Missouri - Show-Me State
Jefferson City, known to locals as Jeff City, is a 2-hour drive west from St. Louis. The city is dominated by the domed capitol, which rises from a bluff overlooking the Missouri River. Lewis and Clark passed the bluff on their historic expedition upriver before Europeans established any settlement there. It is a beautiful building, but the most outstanding feature is on the third floor in the House Lounge where the walls are covered with Thomas Benton murals. They provide a larger-than-life look at the state’s history. Called “A Social History of the State of Missouri,” the chronologically placed panels begin with the era of fur trading and trapping, through early farming, to a turkey shoot and even to a political gathering that includes a woman changing a baby’s diaper. Other panels depict coal mining, the cattle industry, and a steamboat. Further along are panels depicting uglier aspects of Missouri history including slavery and the 1838 expulsion of Mormons from the western part of the state. The overall effect of these murals is incredibly compelling, and we learned that they had recently been cleaned and restored.
A surprise gem in the small city of Fulton was America’s National Churchill Museum. In 1946, Winston Churchill delivered his famous “Sinews of Peace” address in the Westminster College Historic Gymnasium. The museum beautifully commemorates the life and times of Churchill through the imaginative and innovative use of various kinds of technology.
Fulton is near Columbia, the home of the University of Missouri, better known as Mizzou. The campus was gorgeous, especially with its autumnal leaves in full color, since we were there in October of 2010. It was a beautiful day and we chatted with a few students as we walked around the campus. At the center of Francis Quadrangle, the historic heart of the university, are six Ionic columns, all that remains of the original university building.
Heading north, we drove to Hannibal, Mark Twain’s hometown. On the way, however, Andy got a ticket driving through a tiny town with no real warning of a 20mph speed limit until it was upon us. A policeman awaited us, wrote the ticket, then dashed off immediately for the next victim heading through town. Oh well.
We stayed at a fantastic bed and breakfast in Hannibal called the Garth Woodside Mansion. The owners, John and Julia, had an interesting history. He served for 31 years in the military and he and Julia decided that when he retired, it would be her turn for a career. So, they bought this beautiful historic home, turned it into a B&B, and Julia is the chef. The room was beautiful, but the food was outstanding. We ended up eating dinner there both nights, too. When we checked out, Julia saw me standing up for the first time – before, I was always sitting at a table in the dining room eating. With a surprised look on her face, she said, “Well, aren’t you just a little peanut!” I’m 5 feet tall and she was about 5’ 11”. It gave us all a good laugh. She went on to have a cooking show on a cable TV channel.
We spent a whole day learning about Mark Twain and the city of Hannibal has done a great job of preserving his boyhood home and other places of interest. I loved both “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “Huckleberry Finn” when I was a kid, but I had never heard of Personal Reflections of Joan of Arc, a novel published in 1896. It was his last completed novel, written when he was 61 years old. I bought it, read it, loved it and I highly recommend it. It is completely different from his other works.
Leaving Hannibal, we drove along the Mississippi River, once again enjoying the fall colors. Historic Clarksville on Missouri Route 79 is part of the Great River Road, one of the most scenic highways along the river. We stopped in Clarksville for lunch and Andy took a photo of me standing within a colorful monument, fully decorated for Halloween, underneath an arch that reads, “Touch the Mississippi.” Sure enough, the Mississippi River flows swiftly behind.
The Missouri Botanical Garden is a National Historic Landmark and was a beautiful place to stroll and marvel at the horticultural displays and glass and metal sculptures. We loved the Chihuly glass installation and the statue of George Washington Carver. We were blessed with another day of perfect weather.
We spent an afternoon in Forest Park in western St. Louis, considered to be one of the nation’s greatest urban public parks. We rented a paddleboat which allowed us to explore the expansive waterways that meander through the park. It was fun and gave us plenty of exercise. We stayed near the park, at Moonrise Hotel, a boutique hotel that combines cool modern design and a quirky sophistication. The Moonrise is in the Loop, a vibrant shopping, dining and entertainment district. This area is adjacent to Washington University, a private research university with excellent undergraduate and graduate programs. The Gothic architecture is very impressive and the proximity to Forest Park is a boon to students. We thoroughly enjoyed our walk through the main quad. Forest Park Southeast is also a neighborhood that has gone through decline and gentrification over the years. We found an imposing gabled mansion on one of its streets and decided this is where we would want to live if we moved to St. Louis.
My aunt Dru and Uncle Ken, originally from Iowa, retired to Lake of the Ozarks so I wanted to visit this area. When I mentioned to a shopkeeper in St. Louis that we were headed in that direction, she looked at us and said, “You don’t look like people that would want to spend time at Lake of the Ozarks.” I didn’t really know how to interpret that. We stayed at a lovely resort right on the lake, arriving at night so we couldn’t see much until the next morning. We set out to explore the area, and the weather was in our favor…. a beautiful fall day. We learned that the lake is really a reservoir and has over 1100 miles of shoreline, more shoreline than the entire coast of California. We especially enjoyed hiking in Ha-Ha Tonka State Park. The unusual name is supposedly derived from the natural springs on the property, thus “laughing waters.” We walked along a series of trails and boardwalks where we had fantastic views of the lake and the colorful countryside. We came upon the turn-of-the-century ruins of what appeared to be a Scottish castle. The history of the castle, built by a Kansas City businessman who was killed in 1906 in one of Missouri’s first automobile accidents, is complicated; but in 1942, sparks from one of the fireplaces ignited a fire and most of the building was destroyed. We took a sunset cruise on the lake where we loved seeing houses, restaurants and other structures. We were somewhat surprised by the noise, however, of jet skis and power boats throughout the waterways. We learned by chatting with several people that Lake of the Ozarks is a party destination for people from various locations and that may account for the comment from the St. Louis shopkeeper. We did, however, not run into any people like those depicted in the popular TV series “Ozark.” We like that show very much, but I wonder what the people who live on Lake of the Ozarks think about it.
