St. Louis (Day 52)

“And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” – T.S. Eliot.

That sounds like a Looper motto to me! I wonder if, at the end of this trip, I will know myself “for the first time?” A curious question, perhaps, but that’s one of my goals on The Great Loop — not just physical exploration through boating, but also personal exploration through reflection.

It’s just how I’m built.

What made me bring that up, you wonder? Because the author of that evocative quote, that famous American poet, was born in St. Louis. Who knew? I didn’t, until I saw that quote carved into a wall today. In fact, there’s a lot to learn about this so-called “fly-over country,” the derisive term some use to refer to the large swath of America that isn’t near the coasts. I confess that I’ve been unfamiliar with a lot of that large swath. Our long “boating lay-over” near St. Louis is helping to fix that.

In our day trip to St. Louis today, we bypassed the famous arch — since we’ll pass right by it in our boat in a few days — and focused on Forest Park. It’s even bigger than Central Park, and boasts museums to rival many in the country. After our $90 taxi ride, split up among six of us, we had time (and energy, in this persistent heat) for only two of them. See highlights below.