Road Trip: Up The Middle Of The Country

Day 9: Sunday, May 12, 2024 - Springfield, MO

Day's statistics:
Weather: 84°, overcast
Steps: Steve 10,646; Linda 9,120
Travel: 150 miles

This establishment, while providing a full buffet, set the record for the most dry cereals available at nine.


Outside the window at breakfast, there was a nicely kept Lexus in the lot.

Oooooooh, maybe not so much...

Yesterday's "detour" to Bentonville - so worth it - had us altering our plans just a little.
Yesterday we were planning on visiting the Route 66 Car Museum, but due to the detour, we decided to do it today.
It wasn't that far away. We arrived before 9:30 and weren't the first to arrive either. And I'm not including the employee either.

There was a huge variety of vehicles on display as old as more than one-hundred years to only a decade - and they all ran.

There were some rare models and some unusual ones.
There was a Batmobile Gotham Roadster. The end of the pkacard reads "the afterburner ... was left off so as to not incinerate customers visiting the museum."



There was also a Sony official Ghostbusters® Ecto-1, 1 of only 5 licensed for the promotion in 2016.

The rest of the collection wasn't really in any particular order, though generally speaking, the very oldest models tended to be in the back right corner, and the newer models up the left side.
1934 Ford Brewster.

1957 Studebaker Silver Hawk.

1936 Pontiac Coupe - a two seat "doctor's" coupe as it is fitted with a covered cabinet behind the front for doctor's supplies [not pictured].


1932 Buick 96S Country Club Coupe - one of 586 examples made.



1976 Citroen 3 Wheeler - a vehicle that can be licensed as a motorcycle or an automobile.


1934 American Bantum pick-up with a four cynlinder generating 15 horsepower (my riding lawnmower has more HP than that...).


1930 Austin Bantum.

1907 REO Model G.

1925 Model T Depot Hack, the predecessor to the modern station wagon.

1923 Maxwell Opera Coupe - that participated in the very first Great Race Rally Across America, has a passenger seat that folds up under the dash to ease rear passenger access, and an all wood underside.


1910 Maxwell Model G - one of the first automobiles to have an all-metal body, and the second oldest car in the museum's collection.


1926 Kissel Brougham



1929 Kissel White Eagel - manufactured for only one year.


1926 Ford Frontenac.

1929 Ford Model A Tudor.

1948 Hudson Commodore - a rare example of one in original condition as most had been customized into hot rods, and this model also only has 39,000 original miles on it.



1948 Chrysler Town and Country Woodie.



1981 Rolls Royce Corniche - one of 3,217 produced.

1979 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow II - this particular one was originally purchased by Miami Dolphin Dan Marino.

1950 Jaguar Mark V - one of only 840 left hand drive 3.5 litre drop top head coupes.

1949 Diamond T Model 201 Truck - with a little hand-crank on the dash to open the windsheild windows.


1983 DMC Delorean - this sample, one of 8,580 made, only has 11,000 original miles on it. And no, it does not time travel.


Italian excellence. I mean, 1983 Ferrari 308.


1957 Mercedes SL 190.

1972 DeTomaso Pantera - one of the 7,260 mid-engine cars manufactured over a 20 year period beginning in 1971.


1958 Jaguar XK 150 - one of about 2,200 made.

1963 Morgan +4 - one of 4,584, this one once previously owned by Ret. Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf.

1967 Pontiac Bonneville - one of the largest Pontiacs ever built, this was the only year this styling.

1936 Horch 853 - one of only 50 examples used by German officer's transportation during WWII, won second place at the 2014 Pebble Beach Concours in the pre-war preservation class, and is the rarest and most expensive car in the [museum's] collection.


1954 Jaguar XK120.

1962 Triumph TR3B - of the 58,000 original examples made, 9,500 are beleived to exist today.

1957 MGA - zero to sixty in a sisteen seconds (16). No, that isn't very good as 20xx minivan could hit it in less than 10.

1951 Allard K2 - one of only 119 produced.

1949 Allard L Type Roadster - one of only 191 examples made.

1929 Auburn Boattail Speedster.

1939 Packard Safari - the only one of three fitted with a straight eight cylinder engine that is known to still exist, and this one was used by Winston Churchill when he went big game hunting in Africa.

1934 Pierce Arrow.

1926 Hudson Speedster Truck "Grapes of Wrath" - featured in John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, starring Henry Fonda.

The employee told Linda she was allowed to sit in this Austin Healey 3000 Mk III.


1925 Nash Roadster.

1931 Hupmobile.

1956 Ford Thunderbird.

1954 Kaiser Darrin - this is #286 of 435, and had sliding doors (no, this was not a minivan).



1957 Chevrolet Corvette F/I - this was the first V8 engine with fuel injection.



2003 / 1965 Cobra - this is a licensed replica of the original, but Carroll Shelby's signature on the dashboard is original.



1936 Buick Century - named for Buick's first production car to hit 100 MPH, or "a century".

1930 Packard Phaeton 77 - the convertable top take two people about ten minutes to stow.

1948 Packard Super 8.



A non-mechanical mail transport - a circa 1896 - 1907 Rural Mail Hack.

A couple automobiles that we didn't get the names of.


And lastly, some old signs, gas pumps, and other artifacts from around the museum.









We viewed the automobiles for over an hour, and then perused their small "gift shop" where there were Matchbox® cars, Hot Wheels®, other toy autos, clothing, bumber stickers, and more.
Linda was buying a couple items and I was still looking around - and found a rack of shot glasses. We usually buy shot glasses in the city or state we are visiting, but there was no reason to get all the shot glasses at once for all the states we were visiting on the same trip. So I grabbed Kansas, Nebraaska, South Dakota, and North Dakota - we already had Missouri from our visit to St. Louis last year.
And the glasses were only $2.50 each - they are usually $3.99 to $5.99.

