Thanks all!
Day 5
I spent most of the day wandering downtown St. Louis. There's so much potential down here.
This is the hotel I stayed at
These are the windows at the Arch's observation deck
St. Louis Union Station
Hotel inside Union Station's old train shed
Then I headed to the Grand Center Arts District. I really enjoyed this area. It seems well preserved and had a few of the best looking buildings I saw in StL
St. Louis Masonic Temple. Such a cool building
Next I went to Central West End, mainly to check out the new One Hundred tower. I underestimated how photogenic this neighborhood would be and regret not spending more time there. I'm sure I'll be back in the future.
Then I went to check out Clayton and University City.
Then I went back to St. Louis where I checked out Laclede's Landing before heading back to the hotel.
Day 6
First thing I did on this day was take a drive through East St. Louis, across the Mississippi from St. Louis in Illinois
Near the river in Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park is a observation deck called the Mississippi River Overlook which has great views of downtown StL
My goal on this day was to check out
Cairo, Illinois.
Cairo has been plagued by racial unrest, economic decline and flooding for decades and is often referred to as a modern day ghost town. The population peaked at 15,203 in the 1920 census and is currently about 2,000.
On the way to Cairo I first stopped in the rural community of Perryville, Missouri, to get food and then decided to visit their downtown area
Then I stopped in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, a little city on the Mississippi
After crossing the Mississippi in Cape Girardeau I came across a sign for a scenic overlook in the town of Thebes, Illinois, where some guy was burning brush along the river
It seemed like the town was originally along the river but had mostly moved up onto the bluff, leaving a lot of vacant land and unmaintained streets near the river
When I got to Cairo I first went downtown, the majority of which has been demolished.
The grass here used to be filled with downtown buildings
A lot of the terrazzo flooring remained at the former entrances to storefronts
Taking a peek inside the Gem
Historic flood levels on the town's levee
Then I headed back to the StL area. With plenty of daylight left I stopped at
Cahokia Mounds. Hundreds of years ago this was the largest native settlement north of Mesoamerica. Cahokia is an Illinois state park and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its history is fascinating and I highly recommend you visit if you're ever in the area.
This is referred to as Monks Mound, though we don't actually know what it was called historically because the Mississippian people who lived here didn't have a written language. Its the largest earthen mound in North America.
This is just the first set of stairs. It really doesn't translate in photos how massive this thing is.
When I got to the top there was a girl sitting there holding a gecko, pretty much the last thing I was expecting to see, lol. She said she couldn't leave it in the car because it was too hot.
There's a couple other mounds before the tree line here. Cahokia historically included 120 mounds total. Only about 80 still remain inside the park.
Monks Mound included some nice views of nearby skylines
Downtown Clayton
The park also includes a museum with artifacts found at the site
The residents of Cahokia were known to trade with other groups as far away as the Great Lakes and the Gulf Coast. These shells are obviously not local.
Scale model of Monks Mound
To be continued...
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