Originally posted by: DrPizza
Gateway arch in St. Louis? Bah. If you've seen one inverted hyperbolic cosine monument, you've seen them all 😛
It's actually an inverted catenary...
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I've lived in Dayton for five years and right near Indianapolis for the previous 18, now in St. Louis for the last 2. I'd recommend the following:
1. USAF museum - just west of Dayton near WPAFB (about 5 mi. south on I-675). Not too expensive and really interesting. I used to work in one of the buildings about half a mile up the hill from the museum in the base. If I still did, I could sneak you in and show you some of the things that will be in the museum about 50 years from now.
😛
2. Walk around downtown Indianapolis. Not a whole lot of sight-seeing that I would recommend other than maybe the Children's museum (#1-2 in the country) that a science-dork like you might enjoy (saying this as a fellow dork-in-arms)
3. Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis. Free tour, free samples. I'm not a big fan of their products, but free beer is always a plus. The Schlafly brewery is also in St. Louis, but I don't recommend it. The zoo is top-notch and free, as is the art museum and science center (all in Forest Park). The Loop (on Delmar) is a common tourist trap, but I can't really recommend it. I can also give you a free tour of the engineering facilities and med school at Washington University.
4. World's largest McDonalds (I think it's north of Tulsa on I-44?). It spans the interstate - hard to miss. Has a gift shop with Route 66 stuff, but not much to really see here. I just included it because it's the only thing of note on I-44 in that part of OK.
Also a couple pointers... Don't speed too much in Ohio. The cops there are bastards and will ticket you for going <5 over. Good news is that they are required to have their headlights on if gunning at night. Also, beware the drivers, especially around Dayton. Indiana and Illinois have unmarked/undercover highway patrol cars, especially Camaros and Mustangs. Don't speed in Illinois construction zones, as the fines are insane and they really do enforce them. Bypass St. Louis on I-270 unless you're going into the city for anything. Traffic sucks because they're reconstructing the bridge that carries I-55, I-64, I-70, and US-40 over the Mississippi. If you need help finding a place to stay/eat along the way, PM me and I can make some recommendations. I've driven every inch between Dayton and St. Louis at least ten times, and I-44 from St. Louis to Tulsa once.