Missouri, part two (June 2018)

Written by ceddammit

It’s that time of the week! Throwback Thursday – when I finally get around to sharing photos from not-too-recent trips. This week it’s part 2 of my June 2018 trip to Missouri (here’s a link to part one, in case you missed last week). Part one was Kansas City, and part three will cover Saint Louis – both of which are major metropolitan areas. Today’s post is very different, covering small towns and rural places outside of the big cities.

Heading east from Kansas City, my first stop was Fort Osage. The current structure is a reconstruction of the original fort, which was established in 1808. The original was one of a series of forts along the western frontier. Though the structures themselves were true forts (as you will see in the photos below), their stated purpose was to serve as trading posts, with the intent of improving relations between the US government and the natives.

Exterior of Fort Osage, Missouri
Exterior of Fort Osage, Missouri
Barracks inside Fort Osage
Interior of Fort Osage, Missouri
Peek-a-boo! I fire on you!
The fort sits on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River.

As you may have noticed in the last of the above pics, there is an impressive railroad bridge near Fort Osage. The photo below shows this bridge being used by a Burlington Northern Santa Fe train. According to Bridgehunter.com, this bridge was completed in 1915, and is over three quarters of a mile long.

This is the BNSF – Sibley Railroad Bridge as viewed from Fort Osage, near the village of Sibley, Missouri

Side Note: Three years after this trip, I visited Fort Smith, Arkansas (apparently I’m freaky fer forts). While there, I learned that I have been mispronouncing “Osage”. Read for yourself in the pic below…

The French language strikes again!

From fort to battlefield! I left Fort Osage, and headed for the town of Lexington, Missouri. According to Wikipedia, about half the states in the USA have a town called Lexington; the one in Missouri was the site of the 1861 Battle of Lexington (there was also a 1775 Battle of Lexington, but that one was in Massachusetts). There’s some stuff to see at the actual battlefield…

The gate leading to the battlefield
Inscribed on the gate
The Anderson House, which served as a field hospital

But what I really came to Lexington to see was a battle relic that’s not on the battlefield. The Lafayette County Courthouse was built in 1847 – several years before the Battle of Lexington. Check it out:

A quaint little courthouse, yes…but what’s that near of top of the left column?
You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, so read for yourself.
The cannonball that hit the county courthouse in 1861 is STILL THERE.

Once I had my courthouse/cannonball pics, I took a quick look around and realized that Lexington has one of those cool, old-school downtown areas that I just have to photograph. So I did:

One of these things is not like the others…
…here’s a hint: I’m not talking about the columns on the top floor
It’s always nice to stumble across some unexpected art deco
The Presbyterian Disciples Church
I’m not sure what this building was. It’s a little dilapidated, but has ornamentation.
The two-story buildings seem to be trying to squeeze out the three-story guy.
A blend of New England and New Mexico? We ARE about halfway between the two

During my advance planning of this trip, I noticed a town called Tightwad on the map. Getting there would require a little bit of a detour, but I told myself that I’d try to get there if I had time. Well, I had time. I was hoping to get a photo of a Tightwad City Limits sign, or Tightwad City Hall. What I actually found was much funnier. Check it out:

The following day I went to Ha Ha Tonka State Park. Yes, that’s its real name. This is a park with (at least) two distinct environs: low/wet and high/dry. I started with the high and dry, specifically the top of a bluff overlooking a small arm of the Lake of the Ozarks. The main draw here is the Ha Ha Tonka Castle Ruins. Completed in 1922, this “Castle” was actually a European-style mansion built for the family of a successful Kansas City businessman. In 1942, the mansion was gutted by a fire. All that remains of the mansion are its massive stone walls…

Approaching the castle ruins
That pile of rock in the semi-circle on the left was once a fountain.
The walls are made of stone that was quarried on site…
…the stone was transported via mule-drawn carts like this. Yup, On rails.
Looking from the high and dry down at the low and wet.
When I was here in 1980, you could sit at the edge of a cliff for this view…
…now they’ve made it all safe and stuff.

The castle/mansion even had its own water tower, which was built with stone walls to match the house…

Not a typical look for a water tower
Yes, this was a water tower.
Interior of the water tower

The day was hot, so the high and dry area of the park was getting to me. So I drove on down to the low and wet area, specifically the Spring Trailhead.

Boat dock near the Spring Trailhead
Boaters below, weird water tower above
Much of this “trail” is actually boardwalk, with some stairs here and there.
This is a serious spring. It spits out over 58 million gallons of water a day!
The steady flow of water has these aquatic plants swaying in the “breeze”.
A look back up at the castle ruins
It may not look like much more than a pool, but this is the actual spring. Water flows out from under this rock.
Caution: Trail Narrows! Oversized hikers use ramp on left.

The next day, I went to Silver Dollar City, which is an amusement park complete with a huge (and real) cave. And I learned something important about my health/fitness that day. Despite my taking advantage of the plentiful shade in this park and staying hydrated, I felt overheated and seriously fatigued after just a few hours. So I figured I would do the cave tour, and then head back to the hotel for a nap, then MAYBE come back later in the day. The cave tour guide started by warning us about the large number of stairs we would need to climb to get back up out of the cave. I really didn’t think I had the energy to do it, but I went ahead and tried. I figured, Hey, when will I ever be here again?

This particular cave has a constant, year-round temperature of 50-some degrees Fahrenheit. As we descended into this truly amazing and highly Cedric-recommended cave, I started to feel better. By the end of the tour, I felt completely rejuvenated! The stairs were no problem at all, and I had the energy and desire to go ride more roller coasters. So I ended up staying until closing time. I had to cool down again a couple of times, but this was easy enough to do in the hyper-air-conditioned shops and restaurants around the park.

And if you ever get a chance to go to Silver Dollar City yourself, make sure you ride Outlaw Run – a wooden coaster that goes upside down! But it’s not a gimmick. This thing is FAST and relentless – I loved it!

That’s all for now, come back next week for the Saint Louis portion of the trip!

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