Making my way through Central Missouri

There’s plenty to see in the heart of the Show - Me State!

Photos and story by Kris Grant

You never know what’s going to turn out to be a highlight when you embark on a three-month Cross-county road trip, as I did this past summer. Surprisingly, I found true gems in Central Missouri! There were so many, in fact, that I’m going to share just two in this issue: my visit to Lake of the Ozarks and my stay in Columbia, home to the University of Missouri. Known as “College Town USA,” the vibrant city is also within a stone’s throw of the longest developed rail-trail in the country, The Katy Trail.

Next February, I’ll take you to Fulton, Missouri. Never heard of Fulton? Just you wait and see!

Lake of the Ozarks, as seen from 1,500 feet.

Lake of the Ozarks

It’s been named the “Best Recreational Lake in the Nation” by readers of USA Today newspaper. And its 1,150 miles of shoreline – more than the entire length of coastline in California – spill out in a serpentine pattern, earning Lake of the Ozarks the moniker “The Magic Dragon.”

The lake is best known for its outdoor recreation activities, including boating and waterskiing, kayaking and paddle boarding. It also is known as one of the best fisheries in the country and hosts over 500 fishing tournaments every year. Just prior to arriving at the lake, I spent a couple of days in the southern Ozark Mountains, staying with friends in Springfield and visiting the huge flagship store of Bass Pro Shops. Now I know why they had so many fishing poles in stock!

Wasting away at Margaritaville Ozark Lake Resort

It was a pleasure to check in at the oh-socool Margaritaville Lake of the Ozarks at Osage Beach on a hot August day!

Who knew that a single song could spawn an empire of resorts, cruises and hotels? I was immediately uplifted by the colorful laid-back atmosphere inspired by singer and songwriter Jimmy Buffett’s 1977 hit about escapism and life in the tropics. There are 26 Margaritaville resorts to date, with three more in the works, including two in San Diego. Meanwhile, Jimmy just keeps strumming away and touring. His San Diego Parrothead fans are eagerly watching for the spring 2023 date when he’ll perform at Snapdragon Stadium.

The 800+ room Margaritaville resort features five interconnected buildings plus several outlying buildings over 420 acres, including a lakefront pool and restaurant complex. It can be easily reached via the resort’s complimentary golf cart crew. Family fun was in full swing on the Saturday that I arrived. Families surrounded the three pools, lounging on rows of lounge chairs, sitting on the pools’ edges and watching the kids plummet down the water slide. More folks enjoyed drinks at the swim-up bar, overlooking the lake or the poolside Tiki Hut. The resort’s “Point of Indecision” marina rents all types of watercraft including powerboats, paddleboats, pontoon boats and wave runners. There’s also a “Jolly Mon” indoor water park, The Oaks, a championship golf course, full service spa, horseback riding with an on-property stable, and eight different bars and restaurants. At the Landshark Bar & Grill, I enjoyed a scrumptious LandShark Cheeseburger and, of course, had a margarita. At JB’s Boathouse Grill I joined the resort’s director of sales Ann Walters for breakfast, and learned a bit about the hotel’s history.

What today is Margaritaville was built in 1960 as the Tan-Tar-A Resort, the first major resort at Lake of the Ozarks. In 1977 it was sold to Marriott and extensively refurbished. Later, it was acquired by Driftwood Acquisitions in 2017, again extensively remodeled, and rebranded in 2019 as part of the Margaritaville resort chain. I particularly liked the spaciousness of my room with sitting area and balcony, plus a spacious bath. Seldom will you find a new hotel with all this room!

Jo Duncan of The Beenders Walker Group, a public relations firm, picked me up for a day of touring the Osage Beach area. The agency is owned by Jo’s sister, Marjorie Beenders, who caught up with me later in the day. Marjorie and Jo know Missouri inside and out. Prior to starting her agency a couple of decades ago, Marjorie served 13 years as Missouri’s Director of Tourism.

While much of the Aquatic Trail takes you by pristine shoreline, other parts are developed into private lakefront estates.

Next stop was Lake of the Ozarks State Park, where I explored the lake via an Aquatic Trail motorboat tour with Brian Fredrick, the assistant park supervisor. Like all of Missouri’s state parks, admission is free. This is also the largest of Missouri’s state parks, and features two sandy swim beaches, campgrounds, 12 hiking and biking trails, the aquatic trail, horseback riding, and boat rentals (also kayak and jet ski rentals).

