he following is a piece in a four-part series highlighting just some of what Missouri has to offer in the worlds of food, culture, music and adventure. Missouri – or “Mo” – has no shortage of places to explore, so whatever you’re after, there’s a Mo for every M-O.
T
Find Your M-O
Missouri has always been a crossroads for explorers, from Marquette and Joliet to Lewis and Clark. The state also served as a cultural trading post through the years, with immigrants, travelers and visionaries sharing perspectives and swapping stories.
Here are five genres that have roots in Missouri — and where you can go to hear them on a trip to the Show-Me State.
Five Musical Genres That Flourished in Missouri
The blues traces its origins to the 19th-century Deep South, when enslaved people penned songs that reflected the tragedy and sorrow in their lives. As slavery ended and free Black people made their way north, they brought those musical traditions with them to cities like St. Louis, where a more familiar version of the blues emerged and seminal artists like Bennie Smith and Eva Taylor grew up. St. Louis’ vital contributions to the blues made the city the perfect home for the National Blues Museum, where visitors can learn about the genre from the people who knew it best.
After you’ve absorbed the history of the blues, you can hear its still-flourishing legacy live at any number of venues throughout the city. There’s the Broadway Oyster Bar, Hwy 61 Roadhouse and Kitchen (named after the “Blues Highway” that starts in New Orleans), and BB’s Jazz, Blues and Soups, a venue and restaurant that has been dazzling blues devotees since 1976. And no blues tour is complete without a lunch stop at Blues City Deli, where you can enjoy performances in between bites of roast beef po’boys.
Blueberry Hill
American Jazz Museum
National Blues Museum
Mo recommends staying at
the Crossroads Hotel for an iconic
and historic home base.
From Music to Food to Art, Kansas City Is a Cultural Paradise
Located near the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri rivers, Kansas City has been a center of culture and commerce for more than two centuries. The city’s multiple fountains, wide boulevards and bustling nightlife gave it the nickname “Paris of the Plains” in the early 1900s. It's clear that Kansas Citians have taken that title seriously, as the city continues to be a hot spot for art, music, sports and history.
If you’re a culture buff, there’s no better place to visit right now than Kansas City. Here are some can’t-miss stops for your itinerary.
Blues/R&B
Jazz
The role of Missouri in jazz’s development can’t be overstated. Long before New York City clubs became the genre’s epicenter, luminaries like Charlie Parker and Miles Davis were developing their chops in Kansas City and St. Louis. And Kansas City is still a destination for jazz aficionados from around the world who flock to 18th and Vine — the city’s Jazz District — to see where the genre found its footing. For history buffs, there’s the American Jazz Museum, which includes exhibits featuring some of jazz’s most important players, such as Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and, of course, the city’s own Charlie Parker. From there, you can make your way around Kansas City’s constellation of jazz venues, from the Blue Room located in the American Jazz Museum itself to the iconic Green Lady Lounge just down the street. And no visit to Kansas City is complete without a ticket to a gig at The Midland Theatre, an iconic venue that has hosted jazz legends for decades.
Rock/Pop
When St. Louis-born Chuck Berry played those inimitable first notes of “Maybellene,” a whole new genre was born. Rock and roll has come a long way in the near-70 years since Berry blended blues, jazz and gospel into a groundbreaking sound, but the roots of the music are still firmly planted in Missouri. For rock and roll fans who want a taste of history (and maybe something to eat), Blueberry Hill is a must-see. The St. Louis restaurant and music club has the largest collection of Chuck Berry memorabilia in the world. Berry graced the stage in the Duck Room hundreds of times, and it’s become one of the city’s most treasured music venues.
Other rock and pop musicians from Missouri include original Doobie Brother Michael McDonald, a St. Louis native, and Sheryl Crow, whose hometown of Kennett is located in the state’s “bootheel.”
Country/Bluegrass
You can’t talk about country music without mentioning Branson. The Ozark town is a temple to all things country, with dozens of venues that pay homage to the genre. The Grand Country Music Hall is home to the Grand Jubilee Show, where in-house performers take audiences through a veritable jukebox of hits from country’s biggest stars. Presleys’ Country Jubilee combines bluegrass, country and comedy into one unforgettable show at a venue started by Branson’s original music family.
