This trip had quite a focus on architecture including two state capitols, two Frank Lloyd Wright homes, two Union Stations, two towers, numerous art deco buildings, a cathedral, a President’s house & one huge arch. We added a Giants baseball game, two national historic sites, a train ride, a cave & Branson for a little variety.
Our first two days were spent exploring St. Louis & watching our Giants annihilate the reigning World Champion Cardinals 15-0…Woo Hoo!
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| Our first stop from the airport was the imposing St. Louis Cathedral. |
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| The arboretum in Forest Park was closed but the water lily pond out front made for a great photo op! |
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| I can see how Claude Monet became obsessed with painting water lilies late in his career - I must have taken 20 photos. |
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| St. Louis's famous Union Station which is now a Marriott Hotel & a shopping mall. |
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| Enjoying some Ted Drewes Frozen Custard at this Route 66 icon. It was closed four years ago when we passed by on our Route 66 trip. |
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| The famous St. Louis skyline with its Old Courthouse & the Gateway Arch. Unfortunately the building was covered with scaffolding. |
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| A view from the base of the Gateway Arch. |
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| Busch Stadium - the views from the stadium rival those at AT&T Park. |
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| Our Giants announcers, Duane Kuiper & Mike Krukow, inspire fans to make signs. This "Gamer Babe" had some frizzed out hair going on after a long day of sightseeing in the humidity. |
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| This is one of the phrases our announcers use after an opposing player strikes out. |
We drove across Missouri with a short detour to Jefferson City to visit the Capitol. From there we continued to Independence where President Harry Truman & his wife, Bess, lived in a normal, unassuming home for most of their lives.
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| The Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City. |
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| The Independence home of Harry & Bess Truman where they lived before & after his presidency. I was finally able to use my senior National Parks Pass & saved us $8. |
The next day was spent wandering around Kansas City visiting its downtown buildings & other sights. Both St. Louis & Kansas City kept Lou busy exploring the architecture.
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| Kansas City's art deco City Hall - we were able to go to the 30th floor observation deck accompanied by an official escort. |
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| Downtown Kansas City from the top of the City Hall. |
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| Kansas City's Union Station which is now filled with museums, restaurants, shops & the Amtrak station. |
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| The National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial in Kansas City. |
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| Us on top of the Liberty Memorial Tower. |
On many of our travels through the Midwest and South, we have noticed two rather intriguing & recurring themes. It seems that fireworks (all types, legal & what we term illegal) are available year round in giant warehouse stores along the highways. And “adult superstores” are amazingly prevalent. I can only imagine what a Saturday night in Middle America must be like with exploding pyrotechnics & sex toys!
As plain (no pun intended!) & flat as Kansas is, it holds a special place in my heart. Fifteen years ago Darrin was on a flying team at San Jose State. He & his fellow aviation students took part in the National Intercollegiate Flying Association’s annual competition in Salina, Kansas. We spent a week watching our son win one event & saw his team take a prestigious safety award!
The Capitol in Topeka was under major renovation which didn’t allow for any good outside photos. We seemed to have difficulty finding buildings without scaffolding obscuring the view on this trip. For a country without any money, we sure seem to be spending a lot on refurbishing buildings. We did have a little fun inside the Capitol taking pictures.
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| Chief Justice Silver - where's my gavel??? |
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| Governor Padgug - what a nice clean desk! |
We changed plans a little to accommodate an early tour of a Frank Lloyd Wright house in Wichita which had us spending the night in Emporia, Kansas – their claim to fame is being the hometown of NASCAR’s Clint Bowyer. His picture was all over the town.
Wichita turned out to be a really cool city with lots of interesting sights. We stumbled onto a Chalk Art Festival in the Old Town that looked like lots of fun. The goal was to cover the sidewalks with chalk drawings & everyone was invited to contribute.
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| The Frank Lloyd Wright designed Allen-Lambe home in Wichita. |
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| Wichita North High School is a beautiful art deco building. |
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| The Chalk Art Festival in Old Town Wichita. |
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| The Riverfront Footbridges & Keeper of the Plains statue in Wichita. |
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| Fort Scott, Kansas near the border with Missouri. |
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| I loved this sign in a Fort Scott shop - you gotta love small town America. |
Our final destination was Branson, Missouri. I’ve wanted to see it for years having heard so much about the theaters & attractions. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed. It was really tacky with goofy looking signs & museums. I'm not sure what I was expecting but it was more than B-list entertainers & countless buffets. And at 10 PM, after the last show is over, they roll up the sidewalks, leaving deserted streets with no where to go but back to the motel. Oh, well, I’m glad we went once.
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| The Titanic Museum in Branson, Missouri. |
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| We visited this Ripley's Believe It or Not "Odditorium" - interesting but not worth the $18 admission in my opinion. |
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| We rode the Branson Scenic Railway excursion into the Ozark foothills of Missouri & Arkansas. |
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| The theater of Jim Stafford of "Spiders & Snakes" fame - one of 50 in town. |
On the way back to St. Louis for our flight home, we stopped off at Meramec Caverns. This was another Route 66 attraction which we had to skip due to time constraints last time. This trip we had time to take the tour. Frank & Jesse James once used the cave to escape the authorities & stash some loot.
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| It's hard to tell that this is water with the stalacmites rising out of it. |
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| Another of the beautiful limestone formations. |
