bert425

I haven't been either! so love reading the reports. .thanks for sharing. How long was the drive from Dorney to Great Adventure? I had absolutely no idea it was so close that you could leave Dorney and still spend a good chunk of time at SFGA. . .otherwise during our trip thru Penn. a few years ago (where we ended with a few days in Philly), we would have made an effort to go to SFGA but yeah. .gotta get to SFGA.

thanks Michael. I wasn't aware there was even a policy in place! There were no signs saying NOT to take pictures, and none of the Rangers mentioned it (nor our "tour guide" when lining us up to get in the pods). weird. .but glad I was able to share. slammed busy this weekend - dealing with some family stuff, which is keeping me from focusing on anything longer than short updates. But working on the City Museum, and hope to have posted by Monday evening. in the meantime, here's the swag we got from the Gateway Arch National Park. the 1st magnet for the fridge the 2nd magnet. . which is apparently the "old" logo, before it became the National Park. nice they offered this little "magnet gift set". . perfect for my co-workers, that I could give each of them one. the T-shirt I bought. the 500 pc puzzle Nick got (he hasn't started on it yet) the logo shirt Nick got.

wow! it's kind of shocking only one person died, those injuries look serious for all. the story from the Daily Mail (that Robb linked to) calls it an "Amusement Park" and has a pic of the main gates: so it looks like it wasn't just a fun fair or carnival type set up.

Hi Boris, report above is from last week, and both Bugs & Wonder Woman were operating (although at very low capacity for Wonder Woman). Yeah, they don't keep the website updated too often - if you read back to earlier reports, you'll see I've been there when Train was operating even tho website says down. same thing with Gully Washer (rafts). I'd expect as one of the marquee rides, Wonder Woman will be operating, even if it's 1 train operations. the only rides that was "hard down" (as in not operating at ALL), last Friday was: Wave Runner (Scrambler). .and that's been down for a while, so it must be a parts issue. the website says Spinsanity is also down, but I don't believe that, as a friend who just went told me they rode it. the good news is that you'll be here in August, so Joker & DC Supervillain Swing will be open by then. recommendation: it is HOT in Texas in August. . .Like really, really hot - especially for those not used to the heat. so: - wear light colored clothing - be sure to wear a hat - make sure to put on sunscreen. - drink a lot of water thruout the day (you don't have to buy bottled water unless you want to, most food locations will give you a big cup of water free, just by asking. . . I'd recommend Sangerfest Halle, which is a "food court" style service, so lots of options to ask for water if lines are long, AND the dining area is inside/covered and air conditioned) - try to take in a show or two in the "big" theaters (Zaragoza & Rockville High) as those two are indoor theaters Fiesta has a great waterpark, but be advised it will be packed on a hot day. if you like waterparks tho, bring along a suit (they offer storage to put your stuff in for $$ but reasonable). . you can easily spend 4+ hours in the waterpark. I've noticed the big slide complex towards the main park (closest to Roadrunner Express) hasn't been operating this season thus far. Either they are going to remove it, or they just haven't had the staffing to open it yet. But even if this slide tower is down, there are lots of other waterslides in the Whitewater Bay area). have fun. but yeah, i wouldn't worry too much about the website saying a ride is down. . since they don't seem to update it super often.

^ that's because you're Canadian. you get guaranteed healthcare and Liberty to Choose your own coaster seat.

^ I can totally see it being a "boring novelty" for the locals (that tends to be the case with most Touristy or Historical things -- for example, we never go to the State Capitol building, or drive to the Alamo . . unless there's someone from out of town visiting who wants to see those things. We live in Austin, and close to San Antonio. . we know all we need to know about those things from years of being around them.. heck, there's several things about the Alamo heroes in the Bob Bullock Museum here in Austin)). my main "gripe" is that if the Museum under the Arch is not going to be all about the construction of the Arch how/what/why? and more along the lines of a History Museum (which I understand, as the site is now a designated National Park). . . I just expected more Lewis & Clark info, since they tied into the whole Western Expansion.. and the Arch is "the Gateway to the West" ya know?

^^ BWAAA-HAAA-HAAA

Great Beast pics. and as others have said. .that lady with a camera.. oy.

