Missouri trip

[catken]

Looking for some good historical stops to make while in Mi. We will be going so. on Interstate 35 from Mn. to Branson. Straight E to the border. N to St. Louis following the river back to St. Paul. Still have not been able to find a nice place to stay in the S.E part of the state. Please recommend. Ken

 

[Nathanb1]

I'd definitely PM Borderruffian as he's the Missouri expert. Read through those Western Theatre threads--they mention lots of places. You can use the search function as well to check out more info on sites that interest you. Have you looked at the Civil War Traveler's Forum yet? I don't remember any Missouri stuff offhand, but for some reason I think there was!

 

[ole]

What is your idea of "nice place to stay," Ken? Most of the larger towns along the route will have acceptable accommodations. We tend to stay at Comfort Inns when we're on the road.

Along I-35 in Kansas, about where you'll want to head east, are Marais de Cigne, Mine Creek Battlefield, and Ft. Scott. Heading east to Springfield, you'll pass really close to Wilson's Creek Battlefield. From Springfield, we dropped down through Branson on the way to Little Rock. You'll probably have to return through Springfield to get on the road to St. Louis.

Recommendation: See if your book store has a recent copy of "Next Exit." It has proved invaluable in that it locates rest stops and what you might expect to find at every exit off an interstate highway.

Make sure you develop an understanding of the Interstates converging on St. Louis -- it's a rat's nest.

 

[KLSDAD]

Looking for some good historical stops to make while in Mi. We will be going so. on Interstate 35 from Mn. to Branson. Straight E to the border. N to St. Louis following the river back to St. Paul. Still have not been able to find a nice place to stay in the S.E part of the state. Please recommend. Ken

FWIW........ I'm in MI; you are going to MO .... one little letter can really mess up your searches ;-)

I'd recommend Ft Davidson/Pilot Knob ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Davidson ) which is pretty close to your route home.

 

[timk]

Here are the battlefields in Missouri. Wilsons Creek, in my opinion, is well worth a good hunk of a day. I know several places have short walking or driving tours. A little time on Google and you should get plenty of info.

http://www.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/MOmap.htm

 

[kansas]

I will pick on two states to be fair. In my travel the closer you get to the Kansas Missouri border the poorer the places to stay become, near false advertisements along with dirty rooms and poorly lit walkways, non working icemachines, poor air conditioning, heat not turned on in cool fall months, promised breakfast with a non show cook, week old doughnuts from the ready to toss outs at the downtown store for free brunch, painted over moldy batrooms, dirty parking lots, soda machines that take your money and managers with no keys to machines, rude managers, and about a hundred more. The last three times i have been to Missouri and stayed at a name brand place my wife got the offer of a free room from the company but no offer of return of money spent after a complaint and a couple pictures. The last four times i spent a night in the small towns of kansas along the Ks. Ms. Ok. border the mold was so bad in the rooms we refused to pay and stay, drove a distance to a larger town and rented a room at a name brand place that was a fair amount better. Our method has become one of look before you pay, or regret it. Whatever you do beware of a place where they hand you an electric heater along with the key or whistle up a sleepy looking fellow and tell him to stick a window AC in your room. There is such a place right here in the town i live in.

 

[ole]

If the parking lot and the exterior aren't well kept, you can bet the rooms aren't either.