Along the 10-mile aquatic trail, Brian called out many landmarks, each marked with an orange buoy that corresponds to a printed interpretive guide. Brian pulled up close to caves and a natural rock arch, and pointed up to an opening in the rocks that was once used as a logging chute. I watched in awe as venturous youths jumped off a 20-foot cliff into a deep blue pool below, and smiled at the lakeside landscape of one privately held home. The trail also took us into areas that remain as pristine today as they were 500 years ago.

We stopped for lunch at Wobbly Boots Roadhouse, where its award-winning recipes are inspired by a mix of Memphis and Kansas City barbecue. My pulled pork sandwich with a hickory-smoked sauce was delicious, accompanied with mashed pota- toes and gravy. But first I tried something new – fried pickles. They were slightly sweet with a crunchy coating, matched well with ranch and chipotle ranch dipping sauces and I liked them a lot.

A cliff jumper (the small figure in the upper left) is about to take a plunge into one of Lake of the Ozarks’ deep pools.

Getting a birds-eye view

The next day Marjorie and I took in the entire breadth of the lake via a Lake Ozark Helicopters tour. I can’t recommend this enough! I had been up in a helicopter just once before, a big Navy copter that transported a city delegation out to the deck of the USS Coronado, but we were all cloistered in a nearly windowless cabin. This time, I was in a tiny copter that kind of reminded me of a bug, with rounded windows providing a seamless view of the land and lake below. It was reassuring to learn that our pilot, Dan Doornink, is a Navy veteran and also instructs other copter pilots.

My host and guide, Marjorie Beenders, and I went up, up and away over the Ozarks.

Marjorie and I donned headphones that cancelled out the rotor noise and allowed us to chat back and forth with Dan. We flew over mansion-size homes on “Millionaire’s Row” on one arm of the lake as well as

undeveloped areas and then flew over the 2,543-foot Bagnell Dam, with Dan pointing out landmarks and providing historical notes.

The Bagnell Dam created the Ozarks’ reservoir when it was completed in 1931.

Construction on the dam began in August 1929 and was completed in April 1931, making Lake of the Ozarks the largest manmade lake in the nation at the time. Constructed to bring hydroelectric power to customers of the Union Electric Company of St. Louis, the reservoir quickly became a significant tourist destination. Today the lake attracts about five million visitors a year, with more than 70,000 lakefront homes, many of them vacation homes.

After our flight, I visited the historic Willmore Lodge Museum, a 6,500-squarefoot Adirondack-style lodge that once was the administrative headquarters and

entertainment venue for the Union Electric Company. Today it’s operated as a visitor center and museum by the Lake Area Chamber of Commerce and features wonderful historic photos of the area’s pre-lake history and dam construction.

Nearby, the Historic Bagnell Dam Strip offers family fun wrapped with a bit of nostalgia with t-shirt shops, arcades, mom-and-pop restaurants, fudge shops and antique stores. While on “The Strip,” you might want to stop in at Marty Byrde’s Bar and Grill, inspired by the Netflix series “Ozark,” and sample Darlene’s Killer Lemonade. While filming, the Ozark cast also enjoyed dining at Tucker’s Shuckers Oysters & Tap, and you’ll find an autographed photo of Jason Bateman there. (You knew I’d have to mention the Ozark series, right?)

Castles and Caves – Check!

The ruins of Robert Snyder’s dream castle towers over Ha Ha Tonka State Park.

I explored two more sites of wonder in the Ozarks region, both offering cool respites on a hot August day. (In case I haven’t mentioned it yet, I recommend the shoulder season months of April, May and June and September, October as the best times to visit Missouri.)

Ha Ha Tonka State Park offers exceptional hiking year-round. It’s best to begin, as I did, with a stop at the Visitor Center, to get a map of the park’s trail system and its geological wonderland of sinkholes, caves, a natural bridge and one of Missouri’s largest springs. Best of all is the ruins of an early 20th century stone castle!

Robert McClure Snyder was a prominent Kansas City banker, organizer of the Kansas City Life Insurance Company and one of the developers of the natural gas industry in the Kansas City area. He became a millionaire (when that word meant something) within 25 years of arriving in Kansas City in 1880.

