I paid $105 to spend the night in Lemp Mansion. The ghost of Charles Lemp
stayed for free. Not that I saw him, you understand. It’s just that there
could be a lot of reasons he didn’t visit me that Saturday night in this
famously haunted house, in the second-floor bedroom that once belonged to him.
Maybe it was the Donna Summer/Barry Manilow set the wedding party was
playing on the patio below. Maybe it was the Tom Jones tunes bellowing from
the bar in the first-floor parlor. Maybe it was the episode of “Walker, Texas
Ranger” I fell asleep to — which I had left on just for company. Just in
case.
Well, after all, I did want to see the rest of St. Louis in the morning.
Seeing St. Louis means seeing the arch first and everything else second.
That’s the Gateway Arch, by proper name, 630 feet high and hard to miss from
any direction. But at a distance, it only feels really right to view it from
the East, from across the Mississippi River on whose banks it stands. Allow
yourself to be drawn to it, then, from Illinois. For the arch is what it
claims to be, a gateway to the West.
Once you’re at the arch, you’ll have to look up, up — no, higher than that
— to catch its graceful leap into the sky. Like a teenager flouting parents,
it defies gravity — and gets away with it. You’d never guess what it took to
build this 43,000-ton flash of silver; but for $6 you can watch a film about
the construction in one of two theaters under, and I mean really under, the
arch.
Underground, there’s a complex of buried treasure: the theaters I
mentioned, a gift-quality souvenir shop that doesn’t charge sales tax and the
Museum of Westward Expansion. The museum is a history of the advancing
American frontier, told through covered wagons, stuffed bison, animatronic
historians and Indian peace treaty medallions, the whole laid out like the
ever-widening ripples of a pond, with a statue of Thomas Jefferson being the
“rock” that sets the waves of history in motion. And since I’ve raised the
subject of Thomas Jefferson, this is as good a time as any to note that the
arch, its landscaped grounds and ponds, the museum and the nearby (and above
ground) Old Courthouse are all part of the Jefferson National Expansion
Memorial, run by the National Park Service.
In this subterranean center, you can buy a $6 ticket for the four-minute
ride to the top of the arch, by means of a cramped, five-person conveyance —
they describe it as a capsule — that will inspire “2001: A Space Odyssey”
movie buffs to repeat, “Open the pod bay doors, HAL.”
At the top, you’ll stand on a narrow, steeply arched floor beneath a low,
steeply arched ceiling. You’ll lean outward against carpeted bays to peer out
the arch’s tiny glass windows — at the Mississippi River and Illinois to the
east; all of St. Louis and the sunset to the west. They say there’s usually no
perceptible movement up here, but I know I felt something. That might be
attributed to the heat in close quarters: the arch was having trouble with its
air-conditioning system during my visit. Or, who knows, maybe the arch is
haunted.
This is, if you remember your history, the city whose spirit possessed the
strength to fly Charles Augustus Lindbergh across the Atlantic. It ought to
have powerful ghosts. But even the Summer Blues — a blue margarita, more or
less — I drank during lunch at Landry’s Seafood House didn’t help me see any.
Landry’s is one of several chain restaurants that share the banks of a
pedal-boat pond at Union Station, St. Louis’ once-palatial train depot. The
pond and restaurants are shaded by the vast canopy that protected the boarding
platforms and travelers of a bygone era from the elements. Central Station was
built in 1894 and operated until 1978, when the last train departed. Now, its
main building has become a shopping mall, where cooking demonstrations at The
Fudgery perfume the air with chocolate and draw a crowd three onlookers deep.
The showpiece, though, was and is the Grand Hall, now the lobby of the Hyatt
hotel, that flaunts a 65-foot barrel vaulted ceiling and a symphony of
Romanesque arches, stained-glass windows and gold leaf.
With its gabled roof, turrets and clock tower, Union Station’s facade is a
popular photo op, best framed with the block-long “The Meeting of the Waters”
fountain across the street spewing in the foreground.
During the 1940s, Union Station welcomed and sent forth 100,000 passengers
a day, an allegory of what this parcel of earth has long done. For it was from
St. Louis that Meriwether Lewis and William Clark embarked on their two-year
errand for Thomas Jefferson. People have been following their example ever
since. It’s the most natural feeling in the world to be heading west from
here, especially when you have a full tank, a good air conditioner and a clear
lane in front of you. It feels good to leave.
And it feels good to return; there’s still so much to draw you back: free
admission to the St. Louis Art Museum, a jewel box with a world-class
collection, and the St. Louis Zoo, from which hailed the late Marlin Perkins;
free tours of the Budweiser Brewery and a flight exhibit at The Boeing Co.;
pay-as-you-go bar and restaurant hopping over the cobblestones of Laclede’s
Landing, a riverfront entertainment district.
Among the stalls of the Soulard neighborhood’s historic Farmers Market,
just south of downtown, the earthy scents of soil and leafy vegetables, of
fresh-cut flowers and ripe fruit mingle in the humidity with people sounds:
There are questions about prices, the rustle of paper sacks being filled, and
the insistent slapping of a man’s palm against the cool green skins of his
last three watermelons, trying to close a sale. You can buy a whole dressed
hog here for $100, a Busta Rhymes T-shirt for $10 or Vidalia onions five
pounds for $2.
