The Midwestern US State of Missouri has beautiful State Parks, rivers, caves and rolling wine country. Missouri's rich history - dating from westward expansion in the US and the Civil War - compliments today's exciting art, culture and jazz scene.
Check out www.visitmo.com to discover casinos, wineries, museums, golf courses in abundance - plus fascinating cities such as St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield and of course, the music capital of Branson.
There is truly something for everyone in the diverse state Missouri. There are outdoor activities such as boating and golf. You can explore quaint small towns rich in history and cosmopolitan cities. And you will discover every type of music including Kansas City Jazz, St. Louis Blues and the incredible variety of shows in Branson.
With 88 state parks and historic sites, Missouri State Parks has something for everyone. Visit the homes of famous Missourians, Civil War battlefields, and reminders of yesterday such as gristmills and covered bridges. The State parks also protect and preserve the state's most outstanding landscapes - deep forests, glades, prairies, blue streams and clear lakes - for everyone's enjoyment.
A trip to Missouri is to travel through time – journey from the days of the explorers Lewis and Clark who opened up Westward expansion, to the of-the-moment glitz of Branson’s bright lights. And your journey takes you across varied landscapes from the Eastern boundary of the State formed by the Mississippi River to the Western boundary with Kansas and Oklahoma.
Astride the Mississippi, St Louis is a joy to visit. One of the most popular sights is the famous Gateway Arch, which celebrates Lewis and Clark's great adventure and defines St. Louis as the “Gateway to the West”. This stainless steel architectural masterpiece is the icon of the city and arguably of the State itself. The Arch grounds have been the focus of an extensive, multi-year renovation project. The last major pieces of the project are the museum exhibits and expanded visitor center under the Arch.
The new visitor center at the Arch will be expanded by 46,000 square feet and include all new, interactive and engaging exhibits that tell the story of America’s westward expansion and the important role that St. Louis played. The new museum at the Gateway Arch will invite visitors to experience exhibits including Jefferson’s Vision, Riverfront Era, New Frontiers, Manifest Destiny, Colonial St. Louis and Building the Arch.
The most perplexing aspect about St Louis is which of the many attractions to visit. America’s largest brewery, the Anheuser- Busch Brewery, also has its home in St Louis. Home to Budweiser, the tour of this huge complex is entertaining and informative – from the Clydesdale horses to the mysteries of the brewing process. And a visit to the Saint Louis Zoo is great fun. It is set in 90 acres of beautiful Forest Park and the Zoo is home to more than 600 species of animals, many of them rare and endangered. It is also one of the few free zoos in the nation.
D id you know that Kansas City is a great place for a BBQ meal? The legend has it that is Kansas City barbecue began in the early 1900s in an old trolley barn at 19th and Highland. A gentleman called Henry Perry created an aroma that attracted daily crowds to the back of the barn, where he slow-smoked ribs and sold them, wrapped in newspaper, for 25-cents a slab. There are now nearly 100 barbecue joints smoking in Kansas City, with a melding of flavors and styles from across the country.
A four billion dollar construction boom has created a new energy in Kansas City and resulted in some magnificent architectural additions to the Art Deco skyline. Visitors to the National World War One Museum will discover themselves on a glass floor suspended over a field of poppies one minute, then immersed in the sights and sounds of the trenches the next. This is America’s official national WWI Museum and truly represents a remarkable piece of history, focusing on the sacrifices of people involved in what at the time was known as “The War to End All Wars”.
As well as taking in Missouri’s cities, any visit to the Mid-West has to include a road trip and some outdoor adventure! And Missouri also has a rich history to explore, including three hundred national historic districts. You can retrace the steps of outlaw Jesse James, revisit the Pony Express, relive the river adventures of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer and walk the Santa Fe Trail.
Visitors keep returning to Missouri. And when you come back, there's always something new.
One way to celebrate the outdoors and explore the countryside is the tradition of the great American Road Trip. Missouri is beautiful driving country with very varied landscapes – for instance close to Branson you will discover the lakes and rolling hills of the Ozarks, while northern Missouri is wide open ground with ample farmland and views that go on for miles.
Missouri is home to more than 450 kms of Route 66, one of the most famous highways in the United States. And the Missouri section features some of the Route’s most historic tourist attractions as it meanders through the South West corn er of the State. Springfield is just a 45 mins drive from Branson. It’s situated on historic Route 66 – and there is a fabulous Museum in Springfield that celebrates “The Mother Road”. With more than 70 vehicles on display and plenty of Route 66 memorabilia, it’s a fun trip down America’s memory lane.
If you prefer to hike - The Katy Trail is a wonderful recreational outdoors trail that pretty much connects St Louis and Kansas City. It is a recreational rail trail that runs in the right-of-way of the former Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad. It’s the longest rails-to-trails project in the U.S., stretching 483 km across the heart of Missouri. Currently the trail comes to within about 24 kms of St Louis on the eastern end and stops some 130 kms away from Kansas City on the western end. The trail parallels the Missouri River and offers scenic views of both the river and river valley.
Echo Bluff State Park is Missouri’s newest (and 88th!) State Park and an outdoor destination to experience all that the Ozarks have to offer. Whether you prefer a rustic campsite, one of 62 full-service camping sites or a night in the park’s iconic lodge, will have something for everyone. Fill your days with floating, hiking, swimming, fishing or just relaxing in the shadow of the park’s namesake, Echo Bluff.
Outside of the State Park system there are many outdoor adventure opportunities in Missouri as well. Dogwood Canyon Nature Park covers 10,000 acres of pristine Ozark Mountain landscape and the park has miles of crystal-clear trout streams and dozens of cascading waterfalls. Acquired by Bass Pro Shops’ founder Johnny Morris in 1990, the park is managed by the Dogwood Canyon Foundation. Activities include hiking, biking, horseback riding, Segway tours, fishing and more!