GREAT Galveston update (i missed it since we were on a plane to St. Louis when you posted it). So glad you commented so it popped back to the top of the page. we haven't been to Poop Deck in years, but too funny - looks (and you describe it) EXACTLY the same. glad you had a great visit. Buc-ees is really only known for 3 things: Clean restrooms Jerky (lots of varieties) Beaver Nuggets when/if you make it back to Texas, be sure to pop in to try the last two. .they make great "car snacks" while sitting stuck in I35 traffic

^ thanks Bill. it really is a great park. wonder what's up this week tho? when I went to look to see if they are calling Joker, "Joker: Carnival of Chaos" on the website, I noticed they have a bunch of rides listed as "Temporarily not operating" (including Wonder Woman & Spinsanity, among others)... that's crazy that they have so much down. still, a LOT of people go just for the waterpark area, and it's always a great time just to walk around there.

wanted to get my photo TR report up from last Friday before too much time passes - since they are apparently already starting to test Joker. this is mainly gonna be pictures, since not a whole lot to add detail wise from what I noted on the SFFT thread the other day: Look at all those cars! luckily most everyone was in waterpark. really light lines on any "dry" rides in the park. Iron Rattler back seat was 1 train wait. . so even tho was hungry for lunch, 1st stop was IR. wow.. what a difference a few weeks post opening makes. never seen a line this short at Chop Six since it came to the park. the cold Chicken salad is still good tho, and has become my "go to" lunch on the meal plan. they did a great job converting the area next to Chop Six as seating for the restaurant (both under umbrella d tables, and under a covered barn structure). get some good views of Iron Rattler's Barrel Roll from here too while eating. decided that since it was a light day, would just go around riding pretty much everything I like.. so went back to Roadrunner for a walk on ride. Followed by another stop at Iron Rattler. .this time next to last row, which took maybe 8 minutes wait. Haven't been on Gully Washer since maybe 2017, and not since they finished the Re-furb, so even tho it was probably a 20 minute wait (water ride) decided to go for it (I had brought a plastic bag for my stuff in case the waterfall was on) Lovely queue with some nice views of the "short-ish" but wet ride I be chillin. . was advertising some Ice Cream or something, I think, with a cut out to put ones face in. . .I just stood in front. really nice thing about the Gully Washer line? Some GREAT views of Iron Rattler. dive off the canyon into the tunnel turnaround from 1st drop, into the Barrel Roll. see? (you can't really see it from the entrance line, but sure can see it from the exit) Joker really changes the skyline of the park, from both outside, and from inside. from the Skyscreamer queue. Joker was testing the lights, but wasn't able to get a good pic, since it was so bright today. the funhouse queue for Joker pendulum ride the ride is complete. . looks like they are pretty much done with assembly, just working on the concrete / queue area still. a bit dark, but in the mouth is the classic version of the Joker painted on the wall Loop de Loop! the re-theme of Whirlygig to DC Supervillains Swing is coming along quickly now too. they have the sign up. and a lot of work done on it already. tho I think they still have some more design to add on the "stalk" lots of bad guys represented here water dummies are out. . looks like they are gonna start testing soon (I've heard they have since started). sad face. . one of the replacement guns on Pirates of the Deep Sea sadder face - really? one of the Old Scooby Doo Poltergeist line was lengthy enough that i skipped it for now, so after walk on rides on Pandemonium, Scream, Hustler, and Fireball, I went over to the Carousel. despite there literally being only 5 other people in line? one of the teenagers hopped on the white bunny with the two different color eyes that I always ride here. So I just went to the Brown Bunny. not really anyone else riding. but hey, they didn't know that i try to always ride the Bowie Bunny at least got to ride by a bear. still no line when our cycle ended, so walked around, got back on, and got to ride the White Bunny. Went into Sangerfest Halle to get a drink, and noticed the murals on the walls by the restroom. I'd never noticed these before, and got a chuckle out of the police man pointing to the mens room (shades of George Michael!!!). and the "lady of the evening" hanging out by the Womens. just what is Six Flags trying to say here? LOL the A/C seemed to be out in Bugs Bunny Whitewater Rapids, and they have this sign in the main entrance way (not sure if it's just for the AC, or if they are re-doing the scenes? or if pulling them out). this room is lit up, at least, but nothing Bugs Bunny figure-wise in it. Water ride, so a bit of a line here. yep.. the waterfall was on! at least they still (currently) have Yosemite riding the dragon at the start of the flume itself. I see you Screaming Eagle. Decided to ride Superman next, so crossed the bridge, and into a 10 minute (maybe) wait. Get a good view of the park/Joker from the stairs up. and the Joker Ride itself from the exit ramps. after a few more rides here and there, I headed towards Iron Rattler for another lap (terrible pic this time, so didn't get) and then took the train to get some more pics of Joker. this is the side that faces the 1604 Loop. . gonna look great at night. Once again, I've still never had a funnel cake - despite being willing to get one! Because this was the line at the stand in Los Festivales. LOL. .almost the longest line I saw all day (I had a roasted ear of corn instead). peeked into Goliath's line and found complete walk on, so grabbed a couple of laps. got off at the Spassburg station, and headed back to Poltergeist. It was a short line, but still took a bit, since Poltergeist has such oddball restraints. I was talking to the folks behind me in line, who were noting how slow the line was moving and i said to them that the loading takes so long because the restraints don't consistently restrict only certain body types. I went on to note that i had never been on the ride, where at least 1 person had to be walked from the train. we finally got into the station, and we got the back two rows. The train that was loading took a long time as they were checking restraints. .and sure enough, a girl with large thighs (a slim girl tho), had to leave the train as the restraint wouldn't lock. Once it finally launched and cycled back, we were on. and our train had TWO folks that had to walk: a slim, but very tall guy, and a guy that had a big beer belly. I really wish they would put a test seat out front, but then again? we all know it would make no difference, as folks would just walk right by it and still have the same issues. Maybe the trains just need a re-design? Still my favorite ride in the park tho. since everything was pulling short lines, went to check out Wonder Woman, and found this sign out front. I mean, at least they are telling people, if not being specific. The line looked really short, but there was a steady flow of folks coming OUT the entrance. So I went in, and saw that two of the trains were in the maintenance shed - one in pieces, and one being worked on by people. so the ride only was running 1 train. hence the short line, was moving REALLY slowly. I decided I'll just ride it next time and moved onto the boardwalk.