Snyder first visited the area called “Ha Ha Tonka” (smiling waters) in 1903. He knew immediately that he wanted to build a private retreat in this wooded hilltop region that overlooked a spring-fed lake, and purchased land. Snyder envisioned a European style castle with 60 rooms and an atrium rising three-and-a-half stories to a skylight. Scottish stonemasons began construction in 1905. Sadly, Snyder never saw it finished, as he died in 1906 in one of the earliest auto accidents on record in the state. Snyder’s sons finished the castle, although not as elaborately, in 1922 and used it first as a family vacation home, then as a hotel in the 1930s. It was destroyed by fire in 1942.

The state purchased the castle and grounds in 1978 and established the state park. Although the castle walls were stabilized, a 2015 survey determined that portions of the mortar and stone were in danger of collapse. The public can view the castle from a safe distance.

Bridal Cave was cool in more ways than one.

Just 15 minutes from Ha Ha Tonka is Bridal Cave and Thunder Mountain Park, cited by Glamour Magazine as one of the “craziest, most awesome places to get married.” The visitor center here has a photo album filled with cool and happy brides and grooms who said their vows in the stalactite-adorned Bridal Chapel.

The cave’s history is steeped in Native American lore, including a legendary love story that inspired the cave’s name.

Marjorie rightly advised me to bring a sweater, as cave temperatures hover around 60 degrees. Aah, it felt great! Guided tours last about 40 minutes. As we moved from “room to room,” I was surrounded by giant stone columns, delicate soda straw formations and massive “draperies” of limestone and our group crossed over a crystal-clear small lake. It was all formed over millions of years, with water slowly dripping and percolating down, leaving behind stalagmites and stalactites that have a wet and rather rubbery, other-worldly appearance.

Columbia

The University of Missouri

In the heart of the Midwest, Columbia has often ranked high as one of the best places to live in America. Home to three universities and a community college, Columbia has been dubbed “College Town USA” and a youthful energy fills the city.

“The District” is Columbia’s historic downtown, comprised of 50 somewhat square blocks filled with vintage stores, boutiques, art galleries and music venues. The District is bordered by three colleges, providing a vibrant energy. In addition to the University of Missouri, there is Stephens College, a women’s college with noted studies in the areas of fashion marketing, costume design, filmmaking and screenwriting, and Columbia College, a 160-year-old private liberal arts and sciences institution.

“The District is always busy,” Marjorie told me, with students convening over coffee in the morning and martinis at midnight.

Some favorite spots that I discovered were Booches, Columbia’s oldest restaurant, providing burgers and casual chow since 1884 with lots of pool tables ready for quick games. A few doors down is Skylark Bookshop, whose owner has been pivotal in establishing and coordinating the annual Unbound Book Festival, which brings in nationally and internationally recognized authors to talk about their books, their work and their lives.

Columbia also is home to a well-regarded documentary film festival, aptly titled the True/False Film Fest. It’s run by Barbie Banks, co-custodian of the Ragtag Film Society, which also operates two theatres in Columbia, one of which shows 35-millimeter films. The festival itself is screened at seven venues including a huge Methodist Church, Jesse Hall at the University of Missouri, and the 135-seat Ragtag Cinema in the back of the Uprise Bakery, which is a bakery by day and a bar by night. Yes, you can take food and drink into the theatre! Barbie told me the film festival is, to her knowledge, the only one that has an entire parade connected to it, with community members marching down Ninth Street and ending with a big dance party. That’s on the second night of the festival; the first night begins with the masquerade Jubilee Ball. They do know how to party in Columbia!

Skylark Bookshop

Then there is The Roots ‘n Blues Festival, which is big, really big. This year more than 24 music groups and artists performed and included such names as Jon Batiste and Tanya Tucker.

One of my favorite dining experiences in the District was dinner at Ozark Mountain Biscuit & Bar. The chef-owned restaurant with a bright upbeat interior grew out of a food truck operation, and its “Biscuits” food truck continues to be a popular venue. I enjoyed a peach, blueberry, walnut and goat cheese salad, accompanied by signature biscuits and jam, while Jo ordered a sausage, egg and pimento cheese biscuit.

There are five celebrated microbreweries in Columbia, most notably Logboat Brewing Company, which has quickly established itself as one of the best breweries in the U.S. At the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Logboat captured a gold medal for its Bear Hair Belgianstyle blonde ale and a bronze for its Mamoot English-style brown ale. Its adjacent private park is a favorite family hangout, with plenty of corn hole and bocce ball games available.

Chef / owner Bryan Maness and fiancé Maria Seiffert welcome hungry diners to Ozark Mountain Biscuit & Bar.