We had were considering doing a Tour of Pythian Castle while we were in Springfield.
When I tried to get tickets on-line, the system would not allow me to buy less than four tickets - but there were only two of us. After a couple e-mails to customer service, we were essentailly told that a minimum of four tickets are required for a tour and supposedly the system requires that many tickets to be bought until there are that many people going (in other words, if we bought 4, anyone else would then only need to buy two - or if someone else bought tickets, we would have only had to buy two). Tickets at the door were also available, but with the same caveat. I was also told if I bought 4, and others bought tickets, I could get a refund at the door.
That's just a crappy way to do business. We decided to just not go.
And this is one of those reasons why I have a list of four places to go / things to do when we plan our trips.

It wasn't even 11:00, so we made our way to the next stop: Springfield Botanical Gardens.
We entered the park grounds, and turned left. The roadway brought us right alongside a prison fence.
There was also a 7.5 acre area called the "Mizumoto Japanese Stroll Garden" - though the garden required a small entry fee of $5 per adult. We went to the JSG first.




It was a nice garden with paths, a couple of structures, benches, and a pond / lake with an island.
Early on during out stroll, in a small alcove, after some other pictures were taken, we took a selfie (it's here so it doesn't get lost with all the others).

And the rest - mostly presented in the general order they were taken.































































We saw a young boy (maybe 5 or 6), with his family, throwing rocks into the pond, with his family. The normal parents would say "No junior, don't throw rocks into the nice pond." Not join the kid...
The path circled back around, and we end of it was the same way we came in.
We returned to the car, and headed to the other side of the park.
We drove back past the prison, passed the entrance, and turned left toward the next main section.
The Springfield Greene County Botanical Center.

We headed inside - it was nice to be in the AC as it got rather warm outside - and headed downstairs (there was literally nothing upstairs).




We spoke to a docent who told us about the grounds and gave us a map. We proceeded out the doors, near some stained glass windows, and headed toward the gardens.


Right outside to our left were these sculptures and a water garden.


There were miles - literally - of paths, and numerous gardens - though some of the flowers hadn't bloomed yet, and other had already done through threw their prime.
We started out, with the building behind us, to the left, (I) visited the butterfly house, got to the lake, walked across the front (as opposed to going the "extra mile" and walking all the way around it) to the rose garden, up the right side (compared to the start), and to the parking lot.
Here are the highlights, presented in the order encounter (as best I could).
































We made it to the lake.



On the other side of the lake was a peninsula that had a "human sundial" on it - and this guy seemed to be testing it out.

Elsewhere on our side of the lake...













We took a brief break and sat in Adirondack chairs for a few minutes in a grove, with the sun above, and a group having a picnic at a table next to us.





And then we continued on, finally making our way to the rose garden.






















As journey through the grounds was almost done.
As we exited the rose garden, we saw a family having a picnic in a shaded grove, near this statue.

A little further on I spied an unpaved path off to the left that I wanted to check out, but Linda didn't really want to. So I went one way and she the other, and we met near the parking lot.









We arrived at the car and noticed that there was a Master Gardeners Demonstration Garden across the parking lot.
We did not visit it.

Time for lunch.
We plugged FD's Grillhouse into the GPS. In less than fifteen minutes we were there. And there was a line pracctically around the building. This place is pretty popular. Especially on... Mother's Day! Wait, what? Oh right, it was Mother's Day.
OK, so on to the next location: City Butcher & BBQ, a mile down the road. We pulled into the strip mall parking lot, and found the restaurant. That was closed. With a sign on the door "all sold out - see you tomorrow". Well... OK then.
This is why I make a list of location options.
The third attempt now: Cedar's Family Restaurant, a few hundred yards down the road. Looking at the GPS telling us to make a right turn: here it comes, here it comes, there it goes. Oh come on. Right turn, right turn, right turn, try again. Slower, turn signal on sooner. Here it comes, here it comes, THERE it is.
We pulled into the strip mall parking lot, drove a little and then spied the location.

We got out, and went inside.

We were seated at a table in a room off to the left, and were given menus.


We overheard a waitress at another table ask a customer if they wanted "shrimp sauce"...
We were given two rolls, so we can only assume this establishment serves them like a Mexican restaurant serves chips and salsa.
Linda had the turkey club sandwich with fries, and I had the fried chicken daily special, with mashed potatoes and cole slaw.


It turns out that the restaurant closes at 2:00, and by the time we were done eating, it was well after 2:00 and they were cleaning up. The servings were big enough that I didn't eat my roll and Linda didn't eat her fries - but we did take them to go.

As it was some time after 2:00, and a Sunday, we knew there really wasn't going to be too much open. And we had a two-and-a-half hour drive ahead of us.
So we hit the road.
I'll refrain - again - from making any cracks about the DOT and or local government not being able to count too high, or maybe they were using their initials instead, like Jethro or Nick Naybors.

And some other sights along the way.

We arrived at the Days Inn, and I went in to check in.
Some people either feel entitled, or they are just incapable of properly operating a motor vehicle. While taking up two parking spaces can sometime [barely] be justified - like maybe for a Ferrari, Lamborghini, or Rolls Royce - it certainly isn't for the spots right in front of the establishment. At the end arround the corner, sure - that's where we parked in one spot. But not in the spots that people would park if they are mobility challenged.

We made it to our room.

This was the only room on our trip that had a full size refrigerator (not a mini-fridge).

We had a snack of a portion of Linda club sandwich and fries from lunch, with some wine.
After relaxing for a spell, and doing the luggage thing, we washed up and went to sleep.

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