I’m not that good at writing, so I’ll keep it to bulleted points with ratings and short notes where applicable.
Background: I’m trying to visit every National Park in the USA. This was a short trip in September 2019 to see Gateway Arch National Park.
Flights:• LIT to STL on Southwest
- This was a paid ticket
- Little Rock Airport had no lines at security, and I passed TSA (with precheck) within seconds. You can show up here 15 minutes before your gate closes and make it with time to spare.
• STL to LGA on Southwest
- This was a paid ticket
- STL airport was a nightmare. My gate was located all the way at the end (as usual…) and I had to walk through a mile long concourse just to get there.
Hotel:• Clayton Plaza Hotel- 3/5
- I was looking for a hotel that was under $120/night, wasn’t ridiculously far from the attractions, but was close enough to the Jewish Community so that UberEats could deliver. This one fit the bill, plus they offer free airport transfers as well as local shuttle service. It wasn’t anything to write home about (especially the mistaken wakeup phone call in the wee hours of the morning), but it did the job.
Method of Transport:• MetroLink
- Overall the system was easy to navigate
• Uber
Food:• Gokul Indian Restaurant- 4/5
- I was pleasantly surprised that the food was good, especially since I’d never really done Vegan + Indian before. The soup and the dessert was meh, but the appetizer combo was delicious.
• Kohn’s Kosher Meat and Deli- 3/5
- I ordered through UberEats and was rather disappointed. I ordered a cream cheese bagel, and being from Brooklyn, I expected to get what you’d expect to get in Brooklyn… I received a toasted bagel with a small pod of cream cheese… the sweet kugel was good though.
• Café Coeur- 4/5
- I ordered a kalamata olive pie and a California sushi. The pizza was heavenly, but after that I couldn’t handle the sushi anymore so who knows…
Activities:• Gateway Arch National Park- 4/5
- Entry to the park grounds are free. I purchased tickets for the tram in advance and got $3 off the regular price with my America the Beautiful Park Pass. I’m still not sure why Trump decided to change this Monument to a National Park, but it was a nice experience. The view from the top is nice. One thing- if you’re claustrophobic beware. The elevators up the arch are tiny little boxes, no more than 4ft high. They put 5 people in each box, and the right up is 3-4 minutes.
• Old Courthouse- 4/5
- I had a one hour tour here with a ranger. It was nice hearing about the history of St. Louis.
• Missouri Botanical Gardens- 5/5
- I had a $1 discount coupon here that I found online. Magnificent gardens that made the whole trip worth it. The highlight here is the Japanese Gardens.
• Saint Louis Zoo- 2/5
- This is free, but I was disappointed. It’s rated as the No. 1 zoo in the USA, but I wasn’t very impressed.