October 8
I will add comments tomorrow, on the 9th, after I am back home.
Sunday the 8th was a long day. The first nine hours, starting before 4 AM, was the drive to Ste. Genevieve NHP, an hour south of St. Louis on I-55. This is a relatively new park. The ranger at the VC said no Unigrid is available, yet. Unigrids are the official park brochures. Anyone who has been to one of the parks should be familiar with these documents. She also indicated the Bauvais-Amoureux House (one of five remaining buildings in the country which are “poteaux-en-terre”… post-in-ground) is closed for renovations. This left the Green Tree Tavern (oldest building in town) and Jean-Baptiste Valle House (home to the last colonial leader of the city) to be viewed. The NPS owns these three buildings. The 11:30 AM tour of the Valle House had already started, and one is required to pre-register. I walked through the garden, then drove down to the Tavern.
This city was founded in 1750 as the first permanent European settlement on the Mississippi River. The city has not grown much since those days, and the center part maintains the feel of a small French village. Farming was the main occupation in those early days due to the rich fields along the mighty river. One can still see crop fields while driving along the river road. Since rivers like to alter course over centuries, near here is the only place you can step on Illinois soil on the west side of the Mighty Mississippi.
I-55 was the route to go back north to Ulysess S. Grant NHS. This is the Dent farmstead, named White Haven, where Grant married and lived with Julie Dent. They had met while Grant was stationed in the St. Louis area in the 1840s, proposing to Julie in 1844 on the front porch. His service in the Mexican-American War kept them from tying the knot until 1848. Their family lived on the farm from 1854 to 1859. The NPS says the three main attractions at this park are the park film, touring the main house, and perusing the museum (housed in the horse stables). My timing kept me from the houses’ interior tour, so I walked around the complex, stopping to read signage and to take photos. The stables is quite large, housing artifacts including a carriage. There are plenty of poster presentations and display panels highlighting the Grants’ lives.
When you visit this park you might want to set aside four hours for the “park” which is next door. This is Grant Farm, owned by the Busch Family… yes, the beer titans (they sold the business in 2008). Since 1954 this has been an animal reserve, and playground. You can take a tram tour through the landscape, seeing many different species. A huge draw is the Budweiser Clydesdales barn, and the big horses themselves. The farm also has “Hardscrabble”, a wood cabin built by Ulysess Grant. It is the only remaining wood structure in the country which was hand-built by a future President. If you come in the winter when leaves are off the trees, you should be able to see the Busch Mansion off in the distance beyond the Farm park.
Luckily for me the Grant park was only 20 minutes from a parking garage at Gateway Arch National Park. I had thought about looking to see if there was still parking on the water-front, but my timed-ticket for the Arch tram had me in a hurry. So, I parked at the garage. One must get on the internet to reserve a slot, in 20-minute intervals. Cost varies by age. The entry to the base of the arch is between the Old State Courthouse and the Arch. Full airplane-like security screening is required. Then a hurried walk through the large museum to the South Tram line (there is also a North Tram line… pick either one). You are given a colored ticket with a number from 1 to 8. The number indicates the tram car you will sit in for the 4-minute ride to the top. Gravity helps on the 630-foot return ride which only last 3 minutes. The tram cars are quite cramped, so hopefully you enjoy the company of the other visitors (four max in each car). I sat with two gentlemen from LA who were traveling around the Midwest. The view from the top is awesome. There are a number of small windows. If you lean out over a couple of the windows you can see some of the bottom portions of the Arch. That made me feel like being on a ledge. Busch Stadium is off the southwest, and the Mississippi River stretches north-south when looking out the east-facing windows. Turns out there was plenty of free parking down on the river landing, as evident by the fifty or so vehicles I could see way down there. Oh well, the city coffers will be strengthened by my “donation”. You board the same tram car for the ride back down. Then I spent 30 minutes walking through the museum. The Old State Courthouse is closed for remodeling, but having seen its insides on earlier visits, I recommend going there once it is reopened.
Then it was time to head to MacMurray College in the town of Jacksonville, IL. This is not a National Park, rather the college my mother attended. The school was closed in 2020 due to declining enrollment and empty coffers, but the buildings remain. It had been founded in 1846 by a group of Methodist clergymen. This made it one of the oldest institutions of higher education in the country for women-only. Judy Collins is one the best-known alumni. Eventually, men were admitted.