We were up bright and early to start our exploration of St Louis but first we partook of the fabulous breakfast spread served in the lower Lobby and was included in the cost of our room. We had a lovely surprise when we walked into the breakfast room, there was 5 different stations. On the left the first was cold cereal, fresh fruit, yoghurt and juices, next was the hot drinks and lastly on the far end a toaster with a good selection of breads and also some pastries and muffins. On the right was the waffle station where you make your own waffles.. OMG yummy, wish I'd taken a photo of this but didn't, and lastly there was a section for hot foods, so scrambled eggs, sausage etc and also hot porridge.. very impressive and a great way to start a busy day. I had checked the weather forecast and it said -8 but feels like -11 so I had 4 layers on both top and bottom so sweltered through breakfast, Rodd on the other hand was wearing a T-Shirt so was perfectly comfortable in the breakfast room!

So tummies full back to the room to gather cameras and Rodd added some layers and we head out to see the Arch. Now you see how close it is to our hotel so it should be fairly easy to walk to however there was a lot of roadworks going on so we couldn't just walk across the road like I had planned. Never mind, I'd done my research and knew there is a Downtown Trolley which, like you find in just about every large city, does the inner city loop and was only $2 for the day. So we walked a block back towards Convention Center and luckily didn't have to wait too long before the Trolley came along, a quick ride of only a few blocks, a brisk walk in the elements and we were inside at the Arch. This is an amazing feat of engineering and well worth the visit if you ever find yourself in St Louis, we paid $14 for a trip to the top and a movie on the building of the Arch so incredibly affordable. Quick excerpt from Wikipedia :

The Gateway Arch is a 630-foot-high (192 m) monument in St. Louis, in the U.S. state of Missouri. Clad in stainless steel and built in the form of a flattened catenary arch, it is the tallest man-made monument in the United States, Missouri's tallest accessible building, and the world's tallest arch. Built as a monument to the westward expansion of the United States, it is the centerpiece of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial and has become an internationally famous symbol of St. Louis.
The Gateway Arch was designed by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen and German-American structural engineer Hannskarl Bandel in 1947. Construction began on February 12, 1963, and was completed on October 28, 1965, at a total cost of US$13 million ($97,300,000 in 2014). The monument opened to the public on June 10, 1967.

Going to the top is an experience not for the claustrophobic as you are in tiny pods that have 5 seats, going up there was only Rodd and I so not too bad but coming down we had another couple and lets just say it was ... cosy!! You can stay as long as you like at the top and wow the view is amazing. The movie was very interesting showing construction from conception to completion, hard to believe they didn't lose any men in the building given it was built in an age that didn't know about harnesses and safety. It was quite confronting watching the way those guys jumped so agilely from beam to beam with no "net".

Hard to beat that but time to move on cos we've got more to see... we jumped back on the Trolley and decided to just ride it to the end so we could thaw out a little, at the end of the line we sat for about 10 minutes while the new driver did all her checks but we didn't mind cos we were warm! On the return we got out not far from where we got on and wandered through Citygarden which is gorgeous, full of sculptures and I can just imagine how gorgeous it would be in summer. Getting cold again but have to get to Busch Stadium for the behind the scenes tour so it's "only a couple blocks, we can walk it".. hmm yes we can but Rodds foot is still an issue and it's still cold!! So we find the Stadium but it looks all locked up and nobody's home, Rodd was getting a bit tetchy (I don't blame him really cos he's been so stoic with his foot) and I was saying "I know they have the tours year round" so I whipped out my trusty iPhone (what did we ever do before them.. and google?) and got the address we were supposed to be at which turned out to just be around the corner however the direction we wanted to go was blocked off by construction with a big crane and huge dangling components so we headed off to go the long way around the block but when we'd gone 2 sides around the block it came to a dead end!!! OMG really?!! Back we trekked, we hailed down the crane driver and told him we can't possibly walk around another huge block and he let us walk through the construction zone... thank goodness!! So past them, around the corner and voila the box office to buy the tickets for the tour.. only $10pp so very affordable. Rodd was so excited being the baseball buff that he is. The tour was interesting even for a non fan like me and Rodd was beside himself that we actually got to sit in the dugout... that's apparently a big thing for a baseball fan!! Only one small annoying moment was the baby that screamed blue murder through some of the tour and mum just ignored him, I mean we've all been there but the least she could have done was leave the room with the screaming baby so the rest of us could hear the guide. She had 5 kids in tow and most of them were so polite and well behaved so I forgave her for the screamer! At one point of the tour we went into the members area, I can't remember exactly what they called it but as the tour guide was telling the story the annual tickets are $14000 for a nice padded seat and entry to this plush dining area with unlimited food and drinks...ok that's affordable, only $14000.. but then he went on to say that the stipulation is that you buy 2 annual passes, ok $28G.... not in my budget but must be some die hard fans that would come up with that... ok now here comes the deal breaker.. they only come in 10 year packages so a neat $280 thou.. yeah waayyyy outta our league but hey at least we've had at glimpse of how the other half live! These tickets are mainly bought by huge corporations so yeah, go figure!!