My new favorite pizza parlor in the world is Shakespeare’s Pizza. This local landmark was named the best college hangout in the nation by Good Morning America in 2010. But in 2015 a midrise building was approved for the corner directly across from the university where Shakespeare’s resided since 1973. The building was constructed with the proviso that Shakespeare’s Pizza would be reconstructed, using the same interior wood, in exactly the same spot it had occupied for five decades. What a success! Its old-world neighborhood vibe can’t be beat, and neither can its pizza.

Tossing pizza at Shakespeare’s Pizza

Making tracks for the Katy Trail

I’ve never walked through a railroad tunnel before, and I must say it’s kind of thrilling!

Katy Trail State Park, the longest completed rail trail in the country, is built on the corridor of the former Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (MKT or Katy) that runs from Machens (just north of St. Louis) to Clinton, essentially bisecting the state, much of it paralleling the Missouri river. The trail is a bike riders’ (or walkers’ or runners’ or horseback riders’) delight. Along its 240 miles, you’ll find 26 trailheads with parking and restrooms, four fully restored railroad depots, plus lodging, dining, shopping and bike rentals in small towns that once thrived along the railroad corridor.

Marjorie and I accessed the trail in the tiny town of Rocheport, just west of Columbia. We had breakfast at the trailhead’s Meriwether Cafe and Bike Shop, named for half of the famous duo of the Corps of Discovery. Bikers made their way here to enjoy the “simple scratch” menu made with locally sourced ingredients.

Two Rocheport bed-and-breakfasts caught my eye: The School House, a 1914 school house, now an 11-room lodging house, and the Katy Trail Bed and Breakfast, fronting the trail. (I would love to return to Missouri to bike the trail in the company of several friends, so I’m planning ahead!)

After walking along the scenic trail a bit, we stopped by Les Bourgeois Bistro and A-Frame that is perched above the Missouri River, and then visited its tasting room and vineyards a couple of miles down the road. I was pleased to sample some fine Missouri wines here and picked up a bottle of Vignoles, a semi-dry white wine with floral aromas of honey and pear.

Missouri’s largest winery, Les Bourgeois Vineyards, has three locations in Rocheport

The MKT line ceased operation in 1986, and the state park system was able to acquire the railroad right-of-way through an amendment to the National Trail System. The amendment allows railroad corridors no longer in operation to be banked for future transportation needs and used in the interim for recreational trails.

The Katy Trail is also part of the American Discovery Trail and has been designated as a Millennium Legacy Trail and was added to the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy Hall of Fame. Similar trails are appearing throughout the nation, one in Idaho, and another that runs from Pennsylvania to Maryland.

Think of it… one day in the not-too-distant future it will be possible to bike ride across the nation on what used to be railroad tracks. One aspect of the former railroads’ layouts that make them perfect for biking and hiking is that U.S. rail tracks were built with a maximum incline of less than five percent to accommodate fully loaded freight trains.

If You Go…

Lake Of The Ozarks:

Tri-County Lodging Association

www.FunLake.com

Margaritaville Lake Resort

www.MargaritavilleResortLakeoftheOzarks.com

Wobbly Boots Roadhouse

www.wobblybootsbbq.com

Lake Ozark Helicopters

www.lakeozarkhelicopters.com

Ha Ha Tonka State Park

www.mostateparks.com/park/ha-ha-tonka-state-park

Lake of the Ozarks State Park

www.mostateparks.com/park/lake-ozarks-state-park

Willmore Lodge Museum

www.willmorelodge.com

Bridal Cave and Thunder Mountain Park

www.bridalcave.com

Columbia:

Columbia Convention and Visitors Bureau

www.VisitColumbiaMo.com

The District

www.DiscovertheDistrict.com

Booches

www.booches1884.com

Logboat Brewing Company

www.logboatbrewing.com

Shakespeare’s Pizza

www.shakespeares.com

Ozark Biscuit & Bar

www.OzarkBiscuits.com

Rocheport

www.Rocheport.com

Meriwether Café and Bike Shop

www.MeriwetherCafeAndBikeShop.com

Les Bourgeois Vineyards

www.MissouriWine.com

Katy Trail State Park

www.mostateparks.com/park/katy-trail-state-park

Festivals:

True/False Film Fest

March 2 – 5, 2023

www.truefalse.org

Unbound Book Festival

April 20-23, 2023

www.unboundbookfestival.com

Roots ‘n Blues Festival

Sept. 29 – Oct. 1, 2023

www.rootsnbluesfestival.com