During the summer I spend a lot of my time playing softball and this year the coed team I play with was able to qualify for nationals after placing 3rd in the state tournament. What does this mean for you? You get to see some cool pictures taken while we were visiting the Gateway Arch.

Background on the tournament location: We played in Alton, IL which doesn’t really mean a whole lot in itself, but what was exciting (at least for me) is that Alton Brown of Good Eats and Iron Chef fame actually visited this city while he was filming his newest season of “Feasting on Asphalt.” Along with seeing the same attractions around town that made it into his show, my team even ate at the local bar that he featured during the episode, Fast Eddies Bon Air. 

What was also nice about Alton, the city, not person, is that it’s only about 45 minutes away from St. Louis; so we spent half a day roaming around the Gateway Arch. 

The first thing you realize about the Arch is that you really can’t tell how big it is until you see it in person. It measures 630 feet tall as well as 630 feet wide at the base. It truly is a very largepiece of U.S. history. I was also surprised to learn that the skin of the Arch was made out of sheets of stainless steel.

A note for anyone who may be the slightest bit claustrophobic, they call what you ride up to the top of the Arch in a “tram” all the way up until it comes time to actually enter this so called “tram,” and then they call it what it is, a “capsule.” I actually had to lean forwards so my head wouldn’t hit the top of the capsule.

When we were buying our tickets it’s called a tram, on the brochures we were looking at, same thing; tram. But all of a sudden we’re waiting in line to get on the tram and above the door it says “capsule.” We really didn’t think much ofit until the doors opened and five people exit what you could consider to be a clown car on it’s best day. The ride up and down felt like being in an airplane.

Outside of the size of our capsule the ride up was smooth and the view from the top was exhilarating. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

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As you’ve already noticed, I updated and changed the theme for this blog. Thank you for your patience as I make the transition from the old to the new and improved.

I’m making this transition on the fly so you may notice that the theme is not completely finished for a day or two. I appreciate your patience with this as well.

I believe the new theme will make the posts easier to read and the three column layout will make things easier for future growth.

Note: This theme was created for John Jantsch and his Duct Tape Marketing Blog.

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