We woke up in Nashville to another rainy morning. This KOA we had a two-room cabin which made for an easier night. We had cereal for breakfast and packed up for the day, getting on the road around 10 am for St. Louis. My mom called around the time we passed these signs so I had to make the ” taking the last train” joke to her:

The kids have become quite good car travelers at this point:

We crossed into Kentucky and decided to stop outside of Paducah and have the Waffle House experience for lunch:

Toby the Vampire:

Rebecca had an omelette and grits, the rest of us had waffles. Calvin and I had country ham as well, which is usually a dry, salt cured and aged ham which is much more flavorful then the northern variety. I have learned from experience that if you are going to cook one at home you should soak it overnight in water to draw out some of the salt.

Everything was really good, if you can get past the fake maple syrup that are a staple of these kinds of places. I can see why there are so many Waffle Houses in the south.

Our hotel, the Hyatt, was right across from the Arch and getting into the main entrance took some time. Once we made it in though we enjoyed an unusual mix of high end hotel and midwest friendliness. It was a nice experience, and given that it was just steps away from the big 4th of July event, it was surprisingly affordable at about $140 for a package that included valet parking and wi-fi.

We got there as the big air show was going on, so only caught a few glimpses of it but it looked impressive. Rebecca and I were chomping at the bit to get down to the Arch park, so once we had the room squared away we set off again:

After I fulfilled my life-long dream of taking pictures of the St. Louis Arch from every conceivable angle, we set out in search of food. We found a “St. Louis Bread Company” that turned out to be a Panera. Apparently this is the original company that was bought and turned into the Panera brand, but the original name is still used around St. Louis. The kitchen was in the advanced process of full meltdown, a phenomenon familiar to former food service workers like myself. I sent the rest of the family to the hotel and waited about an hour for our order, but we did finally eat.

Pretty soon it was time to wander back outside and see the fireworks:

It was a good thing there was a clear area in front of the hotel as there was a sea of people beside and in front of us. I would say that the estimate of 100,000 people attending the event wasn't far off.

Since our trip through St. Louis happened to coincide with the 4th it was cool to experience it, but I think we all would have actually enjoyed our time there and the location of our hotel more if it had been a regular day.

Tomorrow, the long 9 hours slog through Missouri and into Kansas.