thanks, appreciate the compliment, and glad you're enjoying! the Pods *are* very small, and as i noted I was SO glad the "doors" are glass, so even tho there's nothing to look at while going up (missed opportunity for artwork, or sculptures, or just pictures of assembly).. at least it's not as claustrophobic as I could have been. Was worried at first, because at the "station" when the doors close, you're looking at metal. Didn't really realize until we started to move that the doors on the pod were glass, and we were just seeing the metal doors from the station. the ride itself up to the top was about 3 1/2-4 minutes, so it went pretty fast. as you can see tho, the top is not exactly "roomy". however, once you're at the top? you can go down from either North or South Trams - you don't have to just stay on the "side" you came up on.

oh no. . . hope everyone is ok, tho from that tweet thread, it sounds like some are noting injuries (tho no broken bones).

^ CONGRATS! I'm about 7 lbs from my goal. . and struggling (giving in to temptations these past couple of weeks due to stress).. but will get there eventually. good on you tho, I loved the Ampersand turn around on Fury (night rides were amazing).. but I like I305 too

I've loved following along, and seeing all the fantastic pics. and agree 100% on your comments about Robb, Elissa, the Mods here, and the entire TPR community as a whole (including Kristen too, as her joy in some of the pics that are shared is fantastic). So glad I found this place years ago!

ooooooooo I like that!

karma truly is a wonderful thing sometimes.

Its no secret I've written tons of reports so at this point it probably seems like old hat but believe me every time its totally daunting before I start and then once its done I swear them off for good. Then I go to a park and take a bunch of photos for the next report that I don't want to write. Easiest way to just get it done? Go through your photos, pick the ones you want (because trip reports where the posters posts every single stupid picture they took are f*cking dumb) and then just start to tell us the story that goes along with the photos. You don't have to get super in depth like some of us do, just tell us about your day. Helps if you make if funny or otherwise entertaining but after doing a few dozen of them thats the easiest way for me to make it happen. Same . . but LOL, believe it or not, I edit the heck out of pics before I post. Sometimes only a 3rd of the pics I take make it into a TR sometimes, there's just a lot you wanna share! but agree with everything you say, it's always daunting (especially for those of us who sometimes get too detailed). . but go for it RM, love seeing TRs.

y'all are too fast for me. . LOL. I had to go back in after saving and finish loading the comments under the back end of the pics. (no spoilers. . but .. yes!).

