It’s amazing what happens when I take some time to clean pictures off of my phone. Like recently, when I came across pictures from when the two older Nomad sons, and I took a road trip on Route 66 in Missouri (Daddy Nomad had to work, and the youngest Nomad wanted to spend the day with his grandparents). Just ignore the fact that this post is two months overdue.
We had three objectives to complete on this road trip; drive on the old Route 66, find the World’s Largest Rocking Chair, and get a picture of the water tower for the town Bourbon. We succeeded in our mission, and more. We also stopped by Mule Trading Post, and the Route 66 Museum.
The Worlds Largest Rocking Chair is located next to the parking lot of the Fanning 66 Outpost General Store. The store is closed on Sundays, but open the rest of the week; 9-3 on Saturdays, and 9-5 on Monday-Friday. The physical address is 5957 Hwy ZZ, Cuba, MO 65453. The store is cute, clean, great for some snacks, and full of Route 66 memorabilia. If it’s closed, don’t worry, the chair is there all the time, and available for pictures 365 days a year. Seeing this was worth the 2 hour drive we made, and I would have happily drove even longer for it. I love these types of things though, and thankfully I have a family who humors me about it. This one though, even the Nomad sons got a kick out of it, and were glad we made the drive.
After visiting the chair, it was off to get some Bourbon. Not the good kind that you might find on the Bourbon Trail in Kentucky, but a little town in Missouri that is fortunate enough to have such a fun name. Bourbon, MO has less than 2,000 people, and I honestly don’t know a thing about the town except for wanting a picture of the water tower. The water tower is located off of a frontage road that runs along Interstate 44. It took the Nomad Boys and I a hot minute to find the water tower because I took an early exit. We did a little bit of driving in circles, had no success in finding the water tower, and decided to begin our drive back. AND THEN there it was right in front of our faces. We were driving with our backs to it the whole time, and almost missed it.
When we were driving east on Route 66 to get to the chair, we saw the Mule Trading Post. This caught the boys’ attention because they had a sign advertising knives and swords. My boys love that kind of stuff and had asked if we could stop by on our way back. I said, “Sure, as long as they’re still open.” Well, still open they were, so a stop we made. The place is really cool and has EVERYTHING. The boys enjoyed walking around looking at the weapons and I enjoyed the everything else that they had; used books, old records, antiques, and (of course) Route 66 memorabilia. The eldest Nomad son bought a multi-tool gadget gizmo thing that I don’t really know what all it does, but he was thrilled about it. The youngest Nomad had been on the hunt for some nunchucks, so we got him some (don’t worry, they’re only foam). This place is worth a stop if you’re near Exit 189 on Interstate 44.
Our final stop was to the Route 66 Museum, located at 915 S. Jefferson Ave., Lebanon, MO. The museum is actually located in the Lebanon-Laclede County Library. It’s free to take a self-guided tour, but donations are welcome. This is a pretty neat little museum. It has some re-creations from the 1950’s that were cool; diner, motel room, gas station. There’s a good collection of vintage maps, and news clippings, too. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the salt & pepper shakers from Route 66 restaurants that are housed in the museum.
When I found the pictures on my phone from this day, I thought I would have nothing to add to them because it had been so long and I was afraid that I had forgotten too much. Obviously, that ended up not being the case here. So, if you find yourself on this stretch of the Mother Road in Missouri, I hope you’ll take some time to enjoy it like The Nomads did. Happy Trails, Y’all!