But Missouri’s country music legacy extends far beyond Branson. Songwriter, guitarist and record producer T Bone Burnett was born in St. Louis. Rhonda Vincent, bluegrass singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, hails from Greentop in the northeast part of the state and performs at Silver Dollar City’s Bluegrass & BBQ Festival every year.
Ragtime
The upbeat, piano-driven genre known as ragtime was one of the most popular sounds at the turn of the 20th century, and two of its most influential evangelists are Missouri legends. Scott Joplin — known as the “King of Ragtime” — was born in Texas but found his fame in Sedalia, a small town between Kansas City and St. Louis where he wrote “Maple Leaf Rag.” The song boosted the young composer’s profile and caught the ears of Americans from coast to coast, making him one of the country’s most successful musicians at the time. Music history buffs can attend the annual Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival in Sedalia and tour Joplin’s former home at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site in St. Louis, where a player piano fills the space with some of the composer’s best-known work.
There’s also John William “Blind” Boone, a pianist and composer who became an international sensation despite losing his sight at a young age. Boone was born in the small Missouri River town of Miami and made his name as a lightning-fast piano player in Columbia. The Blind Boone Home, a two-story Victorian house in Columbia, has been preserved as a landmark where visitors can learn about the musician’s legacy and catch performances by artists who are still being influenced by the composer to this day.
Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
The Kauffman Center’s notable architecture, featuring a series of vertical, concentric arches, has been a distinct part of the Kansas City skyline since 2011. Soaring glass windows in the complex’s main hall give patrons impressive views of downtown before they enter two remarkable performance spaces: Muriel Kauffman Theatre and Helzberg Hall. The state-of-the-art venue is home to the world-class Kansas City Symphony, Lyric Opera of Kansas City and Kansas City Ballet. The center has also hosted seminal artists like Aretha Franklin and Philip Glass, so be sure to check the event calendar, whether you’re a classical music devotee, ballet aficionado or music lover in general.
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art offers a unique blend of past and present that only a place with the history of Kansas City can provide. The museum combines the original Beaux-Arts space built in the 1930s with an unmistakably modern addition, the Bloch Building, completed in 2005. The architectural juxtaposition creates a stunning backdrop for one of the country’s most comprehensive art collections, including a comprehensive archive of Asian art. Admission to the museum is free, but you’ll need to reserve timed tickets, so be sure to plan your visit in advance.
PLACES TO STAY
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Missouri’s Boutique Hotels: Innovative Art, Design and Dining
By Ipsum
How to Backpack the Ozark Trail
OUTDOORS
by WILL “ILL WILL” LAVIN
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by WILL “ILL WILL” LAVIN
Missouri
Brewery Guide
FOOD & DRINK
Located in the arts-focused Crossroads neighborhood, the Crossroads Hotel is a boutique establishment created in the historic Pabst Brewing Depot. If you’re looking for a home base for a visit to Kansas City, you’d be hard pressed to do better than the 131-room hotel that includes Percheron, a seasonal rooftop bar with commanding views of the city, and Lazia, a fine dining restaurant that specializes in traditional Italian cuisine with a modern influence.
Crossroads Hotel
Before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947, a group of Black professional baseball leagues thrived throughout the United States. Teams like the New York Cubans, the Homestead Grays and, of course, the Kansas City Monarchs toured the country and dazzled fans from coast to coast. The leagues waned after Major League Baseball became integrated, but the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum brings that vital history — and its contributions to the fight for civil rights — to life in downtown Kansas City. It’s definitely worth a stop, whether you’re a sports fan or not.
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum
Part farmers market, part food hall, City Market has something for every visitor to Kansas City. The city’s oldest continuously operating business is home to merchants like the Middle Eastern Al Habashi Mart and Carollo’s Italian Grocery and Deli, as well as a year-round farmers market filled with local produce. After you’ve sampled Missouri blackberries, black walnuts and other items, settle in for a pork brisket sandwich at Pigwich, or try the “mahaberawi” — a platter of stewed meats and vegetables served on a spongy disc of injera bread — at Blue Nile Café, one of the city’s finest Ethiopian restaurants.
