cross-country: Saint Louis

the gateway arch finally made sense. when you come upon it from the west, as i had in the past, it's a non-sequitor: here you drive through this beautiful devastated city, then there's this big silly hoop between you and the hugest river you ever saw. but it's not meant to be seen from the west. it's for travelers from the east, going west -- that's the whole point -- gateway, no? from the east, you first see it as the first fifth of its arc, rising beyond the top of a green hill. it's breathtaking. every bend in the highway gives you a glimpse of more of it, until you finally emerge on the riverfront and see its whole span. and it's huge -- it embraces the downtown -- only the tallest three or four skyscrapers rise above it.
saint louis is superficially similar to both philadelphia and portland in the way its downtown sneaks up on the riverfront, and the riverfront park, stumbling over major automobile arteries along the way. portland does it best, as the artery is only 4-5 lanes and has stoplights along it. philadelphia -- well, no one really bothers, in philadelphia, which is a pity, since it's quite a lovely river.
meanwhile, saint louis -- i'm not going to pretend that i understand saint louis. on my last cross-country drive, i tried to stop for lunch in the downtown on a sunday. there was nowhere to eat, not even near the tourist area at the base of the arch. nothing was open. the only people in downtown were waiting at bus-stops for a ride out. all of my city-assumptions were worthless -- i couldn't even navigate my way to a sandwich.
i drove across the river, got lost in East Saint Louis, saw some very pretty industrial ruins, and a strip mall where all the establishments were strip clubs, and realized i was in way over my head, and drove back across the Mississippi on a $.25 toll-bridge with paving worn down to where you could see the steel reinforcing rods.