A Day in the Park: My Time in St Louis

As you may be able to tell from the trip stats page, I'm a bit behind on my posts. I started writing this one while camping at Fairview Park in Casey, IL, so I'll cover through that stop in this post, then write a separate one for the rest of leg 1 to keep the length manageable. 

I had a scare when I pulled out of the Super 8 lot in Owensboro, KY. My bike started stalling in neutral and sporadically surging in second gear. These were the same issues I had from October through April and I was struck by the realization that I was potentially about to find myself stranded in the middle of nowhere 100+ miles away from the closest mechanic familiar with my model of bike. I was able to keep getting the bike restarted enough times to limp into a gas station, then held my breath after adding a bottle of fuel injector cleaner to the fuel tank. It stalled again the first time I revved the throttle in neutral, but after that, I let it run in neutral for a few minutes in neutral and the idle seemed to stabilize. After that, I cautiously drove it around town, and after 10-15 minutes of stop and start traffic with no stalling, I deemed it safe to depart for St. Louis. Luckily, I did not run into any more mechanical issues with the bike ... at least until I hit Cincinnati again (we'll cover that in the next post). 

After crossing over the Ohio River to get back into Indiana, I found myself following the river on a short stretch of the Ohio River Scenic Byway through the town of Newburgh (just east of Evansville). The weather and views were great, so I stopped at a park on the edge of town to stretch my legs and met a man from England and his sister from Illinois who were in town because their other brother had recently passed.

The downriver view from US Lock 47 - built in 1928. This lock was replaced approximately 50 years ago by an automated one a few miles upriver. Fun fact: The Ohio River lock system's sole purpose is to maintain water levels to ensure navigability of the river; they are not designed to prevent flooding (as you may have been able to deduce from the mud deposits on the concrete deck). 

Some cabin in the Old Lock & Dam Park that got relocated a bunch of times and is now only partially made of original materials. I think its supposed to commemorate the settlers who started the town but I didn't read the plaque super closely. 

Before Lock 47 was built, the town of Newburgh did not exist - the laborers moved there to build & run the lock and in the process established a town. Today, the town of Newburgh is clearly a quite affluent and cultured suburb of Evansville. It's interesting to think how much its changed from the poor town of laborers in the wilderness that it was approximately 100 years ago. 

My next stop was lunch and coffee in Mt. Vernon, IL (where I wrote my last blog post). Mt. Vernon, or the King City as the locals call it, felt like an interesting fusion of an old rust belt city, urban sprawl, and a highway rest stop. The coffee shop I stopped at was the only independent coffee shop in the city, and it didn't seem like it had been there long. 

After filling up my stomach and my fuel tank in Mt. Vernon, I departed for St. Louis. Here, I must apologize to you all again for failing to set up my GoPro, because the drive into St. Louis from the east on 64 is breathtaking but I didn't capture any visuals of it. You round a corner and drop down a hill, and suddenly the Gateway Arch and the St. Louis skyline appear ahead. About 15 minutes later, you find yourself crossing a bridge over the Mississippi; at your 1 o'clock is the Arch, larger than life. At your 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock are 4-5 stunning bridges, each in a different architectural style. 

In St. Louis, I stayed with Peter, a buddy from college, and his wife, Colleen. 

Peter had the longest arms so he had to take the selfie. Sadly this is a normal hair day for me. 

Peter works in tech management and Colleen is a general surgery resident planning to specialize in surgical oncology. They met in high school, but there's still disagreement over what officially counts as their first date. This fall, they'll head to Nigeria where Colleen will be conducting oncology outcomes disparity research and Peter will work remotely (fingers crossed he'll be able to find some decent WiFi) and doing volunteer work in his free time. They'll be apart for a few months, as Peter must return to St. Louis this winter to coach the local 6th grade basketball team to a 3-peat, but he plans to return to Nigeria when the season ends. In the future, Colleen and Peter's dream is to do more international medicine projects - Colleen will provide medical care and Peter will lead projects to build hospitals and other critical infrastructure. 

Peter & Colleen took me to one of their favorite ice cream shops, Clementine's Naughty & Nice Ice Cream. Clementine's looks like an old school ice cream shop from the 60's, but don't let the classic aesthetics fool you - it's home to some crazy concoctions like strawberry/balsamic and manchego/truffle/honey ice cream. I sampled the the manchego/truffle/honey and while I found the flavor complex/interesting, I cannot recommend that you try it. The bourbon/maple/candied pecan, I can recommend though. 

