TWIN RIVER TITAN

good evening ladies and gentlemen this is Jack Douglas with another armchair vacation in America just north of this fun-loving City two of America's mightiest rivers meet and merge as one the Mississippi from the north and the Missouri from the West this giant metropolis has so much variety to offer the vacationer but many have called it the San Francisco of the border states from polar bears to first division baseball from shell boats to salt free entertainment we can run the gamut of fun and relaxation in st. Louis Missouri the Twin River Titan [Music] [Applause] the French King Louis the 15th had the honor of being the patron saint of the Trading Post which in later years became known as st. Louis the man who founded the city was a French trapper pierre de Laclede li guess and if he looked like this in real life he must have cut a dashing figure with the ladies this stone monument commemorates the landing of the early guests and his fur trading companions the year 1764 that's the Mississippi in the background the old courthouse building at Broadway and Market Streets will forever be remembered in American history here was tried the famous Dred Scott case nearby on the riverfront we saw the nearly completed gateway arch a majestic man-made monument of gleaming steel but by the time you see this film it'll probably have been finished and it will look like this America's tallest monument rising 630 feet skyward but 75 feet higher than the Washington Monument and a hundred and eighty feet higher than the Great Pyramid in Egypt this arch of shiny steel is dedicated to the opening of the West after the Louisiana Purchase while you are at the riverfront you'll be intrigued by this massive riverboat which bills itself as the world's most modern riverboat well the SS Admiral is that and more she cruises the section of the Mississippi which serves as the boundary between st. Louis and the state of Illinois now hear this you leave the dock at 10:30 a.m. return at 3:30 p.m. a five-hour cruise for a dollar and a quarter and that old fashioned hunting and Calliope music is tossed in as an extra on this particular excursion a heartwarming scene was taken place this attractive young woman is Adrien Bryan the wife of film star David Bryan she was in st. Louis and behalf of wife the world adoption fund and all of these children are Waifs who were her guests on this unforgettable outing what a thrill it must have been for these international waves what a nice gesture by this wonderful gal she's an American and that tells it all the vacationing baseball fan doesn't need a map or a tourist guide to find Busch Stadium that's a fact we arrived early to watch batting and fielding practice by the st. Louis Cardinals a twilight game between the cards and the Houston Astros an hour later the stands began to fill up and the fine ballgame it was but frankly we missed the greatest Cardinal of them all stand the man Musial but you'd be surprised at how many people come here to Busch Stadium simply because Stan the man claimed here and the memory lingers on they call this Forest Park and it's well-named a veritable forest of trees hides from view some of the finest tourist attractions ever assembled by a single city all in this one park we're going to start with the st. Louis Art Museum one of the best in the world and here what among these old and treasured columns also called Capitals our Charles Buckley the museum director and Emily rau the curator know Jackie's capitals we were talking about among thousands of objects paintings and sculpture and decorative art housed in this museum I should say that this museum is one of the major museums in the United States and the people of st. Louis enjoy it and make use of it and have a good time here and learn here and last year there were nearly half a million people who came through our doors not only st. Louis are these people come from Cleveland from the south from farther west from Europe we have many visitors but now I'd like to take you on a tour and show you a few of the highlights that are here in the collection works of art miss Rahl and I find especially interesting and so do our visitors what would you name first draw well I think in the oriental section the panda bear an ancient Chinese bronze bear that has been gilded is one of the most fascinating objects and if we were to go along or let's say to the 14th century and come to Western Europe and particularly to France I would mention the st. Louie of Toulouse that large limestone sculpture and perhaps the most recent modern King Julian required a very strong color rather I say dramatic work by Victor Vasarely French artist it's not only dramatic but very subtle - you know this has been all too brief a tour a museums large is this one but we hope that the next time you come to st. Louis you plan to spend more time alright we're still in Forest Park and our next stop is the jewel box there in the background a climate-controlled floral garden is about the best way to describe it but if your youngsters are with you chances are that you won't have too much time to admire the flowers and the fountains they'll be dragging you on to another Forest Park highlight the st. Louis Zoo a logical part or just plain Zoo on the other hand this is far from just an ordinary Zoo as we shall soon see for one thing they have the whitest polar bears that I've ever seen not gray white but I mean laundry white and the proud keeper of these Arctic creatures is mr. Howard Hoffman who told us that polar bears are not the easiest of animals to train however they catch on quickly if they know food is on the way generally a chunk of bread there seemed to be a bit of excitement over at the Children's Zoo so we sought it over to see this little rascal chewing at the keepers trousers an expensive way to entertain the customers anyway this isn't a dog but a baby wolf and at this age the wolf does react like a puppy dog and look at these awestruck faces and the hands that reach out to tenderly pet the wolf well