When we left here we walked across the street to the Metrolink Station, bought tickets and got them validated. The rail system here seems to work on an honour system, nowhere are your tickets checked on entering or leaving a station but they have signs everywhere saying if you don't have a validated ticket you will be fined. I'm guessing they have inspectors that do random checks but we never did see one! Ok so I'm a bit hungry and I have a Restaurant.com certificate for the Mahogany Grille at the Omni so we jumped off the train at 8th and Pine and walked a quick couple of blocks. It was just before 2 as we entered and I knew they shut at 2 but the waitress showed us to a table so I guess we're not too late. Rodd keeps saying he's not hungry and will share with me but I was starving so I wasn't sharing with anyone, back away from my plate buddy you're on dangerous ground .... we ordered what we thought was a moderate amount of food but when it arrived the table was covered with dishes. I did my best to conquer it and was so incredibly full by the time I pushed my not quite finished nachos away but I did manage to eat all my salad! I asked for the bill and somehow in the table clearing, bill arriving process she whipped away my wine glass that still had some wine in it!! I was devastated... I needed that last sip of wine, how rude!! I think she just wanted us to leave cos we were the only people in the place! While we were eating lunch we noticed a few snowflakes drifting down but alas they came to nothing.. I'd love to see snow! We've had enough for a bit so back on the Metrolink to Convention Center short walk and we can collapse on the bed for awhile. We also took the time to go down to the laundry and get some washing down because 11 days on the cruise means we have no clean clothes... must say here that I was quite impressed that it cost only $3 a load, that's $1 for the washing powder, $1 for the wash and $1 for the dry, bargain, we'll do 2 loads thanks!

Time to head out for the night, my original plan was to go to the 360 bar at the Hilton then down to Soulard for a night listening to music in a bar somewhere but we were both pretty exhausted from the days activities so decided to just go downstairs to Tigin Irish Pub for a few drinks and have our leftover pizza for dinner, after all we'd had a huge lunch that finished at 3pm! We perched ourselves up at a table and I started with a red wine.. Rodd had been drinking Strongbow or any cider he can find so started off with that. We had a lovely server, Jessica, that we had a chat to and discovered she gets paid $3.79 an hour!! She was flabbergasted when we told her what the same position is paid in Australia, this is something I hope most people understand when they travel to the US, tips are essential for most service oriented staff to survive, if you're in a foreign country please try to find out how things work before you go. We don't tip in Australia and I must admit when I first went to the US I felt awkward about tipping but now I do it without thinking about it.

After a few drinks Rodd started looking at the drinks list and ordered a Moscow Mule... not sure exactly what was in it but it was ginger and very alcoholic and also very yummy! We were sitting chatting, drinking, people watching oh and did I say drinking? and a chick came up and asked us if we wanted to join in the Trivia that was starting.. ummm... we suck at trivia.. no problem, it's all fun... ok.... well we called ourselves Whisky Tango Foxtrot (stolen from a team on the cruise cos we thought it was clever) and yes we sucked but wow we had such a fun night. At one point when Rodd took the answer sheet back he tried to bribe the judges with some vegemite.. didn't help our scores! The next round I took the answer sheet up and chatted a bit to the judges giving them instructions on the usage of said vegemite... after all was said and done we came last, not so surprising cos a lot of the questions were American based, but one of the judges came up to us and chatted to us for awhile and then the other one came and gave us some Guinness glasses as a reciprocal present for the vegemite. Another great night... all that's left is to go back to the room and eat our leftover cold pizza from last night (thank goodness we have a fridge in our room, they are very rare in US hotels) and fall into bed. One more full day in St Louis!