Day 2: part 2 the Gateway Arch/National Park/Museum We headed across the street and into the National Park, proper (tho it seems the Courthouse is part of the National Park as well). Fairly recently (mid 2018), the whole area became designated as a National Park (the Gateway Arch National Park), along with the name change, a lot of work was done at the site itself, creating a beautiful underground visitor’s center that includes a museum. Not one I was very impressed with content wise, but the museum *looks* fantastic. The area the Arch is in used to be called the “Jefferson National Expansion Memorial”, as the Arch sits near the start of the famed Lewis and Clark Expedition. Really wish there was more Lewis and Clark history noted in the museum here, since that’s was a huge part of what opened up the Expansion to the West. They get a mention, but not into great detail, which I would have found incredibly interesting. Of course, the Arch itself is in a unique location: right along the Mississippi River on the Missouri Side, overlooking Illinois across the river. Yes, the river is muddy and sorta ugly. . and on the Illinois Side, it’s just industrial stuff (LOL). . but still, the location is pretty cool. No wonder the nickname for the Arch is: “the Gateway to the West” Anyways the main entrance is now buried under the main arch, facing the Old Courthouse – apparently one used to enter by going thru one of the arc legs that put you into the area with the theater to see a documentary film, the gift shop, and the café. But with the investment at the site, one now enters thru nicely designed sunken area, and you walk thru the very open space museum before you get to the Original visitor’s area. this is from the street entrance, getting a look at the new Visitor's center entrance below the Arch. the picture everyone has to get if going to the St. Louis Arch. trying to get a "good" angle, so staring off into the distance it's a Manhole cover! But it was a pretty cool looking manhole cover, so I stopped to snap a picture of it. gathered around the central plaza of the Visitor's Center were a couple of groups of Jehova's Witnesses (with the same carts/pamphlets the groups the prior day at the zoo had.. . so I politely said hello and told them "good morning"), as well as stands selling Ice Cream and frozen custard (the first apparently due to the Ice Cream cone being invented in St. Louis, and the latter due to a locally famous frozen custard, that we saw advertised everywhere) as well as lemonade, popcorn, and giant pretzels. We had just had breakfast buffet at the hotel earlier this morning, so we didn't get to sample any of the (way) overpriced tourist gouging "treat" stands here. Getting closer to the Visitor Center entrance. nicely landscaped - if a little overgrown around the central fountain. But I suppose that's to be expected with all the rain they had gotten recently. As recently as two days before our visit! soo pretty. I don't recall it being this overcast, and it was clear in our pics we took not even 2 hours later from the top of the arch. So I'm wondering if my phone just snaps the clouds looking darker than they actually were. regardless, I really like how this picture came out. once again, the pic any visitor to the Arch must take. (Nick has light sensitive lenses, so they got dark when the sun came out. .LOL). Really glad I had pre-purchased our tickets online, as the ticket lines were insane if we had planned to buy on site (walk up times were late afternoon at the earliest, and the line was pretty long). It didn’t help that the prior day, they had to close the South Trams due to water leaking into the site from all the rain – and the North Tram was down for scheduled maintenance. So anyone who had come Friday 6/7? Was SOL in terms of getting to the top of the arch. our Pre-bought passes were for the North Tram anyways, which had been scheduled to be operating on Saturday 6/8 (of course, otherwise they wouldn’t have sold them online).. . so I wasn’t worried the evening before when we saw on the news that the trams were both down. But it did make for long lines at the ticket counters. the line for Security on the other side was also really long, but that one moved pretty quickly – if you consider ~20 minutes, “quickly” I’m not sure why so many people were getting confused, as it really is EXACTLY like going thru TSA security at the airport: Metal Detectors, X-ray machine with bins to put your stuff in - no need to take off shoes, but belts, phones, keys, etc had to go thru the X-ray. yet. . . people were confused. Sheesh. once you get thru Security, there’s an Escalator to go down further underground (or there’s stairs that can be taken, which let you see a pretty impressive Stone Map of the surrounding area. Something most folks seem to be missing, as they all take the Escalator. I had the map to myself to go take a pic since I went down the stairs). Speaking of said map:. . . here it is from the top of the stairs. and here it is closer when I went out on it to take a picture up close. Really well done/well laid stonework. it's a shame so many folks just walk right by it, not even realizing it's there! by the Ticket purchase counter, they have an example of what the Trams are like that you ride in to get to the top. If I had to describe it, I'd say it's like riding in Mork's egg, from "Mork & Mindy" tho they squeeze 5 seats in there. We were going up regardless, but it was nice to be able to get a preview of how "snug" it was gonna be.. tho had more room when it was just me in there! Nick got in too entering into the main area, at the bottom of the Escalators. This is the entrance to the Museum area, and thru there would be the Movie, Gift Shop, Cafe, and trams to the top areas. Behind me are some gigantic projection screens, which - while kind of neat -- are simply a huge