"The District" - Anita Blake

I hear the new Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter book, Skin Trade, is being released next Tuesday. If you're in the St Louis area, there is a book release party with Laurell at the St Louis County Library Central Branch at 6pm on June 1.



Even before I started CC&G, I promised out of town Anita Blake fans that I would take some pictures of St Louis landmarks just for them. So here is a tour of "The District," aka Blood Square. I'm not naming any businesses/streets because that would infringe on the parallel universe, and there's no fun in that!



For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, the Anita Blake books are a series about a vampire hunter/zombie animator who lives in the St Louis area. The books used to be about preturnatural crime fighting and vampires and werewolves and fun fantasy stuff.



I won't get into what they have devolved into, but let's just say this is no Twilight and you probably don't want your teenagers reading them. *ahem* But we won't go there. Let's just enjoy the scenery.















For those that have no interest in vampires, never fear! I have a backlog of stuff right now and Faust Park (or maybe the Transportation Museum) will be coming up next week!

Say it ain't so!

First Bevo Mill, now my beloved Wax Museum!



The windows are all papered up! I managed to get a glimpse inside and it's practically empty, and there's a notice of public hearing for a sidewalk cafe license posted on the door.

According to the Riverfront Times and the Laclede's Landing Merchants Association, the museum is closed for renovations. But that sidewalk cafe application has me nervous. If you know anything, please comment! We have to find Charlie!

Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, aka "The Arch"

St Louisans are used to seeing the Gateway Arch all the time so they may question its inclusion in this blog. "Everyone knows about the Arch!" you're saying. So when was the last time you went? 5 years ago? 10? Kindergarten?


Jesse, for scale

Look at it from an out-of-towner's perspective: there's a 630' tall (and equally wide) stainless steel Arch in our town, and you can ride in a tiny capsule to the top. That's pretty weird.



AND! There are animatronics! and taxidermy!





No? How about the Arch Effect? I screen capped this radar image last week!



The museum under the Arch is free, and the ride to the observation platform is $10. There is also a movie about the building of the Arch called Monument to the Dream, and the "new" (built within the last decade, I think) giant screen Odyssey Theater, which shows a movie about Lewis and Clark. I'll be honest, while I have been to the Arch more than most people I know, I have not yet been to the Odyssey Theater and I haven't seen Monument to a Dream since grade school.



The ride to the top might be a little hair-raising for the claustrophobic, but it only takes about 4 minutes. The engineering of the elevator is ingenious. It has to move diagonally, so it adjusts a bit at a time as you ascend, otherwise you would be nearly upside down at the top. You can read more here about the construction of the Arch.



You're not supposed to take pictures while loading, but this is for ... science. Yeah, that's the ticket. As you can see, the capsule seats 5 but it's a tight fit for two 6'4" guys and two 5'7"+ girls.






View of the Old Courthouse from the top.


View of Illinois from the other side.

A relatively new addition to the Arch is the Levee Mercantile, an old-fashioned general store. You can buy homespun blankets, toys, games, books, handmade soaps, plus candy, sausage, and cheese curds. The dill cheese curds are my favorite reason to go to the Arch. Across the way is the Museum Store, where you can get all your Arch souvenirs, plus bison jerky.







The Mississippi was way up last weekend. The Lewis and Clark Statue says, "Goodbye, cruel world!"



This is what it looks like when the river is at its normal level:



That's all for this week! Lots of big plans for the summer, so keep checking back! The one year anniversary of Craves, Caves, & Graves was a couple weeks ago, and I want to thank everyone for all their suggestions. Keep 'em coming! Also, I know this website is not very conducive to commenting, and I'm working on that. In the next month or so we'll be migrating to a new, more user-friendly site, as soon as I learn how to do that.

Food Around Town: The Gus's Pretzel Vendor

When I was a kid we would always beg my Aunt Carole to stop for pretzels and she always said, "Do you see a sink anywhere around that man? We do not buy food off the street!"

I hate to defame the pretzel man, but that's one of my favorite stories. I'm sure there's a bottle of Purel in one of those boxes.

This was taken at the corner of River Des Peres and Gravois on a Sunday afternoon. You can also buy Gus' Pretzels at their store, where I'm sure they have a sink.