a few months from now fully grown the same wolf would frighten most of these children aquatic houses where the zoo has set up permanent residence for a Siegfried an 1800 pound walrus the keeper valve Jones slaps the edge of the pool and that's the signal for Siegfried to come closer to be petted or fed incidentally feeding old sig is quite an item the walrus consumes seventy to a hundred pounds of fish every day the st. Louis Zoo claims it has the friendliest animals of any zoo in the country to prove the point the zoo encourages even children to feed many of the animals such as Jeep the giraffe one of the tallest giraffes in captivity carrots are jeeps favorite enticements he'll nibble them from your hand being careful not to touch your fingers and notice how gingerly he reaches for this carrot from keeper David Scanlon [Music] well we're still in Forest Park what a place and this building where the gaily colored flags is the Municipal Opera or the Muni Opera as it's known to the natives the Muni is the home of outdoor theater at its best and during a rehearsal break we were welcomed by a comedian we've last that and with in many a Hollywood movie I'm sure you'll recognize Miss Mary Wickes hello jack welcome to the st. Louis Municipal Opera is it lovely no we're all so proud of it here in st. Louis I'm a st. Louis girl born bred went to college here I wish everybody I know could come from st. Louis just so they could have a homecoming st. Louis people are the most wonderful warm people in the whole world I just love to come back here particularly here to the Opera which I hope you know is the granddaddy of all of the outdoor musical operas it was started 47 years ago this is 47 season how about that isn't it lovely and the proscenium arch on the stage is wider than Radio City Music Hall those two beautiful old oak trees you see on either side of the stage are over 200 years old they're fed intravenously we couldn't bear it if anything happened to them and the productions here are absolutely divine 100% professional beautiful lighting beautiful sound on a full moon night with that 50-piece orchestra in the pit it's to die and an awful lot of people you know I'm sure have had their start here there was Irene done years ago spent a whole season here when she was just starting out a gentleman named Archie leach now you may know him as Cary Grant he played here for several season was also good the ladies loved him Red Skelton long before he was famous nationally played here at the st. Louis Municipal Opera we're mighty proud of that the theater seats I better tell you 12,000 people but if you don't have the price of a ticket there are 1,200 free seats isn't that interesting right back here and there wonderful you can see in here just as well as down boxes people come here 5:00 in the afternoon bring their picnic lunches have their dinner and then see the wonderful show get in their cars and go home and the theater is right in the middle of Forest Park which is the largest park in st. Louis and right in the center of the city so you don't have to drive way out in the county to get here see what else should I tell you the productions range all we've done everything here from student prints to my fair lady showboat wonderful shows and people have great favorites they demand to see student prints every fourth or fifth year has to see it have to hear that wonderful music it really is one of the most exciting places I think in our country oh I'm sorry jack I have to go back to rehearsal wouldn't you know the play we're doing is meet me in st. Louis all right all right Mary thank you but we'll never say st. Louie in st. Louis the Twin River Titan this is Market Street in downtown st. Louis the street is enhanced by the beauty of the Karl Millis fountain and statuary the meeting of the waters referring of course to the merging of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers a few miles north of the city [Music] on Olive Street which is considered the Main Street of st. Louis an office building now occupies the site of the house where William Clark of the Lewis and Clark expedition lived and died and this house a very fashionable residence when it was built from 1845 was the birthplace of a beloved American poet whose name is known to parents and children around the globe Eugene feel the author of the gingham dog and the calico cat of winkin blinkin a knot and the classic poem that can easily bring tears to the eyes when read or recited of course little boy blue little boys and girls say between the ages of 3 & 8 III will simply go wild over a truly different kind of Museum the National Museum of transport fear on open exhibit our transportation relics dating back to 1870 relics yes but the excitement which each vehicle generated in its heyday is still here they're more than 50 locomotives at the nmt and hundreds of trolleys horse cars motor buses and other forms of transportation conveyors now at the present time the museum is located in Forest Park but it's bursting at the seams there's hardly any walking room for the visitors however we're happy to report that very soon the nmt will move to a forty acre tract across the Mississippi River no Sun it's not for sale not even to Santa Claus across the Mississippi a few miles from st. Louis and actually in Illinois is the Shrine of Our Lady of the snows this Catholic shrine is named after Rome's historic church and some 200 acres overlooking the Mississippi Valley are being developed as a permanent shrine to the Blessed Virgin who according to Catholic belief caused snow to fall in the city of Rome in the year 352 AD now it will be many years before the shrine project is completed but even now there is much to see and admire here and I might add the people of all faiths are made welcome this is the main house of the Busch estate the House of course is private but not all of the huge grounds a miniature train rolls through some 280 acres of the estate known as Grant's farm because ulysses s grant the farmer who became a great