Missouri Oddities Road Trip: Tips for Planning a Road Trip

For tourists and vacationers in Missouri, this essential travel guide will help with planning trips anywhere in the state, revealing sites of interest at every point along the way. For armchair travelers and history enthusiasts, it will provide extraordinary adventures through the state's rich past. With detailed information on hundreds of towns, Missouri Roadsides describes why each one was built where it was, who built it and when, and how it got its name. Museums, parks, outdoor recreational areas, special events, geographical features, architectural treasures, and local oddities are just some of the topics covered in this comprehensive and easy-to-use volume. No compilation of information about the state of Missouri has ever been so complete. One road leads to another; along the way there are wonders and curiosities and places to picnic or nap. Bring a cooler, some gas money, and this incredible traveling companion, and you will be ready to see Missouri as you've never seen it before! nbsp; Features dozens of historical photographs and maps, as well as contemporary maps Showcases the histories of Missouri's 114 counties Lists the origins of over 1,200 Missouri place-names Includes architectural descriptions of courthouses, antebellum homes, and other fascinating structures Supplies detailed charts on hiking, fishing, camping, and other recreational opportunities available at the state's parks, lakes, forests, and wilderness areas Furnishes information on nearly 1,000 towns and cities with directions to specific sites Contains short essays on the state's natural beauty and its colorful past, including Indians, railroads, caves, cemeteries, post offices, and the Civil War Provides detailed indexes

Drivers speeding across Missouri on I-70 don't know what they're missing. But Ted Cable and LuAnn Cadden do: untold attractions right along the highway between St. Louis and Kansas City. Driving across Missouri is packed with fun-filled information, stories, and trivia that help travelers look beyond the passing blur to appreciate the "Show Me" state's unique landscapes and landmarks. Its authors unfold the natural beauty of the state's flora, fauna, and rivers (including two of the world's largest); introduce the history of Native Americans, French explorers, and German settlers; reopen routes traveled by Daniel Boone and Lewis and Clark; and bring the Civil War era to life. The entries are tied to mile markers for travelers driving either east or west-no need to "transpose," because the authors have done it for you. Cable and Cadden tell the story behind Boone's Lick Trail at mile marker 194.0 and point out likely roosts for red-tailed hawks. They entice you to take Exit 170 to explore Graham Cave State Park, or 148 to visit the Winston Churchill Memorial at Fulton. And within the city limits of Kansas City and St. Louis, where mile markers often aren't visible, they guide the reader to notable features like the former's Jazz Museum or the latter's landmark churches. Graced with dozens of illustrations and an ample array of lively anecdotes, Driving across Missouri provides more detail for "ordinary" landscape features than can be found in most other guidebooks, whether relating the story behind the "Meramec barn" or using cornfields as a point of departure to discuss "Missouri Meerschaums"--the corncob pipe. Through their vastly entertaining book, Cable and Cadden help to slow things down in the fast lane so that travelers can enjoy Missouri's land and history, while simultaneously making a long trip pass more quickly with stories that interpret the spirit of this great "Show Me" state. And, used in conjunction with Driving across Kansas, readers can now enjoy the ride all the way from the Gateway Arch to the Colorado state line and back again.

With natives as your guides, this new series steers you down the most scenic and historic byways in the areas they cover, with plenty of intriguing points of interest and places to eat, stay, and shop along the way. This book is for those who didn't know that grape vines in Missouri changed the wine industry in France, or that the worst earthquake in American history also occurred in the same state, or that more Civil War battles were fought on Missouri soil than any other border state. If you prefer two-lane blacktop and gravel roads over interstates, this is the book for you. 30 black & white photos, 1 map.