waste of space. it looks like maybe they had planned the museum to be larger, and then just decided to shrink it down? Not sure what happened here, but these 4 giant screens - that didn't really add anything to the place - seemed like an unfinished art exhibition. it was just weird. We walked thru the museum area (set up as an "open concept" space) and decided to peruse the gift shop, do a restroom break, and just relax for the 30 minutes until our film time. it was a good use of the time, as when we were leaving, we knew exactly what we wanted from the gift shop, and didn't have to go thru the whole thing. . .and I didn't think it was enough time to do the Museum first (turned out that we would have). . but I didn't want to be rushed, so we just planned to do the museum after the film/top of the arch trip. the Gift shop was a little strange - it was like one of those old Howard Johnson's Gift Shops: a little bit of everything, with lots of crap you didn't need and couldn't imagine anyone would buy - plus some upscale jewelry, some really nice mugs/shirts/puzzles/magnets, and $1200 Thomas Jefferson Busts. (oh, how I wish I had seen someone buying and schlepping around one of those!!). it also had a large section in the back with an area selling Fresh Made Fudge, Rock Candy, and Candy Sticks. We saw several "touristy" places selling these things too. . is Fudge and Rock Candy/Candy Sticks a St. Louis thing? created there? famous there? no idea, and we never really found out. but hell, I thought Laura Brannigan was from there, since we kept hearing "Gloria" - and didn't find out until the airport on the way home that it was because that's the St. Louis Blues' song. . .LOL we also saw tons of older, religious folks wearing shirts and hats with Jesus on them, and sayings like "Only G-d Can Plan Parenthood" I was a little confused by how many were in the Arch, but then remembered that the Arch had been ground zero earlier in the week for the Abortion Clinic Protests (Missouri was trying to shut down the one clinic remaining in the state that offered the procedure, and it seems they were successful a week or so later). . but at the time we visited, it still was not decided yet. So I guess some of the "Anti" protestors decided to take in the sights while in the area? (we didn't see this kind of logo-ry anywhere else on our trip). I behaved and didn't say anything, or even speak to them. didn't even try to get a sneak picture of anyone - tho was sorely tempted by the old white guy in neon orange camouflage with a shirt that said "I didn't fight in Vietnam so you could kill your babies!" Anyways, across from the Gift Shop, was an interactive display that showed the live shot from the cameras at the top of the Arch. it was actually a really good picture quality, tho as you can see in my picture of it, it became a bit grainy. I guess this was set up for those who grumbled that it's too expensive to get to the top of the arch and "not fair" to charge folks. . . so they could look at these screens to see what the view was. after getting the feel for the gift shop, and deciding what we'd go back for, we went over to the other side of the center, and sat down in the seats to wait for our film time. I had a nice conversation with the Ranger stationed outside the film area, and he told me a bit about this Mural/Relief that takes up the entire wall on this side of the Visitor Center. I just focused on the central image, but on either side extending out to the ends of the walls, are other famous landmarks/parks - showing the comparison of the height of the Arch to them. Including such things as the Washington Monument, California Redwoods, the Statue of Liberty, and Mt. Rushmore. We chatted about how many of the landmarks on the wall Nick & I had been to, and what is next on our list from the options here on the wall (likely a 1-2 day trip to see Mt. Rushmore in the next several years). and then before we knew it, it was time for our 45 minute film, and the ranger opened the gate and herded the 40 or so folks that were waiting in the chairs into the theater. was the film the best thing I've ever seen? no, not at all. does it succeed as a "documentary"? no, not at all. it gives almost no background on the "why" the arch was built, or who/how those that designed it got involved with the project. (I said to Nick - "hmm. . I guess that part is covered in the Museum itself, and they expect you to go thru that before you come to the film". . so we'll get a better understanding after. I was mostly incorrect on that. .but we did get a bit more info that I was looking for once we got into the Museum itself later) So. . what did the movie show us? and was it worth it to see? Yes. It does basically show you how the Arch was built, and the struggles they had creating something of that height that was freestanding. and even as a non-engineer, I found it incredibly interesting. so yeah, I'd say worth a viewing. especially if you get a combo ticket that cuts down on the price. After the film was done, we filed out of the theater, and headed next door to the North Tram, to get ready for our ride to the top. Something was going on with the North Tram video screens, and there was a big backup of a line because the times being shown on the screen were well past the current time. (it was like being at a discount airline counter at the airport. .LOL). but the rangers were still really efficient and got thru the lines quickly and got us divided into "groups" i'm not sure exactly what they were trying to accomplish here, as the "tour guide" doesn't really do much: - they hand out cards 1-5 for each of the cars of the funicular (she asked if anyone had mobility issues, and I raised my hand for Nick, and she put us in car #1, as that one is at the top of the stairs, so less walking to get to the cars). -- she walks you down a