St. Louis is a river city with a very large arch in it. The Gateway Arch, designed by Eero Saarinen and finished in 1965, rises 630 feet on the west bank of the Mississippi, a catenary curve of stainless steel that is the tallest monument in the United States and one of the most recognisable. It marks the city's historic role as the gateway to the West, the starting point for settlers, trappers and explorers, including Lewis and Clark, who set out up the Missouri in 1804 from a camp not far north. At its feet, a museum tells the story of westward expansion, and a tram carries visitors to the top.
The city has a rich and sometimes difficult past. The courthouse downtown was the site of the Dred Scott trial, a milestone in the road to the Civil War. The 1904 World's Fair and the Olympic Games were held here, and left behind a legacy of grand parks and museums, including a free zoo. Beer is a local institution, with the great Anheuser-Busch brewery south of downtown, and the food has its own identity: toasted ravioli, gooey butter cake, and St. Louis-style pizza, which is thin and crisp and covered in a processed cheese called Provel that locals adore and visitors argue about.
For Route 66 riders, St. Louis is a major junction. The old road crossed the Mississippi on the Chain of Rocks Bridge, north of the city, a long steel span with a distinctive bend in the middle, now closed to cars but open to walkers and cyclists. The route then wound through city streets, past old diners, motels and neon signs, and out through the suburbs toward Missouri's Ozark hills. A famous frozen custard stand on Chippewa Street, a Route 66 landmark, draws crowds on summer evenings. It is a city for slow exploration of the old road, rather than speed, as traffic is heavy and the road passes through many stoplights.
With over three hundred thousand people in the city and many more in the metro area, fuel, parking and lodging are no problem. Downtown parking is metered, and the interstates are busy at rush hour. Summers are hot and humid, with thunderstorms, while spring and autumn are more pleasant. Take care on the surface streets near the old road, as potholes and railroad tracks are common, and some neighbourhoods are less welcoming than others, so keep an eye on the bike.