Chain of Rocks Bridge
06.16.2010

Another adventure time! This time it was my friend's idea to check out one of the largest pedestrian bridges in the world - The Chain of Rocks Bridge. This bridge goes across the Mississippi River, only allows bikers and walkers across it, and it makes a 22 degree turn in the middle.


According to Wikipedia, this bridge was built in 1929 and was a part of US Route 66. Like my friend said today, Route 66 is made into such a big deal over here! Granted, at that time it was a big deal and it still is a major highway. It is just that when you go around all the different attractions in St. Louis, a lot of them are either around or involved with Route 66.

I digress. So four of us drove down to the river. We didn't know exactly where we were going but that was ok! We obviously knew it was along the river somewhere so we just followed it north. We did find a few fun sights along the way - like a bus lot with the sign "Did You Check Your Bus for Sleeping Students" - what a gem.

We finally did find the bridge and took a walk across. Along the way there were a few signs, benches, and an old gas pump station that talked a bit about Route 66. We also saw a bike rack that marked the state line between Missouri and Illinois. On the other side of the bridge is an island park. We didn't stay - not really sure what was there actually - but took the trip back across the bridge. I feel like I got another piece of St. Louis history!



National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows
06.18.2010

My friends John and Angela told me that they wanted to go see one of the largest outdoor shrines in North America and of course, I had to check it out too! We drove down to see the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows, which is a Catholic Shrine in Belleville, Illinois. Being that I am not religious, I am not familiar with anything Catholic so I wasn't exactly sure what were the significances of what we were seeing. Regardless, it was a really cool place. It is a huge estate with a church, outdoor amphitheater, chapels, and of course, shrines. Everything was constructed in beautiful architecture. It was a very peaceful place and I can understand how it became a place of worship.

www.snow.org

The outdoor amphitheater. It looked like a play was going to be performed on that stage. We also discovered that under this stage were some chapels - gorgeous chapels. 



© Fayrouz Hancock / newseagles.com

The Bells of at the Annunciation Garden.
© Fayrouz Hancock / newseagles.com


The Resurrection Garden
© Fayrouz Hancock / newseagles.com
This rock had three holes inside it that looked like a face. Just saying.


The Millennium Spire
© Fayrouz Hancock / newseagles.com
I really liked this sculpture. It was across the field from the Amphitheater and I loved the simplicity of it. Fun fact - below the spire was this large room of candles. Not really sure what it is for but hey, there were candles all over the place - they must put it somewhere! 


© Fayrouz Hancock / newseagles.com
This is the Hand Sculpture at the Children's Memorial Garden. I don't really know anything about this piece but it was a big scary to see it as we were driving out of the place.