One of Peter & Colleen's favorite questions for guests in STL is what they think this building looks like: 

They've gotten answers ranging from a USB stick to a stack of popcorn containers. Every angle I looked at it from, I saw something different. On the way back from ice cream, we passed the Chess Hall of Fame and the World's Largest Chess Piece. 

Apparently STL is a chess city ... whatever that means

The next morning I explored Forest Park, the largest urban greenspace in the US (yes, it is bigger than Central Park) by going on a 6 mile run. Forest Park is home to a zoo, an art museum, a science center, and many other attractions, all of which are free to the public.

One of the many ponds of Forest Park (peep the USB/Popcorn tin building in the background)

My 6 Mile run only covered about half of Forest Park. The red turning into yellow, means I slowed down significantly at the end of the run, which does not bode well for the upcoming half marathon.

After the run, I went to mass at the nearby Cathedral Basilica while my clothes were in the wash. It's definitely one of the prettiest churches I've seen in the US.

For lunch/super late breakfast, I made my second Taco Bell stop of the trip at the Kingshighway Blvd location in STL. Another college buddy, Conor, an STL native, joined me for Taco Bell and the afternoon. I should have taken the 3.2 star rating as a sign of what was to come. 

Conor enjoys a diet Pepsi while I dig into a crunchy chicken cantina taco

Facilities: There was a distinct (but not terrible) odor I smelled as soon as I walked in that made me question how recently the place had been cleaned. Despite that, the dining area was on the whole pretty tidy, though there was some trash on the floor. 

Staff: Not super friendly, but also not rude - pretty much what you'd expect at a fast food chain. 

Food: I ordered a crunchy chicken cantina taco and a chicken cantina bowl (as this was 2 meals in 1). The taco was crushed when I opened it, but still tasted good. The bowl was also above expectations. Taco Bell has really upped their game with this chicken cantina menu. 

After a delicious and nutritious lunch, we went back to Forest Park on Conor's recommendation. I had originally been planning to go to the top of the Arch that afternoon, but opted to go with the local's (Conor's) recommendation, and boy was he right. The half of Forest Park I didn't see on the run was even better than what I had seen (which had already left me quite impressed). Conor and I rented kayaks and paddled the lagoon to the art museum. I got within 2 ft of a giant snapping turtle and within 10 of an egret. The route culminated in a huge pool of fountains in front of the art museum. Alas, I did not bring my phone with me for fear of dropping it in the water, so the only visual evidence I have of this grand adventure is a photo at the boat house.

After boating, Conor and I made a mad dash through the art museum.

This one's real famous, I think. Just putting it in here so y'all with think I'm cultured. 

Conor with his favorite painting: Sadak in Search of the Waters of Oblivion. I don't know the full story of the painting, but the title feels both epic and relatable. 

Don't know what these pieces are called, but the map in the back felt related to the odyssey since its a map of America. It appears to show the Native American tribes and native animal species. 

St Louis from behind overlooking Forest Park. This is one of those views that looked much cooler in real life than in pictures. 

On my way out of St Louis, I stopped at the arch and checked my 2nd national park of the trip off my list. 

Got out of STL just in the nick of time to avoid the rain

For dinner, I stopped at China Buffet in Effingham, IL. If you thought it was a risk to go to a Chinese buffet in central Illinois, you should know that I ate a significant amount of their sushi and seafood. What can I say? I guess the whole cross country motorcycle trip thing didn't feel like a big enough risk on its own; had to add potential food poisoning to the mix. 3 days out though, and I can confirm I escaped unscathed. 

My fortune cookie shared some advice that felt very in the spirit of the trip

After dinner, I hit the road for another 40 minutes to get to the campground at Fairview Park in Casey, IL. Unfortunately, the saddle bag had slipped onto the muffler again and therefore melted through my hammock again. I still tried to set it up, but when I sunk into for the night, it just kept sinking ... until I hit the ground: 

RIP my hammock. Going forward it will only be used as a sacrificial heat shield to prevent damage to my other camping gear in the event the saddle bag clip fails again. 

That's all you get for tonight. You wanna know the rest, buy the rights. 

- Commander K