City Market
Originally opened just eight years after the Great War claimed more than 9 million lives, the National WWI Museum and Memorial became the country’s official World War I museum in 2004. The 32,000-square-foot complex features engaging exhibits that offer a comprehensive history of the war and include life-size trenches and armaments that transport visitors back to the 1910s. One of the most stunning areas in the museum is the Paul Sunderland Bridge, a glass and steel expanse suspended over a field of 9,000 poppies, each one representing 1,000 combatants who lost their lives in the conflict.
National WWI Museum and Memorial
There’s nothing like a treasure hunt, and the Arabia Steamboat Museum located in City Market highlights one of the most exciting finds in Kansas City history. The steamboat, which sank in 1856, was recovered 132 years later along with its cargo of clothing, fine china, carpentry tools, guns, toys and … the world’s oldest pickles. It’s an exhibit unlike any other and is the perfect way to start or end a day at City Market with the entire family.
Arabia Steamboat Museum
1860 Saloon, Game Room & Hardshell Café
The John William Blind Boone Home
— Mo Recommends —
Mo recommends St. Louis to dive deep into the city’s history of blues.
— Mo Recommends —
Where Bonne Terre Mine impresses with its sheer magnitude, Cameron Cave in Hannibal is magnificent in its natural, labyrinthine splendor. Tours come in two very different flavors. There’s the tamer walking tour where visitors stroll through the cavern and bask in its untouched beauty. For the more adventurous, there’s the “wild” tour, where knowledgeable guides help brave souls climb and crawl through the cave’s chambers.
Cameron Cave
Bonne Terre Mine, located south of St. Louis, combines caving and diving into one incredible experience. The former lead ore mine, flooded with more than a billion gallons of water, is the world’s largest freshwater diving site. More than 500,000 watts of lighting illuminate the underground lake where crystal-clear water provides 100-foot visibility. The mine has attracted divers from around the world — including legendary explorer Jacques Cousteau. Tours of the mine’s upper level follow an old mule trail where visitors can see how workers, equipped with nothing more than a pickax and shovel, mined lead in the human-made cavern.
Bonne Terre Mine
You can’t talk about Missouri’s natural beauty without mentioning the Lake of the Ozarks. With 1,100 miles of shoreline — more than the coast of California — it’s one of the largest lakes in the state. The area has become a year-round escape for hikers and mountain bikers, with miles of trails offering plenty of adventure no matter the season. The lake comes alive in the summer, when the winding reservoir becomes a sunny playground for friends and families looking to swim, fish, boat and camp.
Lake of the Ozarks
Explore a mix of history and natural beauty at the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, the country’s first river system to be protected by the National Park Service. Several large springs flow into the Current and Jacks Fork rivers, where canoeing, kayaking and rafting are popular pastimes. A historic red mill, once the heart of a bustling farm community, sits at the edge of the aquamarine Alley Spring. At 310 feet deep, Blue Spring is one of the deepest springs in the United States. Osage Tribe members reportedly called the vibrant turquoise-colored pool “Spring of the Summer Sky.” Big Spring, one the country’s largest springs, pours more than 270 million gallons of water a day into the Current River.
Ozark National Scenic Riverways
The 240-mile Katy Trail is a perfect place to enjoy a breath of fresh air. The country’s longest developed rail-trail stretches from Machens, just north of St. Louis, to Clinton, about 50 miles from the Kansas border, with much of the trail running along the northern bank of the Missouri River. Thanks to its nearly level crushed-limestone path, the trail is especially popular with cyclists. During the winter, birdwatchers on the trail often spot eagles hunting for prey along the river. Plans are in the works for a new rail-trail that will eventually connect to the Katy Trail, giving outdoor aficionados an even more extensive system of hiking, running and biking paths.
Katy Trail
If you’re in central Missouri, Mo recommends checking out Ha Ha Tonka State Park for an incredible hike you won’t forget.
— Mo Recommends —
5 Outdoor Wonders in Missouri
Missouri is a nature lover’s paradise, with easy access to a wide array of activities, including spelunking, water skiing, hiking and camping throughout the state. It’s nearly impossible to winnow down all the natural wonders of Missouri, but here are five incredible spots that any outdoor enthusiast should explore on a trip to the Show-Me State.