corridor that has some "theming" such as a crane, and a piece of the arch material, and to a blue screen where they snap a photo (I declined, as I had seen the photos they were selling out in front of the gift shop to folks coming down from the top. they LOOKED like someone standing in front of a badly photoshopped screen . .and they were asking $25 (I think) for them. and people were buying them! I told the photog why we were going to skip posing, and she laughed and said "yeah. .they're bad") -- then they put you into a "holding pen" right next to where the photog is, she asks some questions about who here remembers the 60's. . and how we're gonna bring you back to them: and there's a 6-7 minute projection show on the walls on both sides, with stuff from the late 60's (including the Supremes, the Monkeys, the Beatles, Flower Power, etc). Not sure exactly what the hell the point of this was, except maybe to provide a little more bang for the buck - since it costs to go up to the top? But really. . they didn't explain anything, or say why we were seeing what we were seeing. and once it was done? the Tour Gide brought us down the stairs, to the loading doors of the funicular - which were tiny little sliding doors in the center of larger metal doors. She told us to line up by our numbered door (that matched our boarding pass). to make sure those getting off had room to get out. and to watch our heads getting in, as those are metal doors, and are NOT padded. and that was the extent of our Guide. (I did ask her about getting back down, and she told me to ask the Ranger at the top when loading, if we can get vehicle 1) this pic is Nick and I reacting to the multi-media presentation. Here we are waiting for the funicular to arrive from the top. That long stairwell in the back, leads up to one of the legs of the Arch. This is the old entry way into the Arch, before they opened the new Visitor Center in 2018 here we are, squeezed tightly. we only had 4 in our "egg". . us and another man with a cane and his son. Luckily, the "egg" has a clear door, so it's no as terribly claustrophobic as it could have been. but really, seems a huge waste that they dont' have anything inside the structure to really look at while going up! no signs, or art. . nothing. Just seems a missed opportunity. Guess I got spoiled by the things to look at while riding the elevator to the top of the Washington Monument. having nothing to really look at, of course didn't stop me from taking pictures since we were in Car 1, I could put my phone up to the grate in the ceiling, and get some pics of the cables pulling us up the interior of the Arch. Looking down on the Illinois side, you can see how high the water is in the Mississippi. those are safety cones, blocking off the waterfront.. a big chunk of it is under water. yeah.. that's exactly why they cancelled our riverboat cruise. you can't even get to the riverboat station - all the pathways are under water from all the rain the area had gotten. not a whole lot to see from this side of the Arch, but we are looking at Illinois over the Mississippi River here. Moving to the other side of the Arch windows, into Missouri, one gets a fantastic view of the Old Courthouse, and downtown St. Louis. looking a bit over to the left, also get a nice view of Busch Stadium (where the Cardinals play) Further back on the left, just out of view behind the buildings, is the arena where the St. Louis Blues played game 6 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs while we were in town. Closer view of Busch Stadium. and another. . folks are laughing in this picture (and the next one), because that kid in the Black shirt was attempting to photo bomb every time I held my camera up to get a pic when the center of the crowd would open up a little bit. either peace sign, or silly face. I finally turned around to him and said loudly: "you know I can see you behind me in my camera, right? I don't know you, I didn't ask you to be in my picture, and I'd appreciate if you stop trying to screw up my photo? Thank you" and one of the Rangers at the top gave me a thumbs up. He was horribly embarrassed, but the group he was with thought it was funny. and another. it's rather narrow up there, and reminded me VERY much of the Stature of Liberty's Crown viewing area. Nick and I at the top of the St. Louis Arch. we stayed up there for about 10 minutes.. really, there's not a whole lot to look at. but took a few more pics of Downtown St. Louis our hotel is somewhere behind the buildings there on the right. and then I discovered that if I put my phone up directly against the glass while standing in the dead center of the Arch - and take a picture directly down, I can get a pretty neat picture of both legs of the arch. this one is out of the windows on the Missouri Side. at the top is the curve of the Visitor Center entrance St Louis Arch Stats. it's a learning experience Noted! Also Noted! now putting the phone up against the glass on the Illinois side. capturing both legs, and you can again see how high the river is out of it's banks. Coming back from our trip to the top, we went back into the gift shop to purchase what we had picked out earlier. then headed into the Museum portion. as I alluded to earlier, I like the LOOK of the museum, even if I think the Design is absolutely awful. it's an "open floor plan" with wide spaces - a central aisle from the escalators, to the "Visitor Center" and then on either side, 3 half/moon "melon balls" that contain exhibits. So basically six areas of exhibits. in theory each 1/2 moon is a year range, and you follow each one as the timeline progresses. . but it's horribly arranged, and apparently you're supposed to do one, then go across the hallway to the next set of year - tho most (including us), just went to the next area on the same side. so the history was all mixed