On the western side of Missouri, Benjamin and Tiffany visited the Pony Express Stables and Headquarters in St. Joseph. They also saw the house where outlaw Jesse James was shot. In Kansas City, they toured the National WWI Museum and Memorial. The impressive museum has the world’s most comprehensive collection from World War I and includes airplanes, tanks, a glass suspension bridge over a poppy field, life-size trenches, a portion of the Panthéon de la Guerre painting, and a 217-foot observation tower.
Leaving Kansas City, they drove across Missouri to Jefferson City where they explored the grounds of the state capitol. Situated along the Missouri River, the capitol has many statues and memorials, and there were some beautiful fall colors.
Continuing across Missouri, they next visited St. Louis where they toured the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site. After touring the home of the 18th President of the United States (called White Haven), they drove downtown to explore the newly re-designated Gateway Arch National Park. They enjoyed spending time on a beautiful fall day seeing the Archway, the Old Courthouse (where the Dred Scott case was handled), the Mississippi River, and the new underground visitor center and museum beneath the Archway.
The final stop in Missouri was the historic river town of Hannibal (the boyhood home of author Mark Twain). Benjamin and Tiffany stopped and walked around town, seeing many of the locations from Twain’s stories including Becky Thatcher’s House, the J.M. Clemens Justice of the Peace Office, Grant’s Drugstore, and more. They also climbed the 245 stairs to the Mark Twain Memorial Lighthouse to get a view of the Mississippi River before heading back into town for some cheesecake at Java Jive and a nice stroll along the riverfront.
Over the Columbus Day weekend we flew to Kansas City International Airport, then drove to Independence where we toured the Truman home at Harry S. Truman National Historic Site. We also visited George Washington Carver National Monument near Joplin and toured Wilson's Creek National Battlefield near Springfield. Before leaving Missouri, we took a scenic drive south to Branson, the Ozarks, and Soaring River State Park.
Benjamin traveled to Kansas City with his mother and sister where they visited Worlds of Fun amusement park and toured an exhibition of artifacts from the Titanic which were on display at Kansas City Union Station.
During the Independence Day week, we drove through Missouri to attend a concert in St. Louis. Along the way we stopped at Zona Rosa in Kansas City for some shopping and a nice dinner at Fat Fish Blue. We also made a pit stop in Kingdom City to shop for souvenirs at Nostalgiaville and Ozarkland.
In St. Louis, the concert was canceled due to poor weather, but we were still able to tour the Saint Louis Science Center, Saint Louis Zoo, and what was then called the Jefferson Westward Expansion National Memorial (now called Gateway Arch National Park). We rode the capsules to the top of the arch but because of the weather, there was not much of a view.
Driving back west across Missouri we stopped in Independence and toured the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum and the Harry S. Truman National Historic Site.