While you’re in the Ozarks, Mo recommends sampling the Howlin’ Hounds flavored moonshines at Missouri Ridge Distillery.
— Mo Recommends —
For Missouri Ridge’s master distiller, M. Gregory Pope, crafting whiskey is a family business. Pope’s grandfather, who made whiskey and moonshine in the Ozark Mountains, passed his knowledge down the family tree to his grandson. Now, Pope produces some of Missouri’s — and the world’s — finest whiskey, with his straight American single malt bringing home numerous gold medals at international competitions. The best part about this Branson-based distillery? Not only can you taste and buy some of the state’s finest tipples, but Missouri Ridge also serves up brisket, ribs and pulled pork in the tasting room.
Missouri Ridge Distillery
The Ozarks has a long history of moonshining and bootlegging — which is exactly why Ozark Distillery calls itself the oldest “legal” distillery in Camden County. Located at the picturesque Lake of the Ozarks, this family-owned distillery specializes in award-winning moonshine and bourbon. You can even pick up moonshine that comes in local favorite flavors like blackberry and apple pie. If you’re planning a trip to the lake this summer, make sure Ozark Distillery is on your list.
Ozark Distillery
For Van Hawxby, opening a craft distillery was about blending a love of spirits with a relentless pursuit of independence. Hawxby was nicknamed “DogMaster” in college thanks to his penchant for marching to his own beat, and he’s brought that attitude to his distillery in Columbia where he makes award-winning bourbon and whiskey. DogMaster Distillery opened in 2014 and quickly became a can’t-miss stop on the Missouri whiskey map.
DogMaster Distillery
The award-winning distillery that started it all in Missouri is still going strong. Holladay’s two bourbon offerings — a traditional Missouri straight bourbon and a mellower soft red wheat version — are created using more than 160 years of experience and that pure Weston limestone spring water. During a distillery tour, offered Friday through Sunday, visitors can watch master distillers at work where Missouri’s whiskey tradition first found its foothold. (Did we mention the tour includes a whiskey tasting?)
Holladay Distillery
Ten years ago, retired agronomist and businessman Gary Hinegardner decided to turn his passion into a full-fledged pursuit, and Wood Hat Spirits was born. Hinegardner is easy to spot with his distinctive beard and, of course, wood hat. (He’s also a woodturner.) His New Florence-based distillery specializes in several unique types of whiskey, including a variety made with Hopi blue corn that gives the spirit a deep, warm richness. Wood Hat also makes liqueurs using local ingredients like black walnuts and wild persimmons, but whiskey is the star here — from the Montgomery County wheated bourbon to the pecan barrel-aged Twin Timbers.
Wood Hat Spirits
Missouri Is Putting Its Stamp on Whiskey
When German American George Schneider opened a brewery in St. Louis in 1852 that would become the Anheuser-Busch beer empire, he was continuing the long-standing tradition of immigrants bringing their flavors and recipes to the Show-Me State. But German lagers weren’t the only beverages flowing in Missouri in the mid-19th century. A few years after Schneider brewed his first batch of beer, two brothers from Kentucky opened the doors to Holladay Distillery in Weston, where limestone springs provided an essential ingredient for making great whiskey: pure water.
Holladay Distillery marked the beginning of a proud whiskey tradition in Missouri. The current scene is an exciting mix of legacy distillers building on more than a century of experience and upstarts bringing their own modern flair and flavors to the state’s whiskey culture.
Here are five distilleries making their mark in Missouri.
Missouri Ridge Distillery
Ozark Distillery
Wood Hat Spirits
Holladay Distillery
DogMaster Distillery
MUSIC
CULTURE
OUTDOORS
WHISKEY
Lake of the Ozarks
Katy Trail State Park
Bonne Terre Mine
Alley Spring and Mill
National World War I Museum
Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
City Market
Arabia Steamboat Museum
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Percheron Rooftop Bar
he following is a piece in a four-part series highlighting just some of what Missouri has to offer in the worlds of food, culture, music and adventure. Missouri – or “Mo,”
as we refer to her – has no shortage of places to explore,
so whatever you’re after, there’s a Mo for every M-O.