Gateway to the West

WENTZVILLE, MISSOURI: The westward march continued today as I rolled into Indianapolis at quarter 'til noon. I walked around the downtown in search of a suitable place to view the World Cup soccer match, and finally settled on a Champps sports bar. Big TV's and generous portions had drawn many other fans to the bar, and it was pretty packed until we started losing. I was hoping a "U-S-A, U-S-A" chant might break out, but there was little cause for adulation as the Czechs beat the Americans 3-0. Still, I was still glad I had stopped, because I got the chance to walk around downtown Indianapolis. It's a nice business district they have, and the state house and War Memorial were the sort of nice civic sculpture one expects to find in a state capital. It was like I had imagined a pleasant seat of business and government for a state, and there it was. There were even a few bums thrown in for verisimilitude, but not so many as to be tacky.

After that, it was back on to the highway. I thought that my long lunch of soccer and a patty melt would have put me behind schedule, but as I crossed the Illinois state line, I found that the time zone shift had granted me an extra hour. This left time to visit Vandalia, the historic end point of the National Road and the former state capital of Illinois. Vandalia is still banking on the fact that it used to be the capital, and sure enough the building is still there. The rest of the downtown is sort of run-down and sketchy, so I just drove in a big circle and got back on the highway. I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't there.

This brief detour behind me, I drove to the Gateway to the West, St. Louis. The highway merged with two or three others and deposited me at a government parking garage near the Gateway Arch. I parked, and went to take in this best-known symbol of Missouri. And, wow, is it big. I mean, you see pictures, and it's even on the Missouri state quarter, but when standing there, it's quite impressive. I had to walk across the street to get a picture.

I tried to find I-70 west again, inadvertantly re-crossing the Mississippi a couple more times. Eventually I sorted it out, and stopped at the first hotel with the wireless. So, here we are. Stay tuned: I hope to find the world's largest something or other pretty soon.