here and have plans to run around Nashville tomorrow, looking at some museums and apparently learning to shoot (not just guns, but infrared cameras as well).

On a side note, the pictures in the Adventures of the Water Tower Robot post are in reverse order to how I meant them. But I'm too lazy to change the order now, so look at them in whatever order you like.