Another project by Jonny Morris, the founder of Bass Pro Shops, is the Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium is opening in Springfield. It is a truly expansive wildlife experience and it promises to be the largest, most immersive, fish and wildlife attraction in the world. The scale of this attraction is awe inspiring! Visitors will enjoy a 1.5 million gallon aquarium showcasing 35,000 live fish, mammals, reptiles and birds. You will also be able to wander more than 1 mile of trails and explore exhibits spanning 320,000 sq ft. - plus more than 70,000 square feet of immersive wildlife galleries and dioramas.
Other exciting outdoor adventures in Missouri include a ride aboard an electric cart for an exhilarating two-and-a-half mile nature trail journey when you visit the "Lost Canyon Cave and Nature Trail" at the Top Of The Rock in the Ozarks. Pass through covered Amish bridges and marvel at dramatic natural rock formations, waterfalls and caves. You can even enjoy a specialty drink at the cave bar tucked among the cascading waterfalls. Dining, accommodation at Big Cedar Lodge and golf are also available here.
The music capital of Branson is a remarkable vacation destination. It has 49 magnificent live performance theatres, more than 100 shows, pristine lakes, 10 championship golf courses, an award-winning theme park, dozens of attractions and museums, shopping galore, varied dining options and a host of hotels and resorts... all cradled in the beautiful Ozark Mountains.
The current $80 million dollar project to transform West Highway 76 will add even more fun and a unique sense of place to an already memorable visitor experience. This includes the magnificently restored Branson Ferris Wheel that was moved here in 2016 from the Navy Pier in Chicago. More exciting news is the opening of the new Tiger Woods designed golf course at Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, just south of Branson.
Branson is a great destination for fun family with indoor and outdoor water parks, museums and many fun eating places. Branson Landing Mall is home to over 100 shops and restaurants, as well as the Hilton Promenade Hotel and a $7.5 million water and fire spectacular.
Kids and grown-ups alike will also love “Titanic” - billed as the world’s largest museum attraction. This is a brilliantly interpreted self-guided tour through the tragic voyage of 1912, in which the visitors assume the identity of one of the passengers or crew. It personalizes the experience, generating a new level of respect and understanding for this fascinating disaster.
From the past to the here-and-now: Branson is the entertainment capital of the Mid West. For more than 50 years, live shows have been a staple of a vacation in Branson. Morning, afternoon and night, Branson offers a variety of entertainment options for every member of the family from comedy shows to classic country shows…..and from magic to music. All are good, wholesome family entertainment. No showgirls here – you can take your kids and your grandma to any of them.
Branson continues to reinvent itself each year with an exciting new line up of shows. This year is a very special year for the Presley family who are celebrating 50 years in Branson. Lloyd Presley founded the first live music theatre in Branson in 1967 - and generations of Presleys have been performing in Branson ever since. Lloyd started playing music when he was 10 years old when his brother Don swapped a hound dog for a guitar. Lloyd created an “underground music scene” – quite literally - because early performances were held in caves in the Missouri Ozark hills. And the caves were packed with audiences eager to enjoy a mixture of Bluegrass, Country and Gospel music.
Comedy has always been an intrinsic part of the show as well. In 1962, Lloyd’s son Gary, just 15 years old at the time, created the comedy Hillbilly character “Herkimer” - named after a Carter family song “Herkimer and the Bull”. The Carters, of course were a founding family of Country Music.
The current “Presleys’ Country Jubilee” has four generations of the family on stage with their unique blend of soul-stirring music and side-splitting comedy.
Music has always been important in Missouri – and not just in Branson. Ragtime got its early boost in Sedalia, Missouri thanks to Scott Joplin. Missouri is an important centre for Jazz and Blues - and Missouri also played a part in the evolution of Country Music.
To underline this musical heritage The National Blues Museum has opened in St. Louis. It’s no accident that St Louis was chosen as the site for this new museum. When an infusion of southern blues music merged with the St. Louis traditions of ragtime and jazz, a new version of the genre was formed: the St. Louis Blues. And St. Louis has served as the home of musicians such as W. C. Handy, Henry “Mule” Townsend, Chuck Berry, Miles Davis, Ike & Tina Turner, Albert King and Little Milton.
Few forms of American music can claim a history as long, as tradition-rich, and as complex as the Blues. Since its origins in the Deep South long ago, the Blues has been the bedrock for virtually all American popular music of the last hundred-plus years. The National Blues Museum is the only museum dedicated exclusively to preserving and honoring the national and international story of the Blues and its impact on American culture in the United States.
As visitors progress through the museum, they are taken on a chronological journey of the development of the blues, from its roots in the American South during the late 1800s to its prominence as an essential musical and cultural component of 21st century America.
Continuing Missouri’s musical legacy, Kansas City played a major role in the development of Jazz, thanks to artists like Charlie “Bird” Parker, Duke Ellington, and Count Basie. People say that jazz may have been born in New Orleans, but it grew up in Kansas City.
Kansas City is home to the American Jazz Museum. From world class performances, award winning venues and exceptional educational programming - to striking jazz art exhibitions and stunning film collections – this is the destination for all things Jazz! The New York Times called the American Jazz Museum “an interactive paradise” with its many listening stations, touch-screen adventures and custom-mixing soundboards.
Keep your eyes peeled for Charlie Parker’s saxophone, a gift to the museum from former president Bill Clinton. You can sample KC’s signature sound at the district’s acclaimed “Jammin’ at The Gem” series, or inside the museum’s working jazz club “The Blue Room”. And Night Owls are in for a real treat at the “Mutual Musicians Foundation”, where the late-night sounds bebop until 5 a.m.
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