up, and it was hard to follow. it wasn't really interesting history either. I was wanting to know all about the Arch, and there *IS* one section (the very last half moon gallery) that focuses on the Arch, how it was built, who was involved, etc. but the vast majority of the Museum is about the history of the area, and how St. Louis was such a busy port, and why the city is/was so important. Lots of beaver skins to touch, and things to look thru - I guess they were trying to make it more interactive for the little ones??? and a lot of things involving Indians, settlers, and multiple displays of "coins / medals" used for trading. I mean, I get it. .it's a History Museum. . but we were really kind of bored. the only portion that didn't bore us terribly, was the section on the actual Arch (since we were *under* the arch), and that's what I really wanted to learn all about. there wasn't really much about Louis and Clark either - just a cursory mention. The museum really seemed to be set up for casual observers, and/or school groups. Cant' say I feel the need to ever go back to it again to take another look. that said: some set-pieces were impressive: the old stagecoach, the model of the Port of St Louis, the train (and Canoe) photo opportunities, the model of the City Docks area, the TeePee display. but overall, the museum was a disappointment, and I guess if I really wanted to learn I'd go to an actual History Museum. I liked this bronze model in the main hallway of the Museum. another small model - you can see the "half moon" galleries of the museum on either side, behind it in this picture. I'm standing by the Gift Shop/Arch Trams, and looking towards the Escalator entrance/exit. from the "Arch" section of the museum: a model of the Funiculars we had ridden in, showing how they work within the arch structure. a large model of Downtown St. Louis -- you pushed a button and it ran thru the history of the area, with spotlights illuminating the section it was talking about. Photo op on the back of a "train". . . . I'll always stop for a photo op (didn't get the canoe tho, as we were ready to take a picture - I even said to Nick, there's no one in the canoe, let's get a picture"..that's when a big group with little kids bee-lined for it and climbed all over it. I wan't interested enough in a picture to hang around and wait until they were done, so we just moved on. . LOL). History.. . mostly boring. . but there was History present in the other galleries. Including this gigantic model of Port of St. Louis. heading back up the escalators, and out after finishing our time at the Arch. can get some great views from the inside looking out at the old Courthouse. I really do like the design of the new center. . just think the Museum/layout is not making the best use of space. you can tell it's fairly new - still nice and clean in there. Stepping out of the center back into the day, and able to get a nice pic of the Arch. again, my phone seems to have darkened the clouds a bit. even able to get. . . ARTSY !!! Thought this building was interesting. No idea what it is, but liked it, so took a picture of it. We weren't quite ready to head to the Trolley Stop yet, so decided to head towards the river to get a little closer to the "legs" the walkways, while paved, were still a little uneven and fairly steep.. . so I told Nick we didn't need to go ALL the way to the legs (as we had learned from Washington Monument pics: when you get right up to the base, you lose the scale anyways). . but let's get closer a bit to get a few more pics. so this is a few hundred feet away from the left leg of the arch. again. . phone made clouds look so dark! to give a good idea of how cramped it is at the top of the arch (and a nice view of the curve), here's a selfie. Walking back to the main Visitor Center entrance, stopped to take one last pic at the Gateway Arch National Park. we headed back and went towards the Trolley Stop at the Hyatt.. and passed along a pair of newlyweds and the whole bridal party (who were apparently shooting their wedding pictures at the Arch) - and had catered the wedding party with Jason's Deli. LOL. .I even thought to myself, "why are they all holding Jason's Deli boxes. . surely that's not sandwiches in there.. must be birdseed or flowers or something and they are just using the boxes to transport". . but as we walked by, and I told them Congrats!, some of the party popped open the boxes. . . .and started chowing down on Jason's Deli. fancy schmantzy. (they weren't the only newlyweds we saw that day either! there was another big wedding party at City Museum taking pictures there as well). we went to the bus stop and sat to wait for the Trolley, and got to see how Austin isn't the only city plagued by these idiotic scooters! A group of guys were using one to haul big cases of beer to the Hyatt (I guess for the Blues playoff game the next night), except they had apparently decided not to pay for the scooter - just use it to move the beer. So the scooter was loudly blaring an alarm at them every time they tried to roll it. We watched this shaking our heads for a couple of minutes, then the guys just gave up, grabbed the beer, and carried it the rest of the way to the Hyatt. leaving the scooter, right where it was: in the middle of the sidewalk. ugh. I got up and picked it up and moved it to the side of the building. if idiots can't act like a human? they shoudn't be allowed to use the scooters. very soon after that, the Trolley came around the corner, and we used our all day pass to hop on to head to our hotel. we were going to City Museum for the rest of the day, but had to stop at the Hotel 1st. 1) to drop off the souvenirs we had bought. and 2) to put on long pants. I had read the "pro tips" on the City Museum page, and no was was I not going to wear long pants so I could enjoy the slides!

