GRISWOLDDAD
Parenting, Entertainment, and Travel Tips
Things to Do in Missouri
*For the top yearly events of Missouri, click here.
Branson
Branson, in the Ozark Mountains, overflows with entertainment. Traditional Country shows, "oldies" tributes, family fun and Christian entertainment like magic and comedy shows, the Titanic Museum (where you walk into a giant replica of the famous ship), the Silver Dollar City amusement park, zip lines, and a Hollywood Wax Museum, you'll need to look through their show lists to see what you're most interested in...or spend a while in Branson. There's a good number of "Old Timey" photo shops to choose from and get old cowboy or gangster picture of you and your family.
Plus, there's Dick's 5 & 10, a general store filled with old timey candy and drinks, souvenirs, toys, you name it. And, the owner has added multiple collections of nostalgic Americana making Dick's a small museum.
You may ask, why is all of this in Branson? Well, YOU may not, but I did. Here's the answer, Harold Bell Wright's famous novel, "The Shepherd of the Hills" aka the story of the Ozarks. People began visiting Branson after that novel, the 4th most widely read book in publishing history, was published in 1907. For years, the play adaptation has ran at Shepherd of the Hill theater (It closed for a while in 2013 after being open since 1960, but is reopened in 2014). "At The Shepherd of the Hills Outdoor Theatre, Harold Bell Wright's epic story of love, loss, power, hardship, the old west, and the true meaning of life is immortalized every night on our star-lit stage." The play involves over 90 cast members, more than 20 horses, donkeys and mules, a flock of sheep, a real-life burning log cabin, guns and an authentic 1908 DeWitt auto! Once this show was established, other entertainers began moving in as well, making Branson the fun, family values place it is today.
Cuba
Historic Route 66, aka the Mother Road, aka Main Street USA runs through much of Missouri as 66 cuts a path from Chicago to LA. In Cuba, there's the Fanning Route 66 Outpost and gift shop. Well, in the parking lot, they have another Griswold Americana oddity, The World's Largest Rocking Chair! This thing is so big, I have to admit I first thought it was a billboard advertising for the chair and was wondering where the chair was. I let my eyes focus...zoom out...and saw the chair.
Hannibal
Mark Twain grew up in Hannibal. So there are lots of Mark Twain attractions. His home has turned into the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum. Within the open streets of this museum, you'll see Mark aka Samuel Clemens' home, as well as the famous white fence "Tom" tricked his friends into painting, and Becky Thatcher's house (actually Laura Hawkins' house, who was Samuel's childhood sweetheart and became "Tom's" "Becky" in the books). You can also see the caves that Tom Sawyer was lost in, cruise on a riverboat, see the Tom & Huck statue, or see live Mark Twain performances! Hannibal ALSO has haunted tours and a museum honoring another birthplace, that of the Unsinkable Molly Brown, from the Titanic.
If you're not quite done with Mark Twain, though, drive 3 hrs to Rolla, MO, and you can go camping in Mark Twain National Forest to really immerse yourself into the world of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.
Kansas City
First of all...I still get confused on Kansas City being in Missouri. Is it too late to petition a name change? The biggest draw for me in Kansas City is the national WWI Museum, the Liberty Memorial. While here, though, you can also see the American Jazz Museum and hit an amusement park like Worlds of Fun or its watery brother, Oceans of Fun.
Apparently, the cowboys of yore left modern day Kansas City knowing a thing or two about how to cook a steak. The city is known for its great steakhouses, grab one while you're in town. If you're like me...and have a wife that's mostly a vegetarian, you don't often get meals like this at home (even if you're the one doing the cooking, it usually makes more sense to cook meals everyone will eat...), so I definitely partook!
Wondering about that "mostly a vegetarian" comment? She'll only eat chicken. The chicken MUST be boneless, skinless, white meat, and it can be mixed into a salad or on a sandwich but cannot be mixed into anything else, like a pasta. Then if she eats it more than twice a month or so, she'll "get sick". So, this usually limits my meat options…but not in Kansas City! I want a Kansas City steak, or Kansas City BBQ, or Kansas City burnt ends!
Liberty Memorial, WWI Museum
St. Joseph
St. Joseph is "known for being the start of the Pony Express and the end of Jessie James." The Patee House, once a luxury hotel, served as the Pony Express headquarters from 1860 to 1861.
Jessie James' house has been turned into a museum and moved to the grounds of the Patee House. You can see where he lived and died. You can SORT OF still see the bullet hole in the wall where Robert Ford shot Jessie in the back. The large bullet hole is on the north interior wall, but the hole was actually much smaller until, over the years, souvenir hunters carved shavings from the hole and enlarged it.
Jesse James' House
Patee House, Museum and Pony Express Headquarters
Bullet Hole Where Jesse Was Shot
St. Louis
St. Louis is the "Gateway to the West." While traveling west, this is where you cross the Mighty Mississip! The gateway takes form in the iconic 630 foot tall St. Louis Gateway Arch, the world's tallest arch. Be sure to take an elevator ride to the top to see a great view of the city.
While in St. Louis, you can also ride a river boat up the Mississippi River, visit the Six Flags Amusement Park, or go see the stunning Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis. This cathedral is beautiful inside and out. On the inside, however, there are 41.5 million glass mosaic tiles lining the sanctuary in over 7000 different colors. One by one, the tiles were placed to create beautiful imagery. The process took from 1912 to 1988.
If you go on the river boats with small kids, take them up to the steering section, they'll probably let them "drive."
St. Louis Arch
Tom Sawyer Steamboat
Stanton
Missouri is known as the Cave State, and Meramec Caverns are are the largest commercial caves in the state. Jessie James used these caverns as a hideout. They are filled with "mineral deposits and color as rare and unique as they are amazing." Visitors can tour the caves, do zip lines, camp in the campgrounds (outside the caves), and canoe nearby. Guided tours of the cave proudly display “Loot Rock,” where Dalton claimed the James gang divided up their stolen money.
Nearby, there's a Jessie James Wax Museum!