Go downtown to the Old Cathedral, officially the Basilica of St. Louis,
King, and you’ll get a unique view of the arch through the church’s
multi-paned windows. Go to the Old Courthouse, also downtown, and you’ll see
where the Dred Scott trial took place. Go to Bellefontaine Cemetery, north of
downtown, and you can find the monumental grave of explorer William Clark and
the austere Lemp family crypt.
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But still no ghosts.
It’s too bad about the Lemp family. They built their fortune on the brewing
empire that originated, then sold, the Falstaff label, endured a Victorian-era
divorce scandal and suffered many untimely deaths, several by suicide. Charles
Lemp, whose room I stayed in at what is now a bed-and-breakfast and
restaurant, was the last family member to live in the house, until he took his
own life in the mansion in 1949.
No one at my table talked about him over dinner, though. One entire dining
room of the Lemp Mansion Restaurant and Inn was engaged in solving the case of
the “Hawaiian Corporate Corpse,” one of the murder mysteries that takes place
in the house every Friday and Saturday night. When talk did turn to the
mansion and its hauntings, it was to discuss the chances of seeing the
“Lavender Lady,” one of the most flamboyant Lemps and purported ghostly
mistress.
If houses were women, then Lemp Mansion was the one that pulled her hair
tightly into a bun at a time when all the other ladies were wearing ringlets.
Its rooms are dark, despite the cheerful decor. Family portraits seem to be
looking at you instead of the other way around. The roof leaks, the stairs
creak, there’s something sinister about the attic.
If you don’t spend the night, you can come for lunch or dinner, the murder
mystery dinner theater or simply take one of the $3 house tours. However, if
the house doesn’t scare you, maybe the abandoned corpse of the nearby Lemp
Brewery, with its dark, red-brick towers and broken windows, will.
Perhaps the most haunting thing about St. Louis is the restlessness it
inspires. Go away, come closer. Head west, stay awhile. Maybe the ghost of
Charles Lemp felt that strange pull to leave. Perhaps his soul, like so many
before him, went in search of the sunset. I’d like to think he’s found it.
But I bet he’ll come back.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Weekend expenses for one:
Lodging (two nights) ……….. $184
Meals …………………….. $67
Dinner theater …………….. $40
Snacks, etc. ………………. $8
Gas ………………………. $38
Admissions ………………… $12
Parking …………………… $10
Gifts & souvenirs ………….. $53
Film & developing ………….. $27
Total …………………….. $439
IF YOU GO
– GETTING THERE
Tallest landmark to tallest landmark, it’s 295 miles from Chicago’s Sears
Tower to St. Louis’ Gateway Arch, a straight shot down Interstate Highway 55,
not counting pit stops.
LODGING
If you want to pay New York prices in the Heartland, try the Hyatt Central
Station (800-233-1234). Its lobby, which you can see for free, was once the
Grand Hall of St. Louis’ showpiece train depot. Rack rates start at $205, but
the hotel advertised a “Getaway Next Weekend” special on its Web site offering
rooms for $150 or less for the weekend I would be in town. However, when I
tried, on numerous occasions, to book a room there, the lowest rate was $185.
So, I spent my Friday night in the Earth City-Bridgeton suburbs at the
Courtyard Marriott (800-321-2211), where I got a room for $69 plus tax. The
Earth City-Bridgeton area is just across the Missouri River from the historic
riverfront town of St. Charles, where there is much boutique shopping to be
done.
St. Louis has a tempting assortment of B&Bs. For my Saturday night, I chose
Lemp Mansion Restaurant and Inn because it is said to be haunted. For $105, I
stayed in a room overlooking Interstate Highway 55 and the mansion’s patio. A
shared bathroom was across the hall. Don’t come expecting a cooked breakfast
or chatty camaraderie; the innkeepers don’t live here, and breakfast — a
basket of muffins, fruit, canned juice and individual-sized wine — is in your
room when you arrive. Check in is after 5 p.m., when the staff is rushing to
welcome, seat and serve its dinner guests. (314-664-8024)
– DINING
I had hoped to make Friday-night dinner reservations at Patty Long’s Ninth
Street Abbey, located in a former church. Unfortunately, a private party had
reserved the stained-glass sanctuary, which was the sole reason I wanted to
eat there, so I passed. Maybe you’ll have better luck. (314-621-9598)
Lemp Mansion Restaurant and Inn has a three-hour murder mystery dinner
theater on weekends for $40. The price covers hot hors d’oeuvres, salad, a
choice of three entrees, dessert, wine and non-alcoholic beverages. The
theatrical side of the evening is conducted by Murders, Games & More!, which
assigns each guest a role to play. You can ham it up or be a wallflower. The
chicken I had was good, but not memorable, and the service was slow. You can’t
beat this place for spooky atmosphere, though. (314-664-8024)
St. Louis Bread Co. is a sandwich-pastry-bread-and-coffee bistro with
locations all over town. The Grind Diner appeared to be the only establishment
open — or still open — on Sunday morning in Laclede’s Landing. For $4.90, I
got eggs, pancakes, hash browns, juice and coffee.
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– INFORMATION
St. Louis Convention and Visitors Bureau: 800-916-0040;
www.explorestlouis.com
———-
Toni Stroud’s e-mail address is [email protected].