9 Area Attractions

• Branson. Now an international tourist destination, Branson offers more than just country music shows. Silver Dollar City is a glimpse into yesteryear.
  http://www.branson.com/
  
  
• Chicago. Only 5 or 6 hours by car or Amtrak, and a useful reminder that St. Louis is no longer such a big city. Some people think that St. Louis would have achieved the size and prominence of Chicago, if we’d built Eads Bridge sooner.
  http://www.ci.chi.il.us/
  
  
• Columbus, IN.
  http://www.hotelsbycity.net/guides/usa/indiana/columbus/
  
  
• Current River. A longer trip than the upper Meramec and its tributaries, but you can’t really appreciate Missouri without experiencing canoeing in the Ozarks.
  http://www.rollanet.org/~zcom/jadwin/
  
  
• French Lick, IN. This resort town has lost some of the glamor it had when national political conventions were held here, and people of means arrived at the spa on their own railroad trains. But for those interested in golf, tennis, and a hint of the grandeur of yesteryear it is worth the trip. Don’t forget that this is also the home of basketball star Larry Bird.
  http://www.frenchlick.com/
  
  
• George Washington Carver birthplace. Diamond, MO. Another birthplace home, this is a well-kept historic site outside Joplin, the birthplace of a great African-American inventor.
  http://gorp.away.com/gorp/resource/us_nm/mo_georg.htm
  
  
• Ha Ha Tonka State Park. This area near the Lake of the Ozarks includes the ruins of what once was a castle-like mansion.
  http://www.mostateparks.com/hahatonka.htm
  
  
• Harry S. Truman Birthplace State Historic Site. Lamar, MO. While Independence, a Kansas City suburb, has the Truman library, the president from Missouri was actually born about 90 miles south near the tiny town of Lamar.
  http://www.mostateparks.com/trumansite.htm
  
  
• Indianapolis. Also a city with much redevelopment activity, and a sophisticated "unigov" (merged government between City of Indianapolis and the surrounding Marion County) that goes far to reduce the traditional tugs and pulls between city and county here.
  http://www.indygov.org/
  
  
• Kansas City. Our sister city at the other end of Highway 70, home of many, many fountains, the first shopping center in America, and a nice riverwalk along Brush Creek. KC is a bigger city in terms of geography (317 square miles vs 61 square miles) but at the center of a smaller region. It has challenges of two states without the separation of a river. Beware that when you are in Kansas City, MO, the numbered streets (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.) run east-to-west, but in Kansas City, KS, numbered streets run north-to-south.
  http://www.kcmo.org/index.htm
  
  
• Kentucky and Tennessee Civil War battlefields. A long weekend is enough time to appreciate some of most celebrated battlefields of the Civil War. A good reminder of the suffering this country went through 140 years ago.
  http://www.civilwar.com/fields.htm
  
  
• Memphis. A city with much to teach us about re-discovering the river. Also the home of Elvis.
  http://www.ci.memphis.tn.us/
  
  
• New Harmony, IN. Rich in history and architecture, this is where there is a memorial to Carl Tillect (or Reinhold Neibur?). A quiet but interesting town with a good mix of places to stay and to eat.
  http://www.newharmony.biz/
  
  
• silver dollar city. Now an international tourist destination, Branson offers more than just country music shows. Silver Dollar City is a glimpse into yesteryear.
  http://www.silverdollarcity.com/
  
  
• Wilson’s Creek Battlefield. The most prominent Civil War battle in Missouri occurred at this site just outside Springfield.
  http://www.nps.gov/wicr/