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Solo in St. Louis

May 6, 2006 12:50 am

By EMILY GILMORE

The woman regarded me skeptically as I stepped up to the counter.

"Is there anyone else you'd like to travel with today?" she asked after I requested one ticket to ride to the top of St. Louis' Gateway Arch.

I shook my head no, and was issued a pass for the very next trip.

I appreciated not having to wait an hour for the next available space like some families in line in front of me. I did, however, have to endure quizzical looks from most of the people I encountered as I made my way to the tram.

Frankly, I was surprised that my status as a singleton was so unusual. Surely some people--business travelers, for instance--visit the arch by themselves.

I spent the four-minute ascent to the observation area with a nice, seemingly wholesome family from Minnesota, who also seemed surprised that I was on my own.

I satisfied them with my explanation that the friend I was visiting had to work that day, and this was how I chose to occupy myself.

And I would like to take this opportunity to issue a warning to claustrophobes: Though each egg-shaped car on the tram is designed to convey five people to the top of the arch, it's such a tight fit that I couldn't sit up straight.

Rows of windows on each side of the arch, a national park officially known as the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, offer views of downtown St. Louis on one side and a great expanse of Illinois just across the Mississippi River on the other.

High winds that day made the arch sway enough to give some people motion sickness, but I was content to gaze--from my vantage point 630 feet above the city--at the Old Courthouse where the Dred Scott case was tried; check out the progress on the still-unfinished Busch Stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team; and more.

For those who are not as lucky as I and have to kill time before their trip up the arch, the Museum of Westward Expansion underneath the landmark offers an overview of the Lewis and Clark expedition and contains rare artifacts, eerily lifelike animatronic figures and an exhibit about the arch's designer, Eero Saarinen, who also designed my trip's starting point--Dulles International Airport.

And the arch served as such a great reference point that I didn't have to rely on my subpar sense of direction as I ventured downtown among the office buildings and hotels in search of a sandwich that afternoon.

The arch has its own stop on St. Louis' metro system, which is exceedingly easy to navigate, as it runs in a straight line. Getting to and from the stop, however, is another matter.

I expected to be able to see the arch from the platform, but instead I had to go down some stairs, cross a street, walk through a parking garage and take an elevator up three floors before I was nearby. But it wasn't quite so harrowing on the return trip, and I made it back without mishap.

But I didn't have to go it alone for the entire trip. I managed to spend some quality time with my friend Jamie and her husband, who were gracious enough to be my hosts for four days.

As soon as I arrived, we ate dinner at Zia's On The Hill, a restaurant in St. Louis' predominantly Italian neighborhood. And on another night, we headed to Route 66 landmark Ted Drewes Frozen Custard for "concretes" (think Blizzards from Dairy Queen) and sundaes.

Jamie and I spent an afternoon at the Delmar Loop, which is frequented by college students and has a pretty chilled-out vibe. You have to drive through some rough areas to get there, but it's worth it.

Places like the Pageant, a club that advertised acts like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and James Blunt; the Tivoli, an artsy movie theater; Vintage Vinyl, one of the best music stores on the planet; and Blueberry Hill, where 80-year-old St. Louis native Chuck Berry still performs once a month, stand out among quirky shops and restaurants.

But the best thing about St. Louis has to be Forest Park. Much larger than Central Park in New York City, it was the site of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, aka the World's Fair, in 1904 (has anyone seen "Meet Me in St. Louis"?). It's home to the St. Louis Zoological Park, the St. Louis Art Museum, the Missouri History Museum and the St. Louis Science Center, as well as sports fields, jogging paths and waterways.

Once it was time to head home, my single status began to work against me again.

A man who wanted to sit with his wife and child had swooped in and usurped my preassigned seat before I boarded.

"I really want to sit with my baby," he said over and over. "Is that OK?"

How could I say no, even though I resented the sense of entitlement he'd displayed?

I settled into my new seat and buckled up. Seconds later, it happened again. This time, a man wanted to sit with his girlfriend.

He brought a better seat to the trade, so I obliged.

I settled into my third and final seat, which was, mercifully, a singleton.

To reach EMILY GILMORE:540/374-5426
Email: egilmore@freelancestar.com