I hope you had a nice holiday and was able to honor loved ones. We had a nice holiday visiting the cemeteries on Friday and then dinner on Sunday with family and dinner on Monday with neighbors. Today Bailey (our grand dog) arrives for a few days while Cheryll, Joe, Ellie and Madeleine start a short family vacation.
Our last camping trip took us to Jefferson City, MO. Our neighbors Don and Sharon joined us.
Our main objective was to tour the Penitentiary. What a great tour it was. If you are interested in taking the tour, you will have to call ahead for reservations. The tour last 2hours or they have another one that lasts 3 hours. We chose the 2 hour tour and felt like it was the right amount of time.
Now let me back up a little. Since it had rained the week before our trip and had flooded many areas south of Jeff City, our original plan of visiting State Parks in that area had to be cancelled so we concentrated our sightseeing to the Jeff City, Cuba and Rolla area.
Our camp sight was in Binder Park in Jeff City. Binder Park is a City park that use to be a State Park. The information we received from the camp host was that the city had let it run down pretty bad. It had been cleaned up just not what we are used too. Facilities in the bath house were seriously outdated. Cleanliness was not the greatest either. Lighting was outdated. The campground had 18 camp sites. My recommendation is to use this as a second or third choice when looking for a place to camp.
Day one in Jeff City we visited the Missouri State Penitentiary.
The Penitentiary is now a historic site. As I said earlier our tour took two hours and was given by a former guard in the prison when it was open. Our tour guide worked there 35years before it was closed in 2004. The Penitentiary was the largest west of the Mississippi River and housed over 5000 prisoners. Can you imagine 5000 men who had done something so bad that they were sent to this jail? According to our tour guide lots of bad things happened behind those walls. I will stop here because I don't want to give away too much if you decide to take the tour. I think the $15.00 for admission was quite reasonable and if you get the opportunity to take it, don't pass it up. The stairs that you walk up and down are not strenuous. You will do a lot of walking.
Day two took us to Cuba Missouri. Dave and I have been there before but Don and Sharon had not. Cuba is a nice town situated on Route 66. Cuba has about 12 Murals painted on the sides of buildings depicting life on Route 66 and history of Missouri. Did you know that Amelia Earheart had to make a forced emergency landing in Cuba, Missouri on September4, 1928? .After inspecting the plane for any damage and not finding any, she was able to continue her journey. She was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. You can see this depicted in a mural in Cuba, Missouri. Don't forget to stop by the Historic Landmark, Wagon Wheel Motel. Look for the 1931 Phillips 66 Station at the intersection of Hwy 19 and Route 66. This has been converted into a cafe. We ate BBQ at the MO Hick BBQ Restaurant.
After driving around Cuba and seeing the Murals and taking lots of pictures, we went down Route 66 looking for the iconic Rocking Chair. On our journey there we ran across a place called Bob's Gasoline Alley. We did not see that he was advertised in any brochure, just some old cars and trucks you can see from I-44. The actual entrance in on Route 66 west of Cuba toward the Rocking Chair. This was an unexpected very fun place to find. This couple once lived and farmed the land that it sits on and has now converted it into what looks like a little town. He has every sign imaginable along with so many antique pedal cars, soda fountain memorabilia, statues of Elvis and soda fountain waitresses. They also cater to large groups for lunches and dinners. All home cooked meals from scratch. They do not sell to the public. That particular day they were expecting a group of about a 100 guests for lunch, but let us look around anyway. In the field adjacent to this village were mules, lamas, and other animals. If you get a chance to stop there do it.
After lunch we headed for Rolla for dessert. But first we stopped at a place called Fugitive Beach.
This was outside of Rolla a few miles at an old Rock Quarry converted to a beach and pool area. When I read about this place, it caught my attention. Couldn't quite imagine a rock quarry having a beach. The 20ft diving areas and long slides I had no problems with. As it turns out they have all of this and more. They say they color the water in the quarry with a special color to make it a dark blue to remind you of being on a beach near the ocean. Didn't quite give me that feeling but for some it might be okay. After leaving the Fugitive Beach we found the Pie Place. This was hard to find because it was located in a strip mall behind another building with no parking. The no parking did not deter us. We were able to find our way inside to order a piece of homemade Coconut Creme Pie which stood at least 3 inches high before the whipped creme. Don and Sharon ordered apple and cherry. None of us could say anything bad. They were delicious. If you are in Rolla please stop for dessert at the Pie Place.
Day three was a little more relaxed. I was very fortunate to be able to have lunch with a classmate from my high school days, Jacki. We made arrangements to meet at the Ecco Lounge for lunch. It was nice to see Jacki and to visit about Jeff City and find out what kept her busy. The Ecco Lounge has been around for a very long time. It was established in 1825. In 1860 it became a beer saloon. In 1881 It was called Farmer's Home Hotel. A place the farmers could come and stay when they came to town. In 1890 it was torn down and replaced with the 3 story building that stands today. In 1941 it became Emma's Tap Room. In 1945 it was purchased and renamed ECCO Lounge. It has had several different owners but still stands as ECCO Lounge, serving beer and food. I thank Jacki for the visit and for suggesting this historic lounge for lunch. After lunch we took a ride around the Capitol and surrounding area. We did not tour the Capitol this time, saving that one for another time. Back to camp for a nice dinner that had been cooking in the crock pot all day.
Rain was in the forecast so before dinner we spent time packing up as much as possible in the car and covering as much as possible under the pick-nick table with tarps.
One last camp fire then off to bed. The next morning we packed up and headed home.
Looking forward to our next camping trip.
I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING WITH CERTAINTY
BUT SEEING THE STARS MAKES ME DREAM
Happy Camping
