Today, after all these years living in St. Louis, we finally made the “Journey to the Top” of the Arch!

It’s an interesting experience. Even with having pre-ordered tickets, we did a lot of waiting in line. Fortunately, there are things to look at while you wait:

There were even a few hands-on activities…the children really loved challenging each other on this giant hanging scale:

Then you get down to the tram boarding area…I couldn’t believe how small the doors were!

Which makes sense, since the doors lead to a tiny car just like this (yes, five people have to cram in there)!

When you get to the top, they remind you just how high up you are:

We looked across the Mississippi River to see our home state of Illinois first:

Everything below looks so small when you’re 630 feet up!

There’s even a step up that allows you to angle yourself to look STRAIGHT DOWN:

And on the other side, you see downtown St. Louis:

Nothing rivals the view that’s straight ahead, though!

Of course, once you’re back on solid ground, you have to look up, and marvel at where you were!

And check out the “Cakeway to the West” installation, as long as you’re there!

I’m so glad we finally made this trip…I just can’t figure out what took us so long!