general built this log house here in 1855 it has been preserved as an historical shrine for the unstirred there are replicas of stagecoaches ideal for picture taken by mom and a variety of wildlife including quite a few bison they can be dangerous only if you're on foot another attraction at Grant's farm is the bird show actually trained macaws [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] leaving the estate you'll notice this fence one of the most unusual in the world because the uprights are made of 2,500 rifle barrels from the War Between the States now this is the entrance to the Missouri Botanical Garden established in 1858 that impressive structure however is as new as tomorrow the climate Ron a word coined to emphasize its climate control facilities the dome-shaped climate Ron is made of aluminum tubing lined with a layer of transparent Plexiglas the climate ron has a ground surface of 23,000 square feet almost all of it used as a display research greenhouse for more than a thousand varieties of tropical plants some flowers our tour of the garden was guided by Miss Donna Koch the climate Ron is only a small though colorful part of the Missouri Botanical Garden there are suddenly additional acres of gardens tree trails and horticultural displays another well-known local landmark is the Bevo mill a fine restaurant specializing in German food it's been a st. Louis favorite for more than 35 years the Cheshire Lodge and M is one of the many highly recommended places to stay or dine this handsome limousine will pick you up at the airport and after you've unpacked chances are you'll make a beeline for the cheshire in a strong flavoring of merry old England in st. Louis [Music] most of the antique wall pieces and furnishings are authentic a few are reproductions the food is excellent the services first-rate and the tariff is quite reasonable a full dinner for example will run from 250 to 550 that was the top price while we were here for the best dinner on the menu st. Louis by the way is not an expensive place to visit an important consideration for a family vacationing on a limited budget these patrons are miss Dell CEO Bailey and Miss Mary Kay Hayes well after dinner you can board this typical London to Decker for a trip to town a nice touch and a nice way to start an evening in st. Louis the Twin River Taiki [Music] versus Gaslight square st. Louis's answer to Bourbon Street in New Orleans and Greenwich Village in New York with its dozens of nightclubs theaters restaurants and shops it's the nightlife center of st. Louis we stopped at the Crystal Palace where our producer George Flournoy on the right discussed Gaslight square with mr. Charlie Welles owner of the palace well that's probably the secret of the success of the area as the diversification of the places all compressed within this one block are blocked in a half area yeah and then the way you've decorated your own place fascinates me where did you get these wonderful old steam well at one time it was very fashionable for the homes to have this type of window the stained glass window and of course when they started tearing down a lot of the old mansions around the city why we wound up with a truckload of stained glass windows of course I know you noticed our chandelier as as we came in that's a fabulous chandelier that it probably weighs a ton and it's very very priceless our decor here by the way is early junk well Charlie one thing that interests me is the fact that a tourist can come here park his car in your parking lot and right here on the square find an entire evenings entertainment that's very true no matter what his where his tastes may lie he'll find the answer to it here find something to please him in the way of for example in food if he likes Italian food you can go to the Bella Rosa if you like French cuisine the three fountains is a very elegant fancy restaurant on the corner Japanese food we have the Kotobuki we have the port of st. Louis we have a very fine Greek restaurant called Smokey Joe's Grecian Terrace they have the shish kebab the grape leaves and all the Greek specialties well Charlie of course right here in your own place the Crystal Palace you have Egyptian dancers in one room and a great show from the Bahamas in the other we hope it makes a very exciting evening for people who come to the Crystal Palace I looked out the window the other couple minutes ago you have a lot of variety across the street I know that true there's a brand new spot just opened directly across from us it's called the gilded cage and they're featuring the discotheque dancing and the go-go girls which is very much the rage now around the country I understand and I know that there's at least four places on Gaslight square that are featuring that particular type of entertainment right now and didn't you tell me there's a place where opera singers actually drop in and sing true that's very true the it happens at two different place as a matter of fact there's one place up the street on the corner called the Lorelai and on the other side of it's just down the street is a place called Marty's now Marty's is known as the singers rendezvous Marty sings he's on television has a show of his own the local show the waitresses sing the bartender sings I think even the porter comes in on his day off and there's a little bit of singing yes the Guerlain marty is one of his witnesses [Music] [Music] [Music] well Charlie let's say I've had a great evening on the square now what's the ideal way to finish it up well there's two ways that people usually choose to end the evening they either go to Pinos pizza parlor and have a big slice of mushroom pizza or they go to Jack Carl's two cents plain which is just across the street and they wind up with a great big pastrami sandwich and fries sauerkraut free sauerkraut Charlie you just told me let's go okay right next week more faces and places somewhere in America until then this is jack douglass saying thank you so much and good night ladies and gentlemen boys and girls [Music]