St Louis Arch Elevator 1

The first leg our our family’s epic road trip was perhaps the easiest and most familiar. Going westward, we knew our first stop was absolutely going to be in St Louis to visit and stay with our dear friend.

We have visited the city many times, but yet had never done the most cliché of St Louis things…go up in the St Louis Arch.

Since we were only stopping overnight in St Louis, we secured our tickets for the Arch about five months in advance of the trip for the evening of our arrival. This gave us enough time to settle into our friends house, go to dinner and then head over for a late afternoon ride to the top.

The tiny little pods with clear doors were really awesome! We all crammed in and took the ride up to 620 feet above the St Louis skyline.

St Louis Arch Elevator 2

Following our viewing, and knowing we were going to be focusing a great deal of this trip on Route 66, we made it a point to visit a route classic, Ted Drewes frozen custard. Who doesn’t love ice cream?

Our stop in St Louis was relatively low key, meant to spend our short time with our friend.

In addition, we knew we were going to have to wake up early to make the drive to Branson, Missouri the next morning to make our family’s first visit to Silver Dollar City. In order to maximize our single day in the park, we wanted to get there as early as possible, and with the park opening at 9:30 am central, meant leaving St Louis at 5am.

St Louis Arch View West

Daily miles driven- 623 miles
Accommodations Cost- free

Continue reading about our journey below.

Just like our 2019 National Park Road Trip, we will break down the trip each day in separate posts as highlighted below.

Epic Road Trip: National Park Tour (Part 1)
Epic Road Trip: Cleveland to St Louis (Part 2)
Epic Road Trip: Silver Dollar City (Part 3)
Epic Road Trip: Rt 66 to Texas (Part 4)
Epic Road Trip: Texas Surprises to Santa Fe (Part 5)
Epic Road Trip: Four Corners and Arches National Park (Part 6)
Epic Road Trip: Canyonlands National Park (Part 7)
Epic Road Trip: Capitol Reef National Park (Part 8)
Epic Road Trip: Bryce Canyon National Park (Part 9)
Epic Road Trip: Zion National Park (Part 10)
Epic Road Trip: Knott’s Berry Farm (Part 11)
Epic Road Trip: Universal Studios Hollywood (Part 12)
Epic Road Trip: Meow Wolf Las Vegas (Part 13)
Epic Road Trip: Worlds of Fun (Part 14)
Epic Road Trip: Trip Wrap Up (Part 15)

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