Missouri?
 

Anyone ever been to Missouri?

Headliner are continuing our national tour with a visit to Columbia, MO in a couple of weeks.

I assume they have like restaurants and stuff in Missouri?

I can vouch for there being food at the St. Louis airport. At least as of the late 1990s.

Worst Chinese food I ever ate was in Cameron, Missouri. Best Chinese food I've eaten in Missouri was the only time I was ever happy to be in a P.F. Chang's.

Not food related but I'd point out that Marceline, MO, is about 90 minutes away from Columbia. Assuming much hasn't changed since I was there in 2001 you'd find a Disney museum, a barn put up by the Carolwood people, and down in a town park (not the town square) the donated midget autopia track (or whatever it was called).

Interesting, I'd make time for a visit but given the schedule for this trip it would have to be after midnight and sadly The Walt Disney Hometown Museum is not a 24-Hour establishment.

Thanks for the tip.

Perhaps, but what do you suppose security is like in a small town like that? I bet you could pull of a "private" midnight tour.

True, what's the worst that could happen while breaking and entering in small town America.

Pfft Mickey Jail

Until recently I had a branded pie spatula (whatever those are called) from the Chevy dealership in town. We were there in 2001 to cover their celebration of Walt's 100th Birthday (Walt was a no show, he's an ingrate) and being less than a month after 9/11 it was severely underattended and I ended up being one of the few press people there so people were happy to talk to me (and I felt obligated to talk back where I usually just prefer to stand near other press people and copy off of them).

Anyway, the dealership had a newly painted mural on the side of the building and it only had 49 stars on it. So I asked the owner if he really hated Hawaii or something. The story was just that the guy painting the mural got drunk and wandered off before finishing it. Not a great story on the internet 13 years later but I enjoyed it at the time. Then he showed me a photocopy of some letter Disney wrote to his father back in the day and gave me the pie server.

I can't say if the museum is worth a visit. I saw it before it opened; the exhibits were nice enough but I have no idea how funding has panned out over the last decade. The local elementary school cafeteria also has (or had) a giant mural of Disney characters (painted by some Disney artist) but just barging into an elementary school is probably about as frowned on as midnight museum visits.

Oh, the single screen movie theater is (or was, failure finding their web site suggests they may have closed) also a bed and breakfast and is where The Great Locomotive Chase had its premiere.

Some quick searching around suggests that Walt Disney may not have been the economic boost they were hoping for in 2001.

I was in Missouri for the first time a few months ago, drove from Kansas City to Springfield and stayed there a few days. I'm sure there must be good restaurants, but I tried a few local establishments and "good" isn't the first word that pops to mind. One was a place called "The Purple Burrito" that the locals raved about. It was horrific.

Bottom line, you are probably best off sticking with places that serve BBQ.

Fireworks, on the other hand, are plentiful.