The Vegas Cirque shows all have extremely high production costs. They wouldn't see a return on investment for at least 5 years, since the theaters are all custom built to the show. Hence why Broadway shows and residencies are easier...they're just touring acts easy to move in and out. This is a HUGE reason that "Absinthe" has been so mega-successful in their tent. Production costs are low while still being extremely impressive, and they can rotate out acts per show if they want. In fact, they already do, almost! Not changing acts between the two nightly shows, but they rotate acts daily. If you go to Absinthe on a Saturday night and again on Tuesday night there's going to be about 50% new acts you didn't see. I live here and I've seen the show 10+ times and each time is as good as the last! doesn't hurt that "Absinthe" is a fantastic show. . seen it a few times at this point, and loved it every time (and like you said, only about a 3rd of the acts were the same each time. . tho the Host/puppet schtick NEVER gets old).

^ those are the BEST reactions, aren't they?

yeah.. should have been themed to phone booths!

They actually are doing that way, sort of. remember, it's a big tapestry type artwork showing a long, continuous scene. As you can see in the picture, she's working only midway in the open "viewing area" (there's still a LOT of unrestored mural on the roll to the right) but a nice section in the center of the two rolls is viewable. Everything to the right of her is unrestored, and the restored portions are to the left. They "roll" it a little every time, to reveal a little more of the unrestored artwork, and roll the restored portions little by little onto the roll at the left. make sense? yeah, if a hotel offers them, they typically are an upcharge choice. I always go for a corner room, if we're staying in a downtown area hotel that offers them. more often than not, we stay at a Courtyard Marriott, and in those, every room is the same (those tend to be rectangular buildings, as opposed to square buildings that have the corner rooms). we spent about 30 minutes or so in the Courthouse (the artifact gallery on the first floor is rather small, but if we did the tour, that would have been about an hour on it's own). it's more of a whispering spot, from what I observed: The ranger stood in the center of the rotunda, and whispered to someone who was standing on the 2nd floor balcony (he had sent her up there). Was still pretty neat, even without hearing the reasoning behind it -- which we would have gotten if we'd taken the free tour. But as noted, that was about an hour, and we just didn't have the time to join it. . especially since Nick really couldn't make it to the 2nd floor - where the Courtrooms were. yeah. . . marriage, right? but hey, got my steps in! was hoping to get arch up this weekend.. but life got in the way still working on it tho!

I would guess the GL ZacSpin is going in the trash