Nature & Art in Springfield, Missouri!

Springfield, Missouri is a beautiful town that I longed to see for years. Two weeks ago, on a hosted press trip, my husband Keith, and I, along with a group of delightful ladies saw many great places to enjoy both art and nature. With Springfield, Illinois just a short jaunt from me, I was looking forward to contrasting the two cities.

Springfield, Illinois is all about history and Honest Abe, while in Missouri I found more focus on outdoor activities. Both towns are beautiful and have delightful stops, no matter which Springfield you choose to visit! Thank-you Susan Wade, and Visit Springfield Missouri for hosting us!

Springfield, Missouri facts!

Springfield, Missouri is located in Southwest Missouri. With a population of around 130,000 in the urban area, the population expands to almost 500,000 adding in the outlying areas!

The original settlers to the area were the Osage, Delaware, Kickapoo and other Native American tribes. In 1829, John Polk Campbell and his brother carved their initials in an ash tree during a scouting expedition. Today, this area is part of Founder’s Park. The Park is a standing history lesson for Springfield.

Springfield is part of the Trail of Tears journey. The Cherokee nation was forcibly removed from their lands. During the Civil War, the state was divided. The Civil War stared early in Missouri. On August 10, 1861, army units clashed near Wilson’s Creek. This was the site of the first major battle west of the Mississippi River. Wild Bill Hickock staged the first recorded shootout on the town square! Springfield is also said to be where Route 66 began.

We arrived in beautiful Springfield on Saturday night, and checked in to the lovely Doubletree, and met up with the group. That evening we had a fun dinner at Houlihan’s at the hotel. This was perfect, offering a chance to meet everyone, rest and regroup in this centrally located location!

Fantastic Caverns, a fun cave journey!

After a good breakfast at the Doubletree, we headed out to Fantastic Caverns, which may have been my husband Keith’s favorite activity on the trip! I recently visited Bridal Caves. This was during a trip to Lake of the Ozarks, so I was ready to be amazed. Fantastic Cavern’s, our first nature adventure didn’t disappoint.

The story of the discovery of the caverns was interesting. It was while tracking an animal in 1862, that a bloodhound named Juno disappeared into a hole. His owner, Ozark farmer, John Knox followed him, and discovered the cave!

It wasn’t until five years after the cave was discovered that it was first explored. The explorers were twelve amazing women. Their names remain on a cave wall today.

This cavern was such fun because the tour is by Jeep-drawn trams. Keith loved the jeeps on display. This cool jeep below began life as a school bus. It was turned into a “doodlebug”. That is basically a farmer conversion from a vehicle to a tractor!

Leong’s Asian Diner, a Springfield, Missouri staple!

For lunch, we stopped at the Leong’s Asian Diner. The Leong family is famous for their Springfield-Style Cashew Chicken. Loving cashew chicken, it was easy to pick this great dish!

The World’s Largest Fork right in Springfield, Missouri.

Susan, our hostess and guide drove past the amazing Giant Fork. This outdoor art installation is huge, i weighs 35-tons and is 11′ high. We all had to stop, and have our picture taken!

Springfield Art Museum

Next on to art at the beautiful Springfield, Art Museum! We arrived just in time to see the new 62nd Watercolor USA exhibition. The museum offers over 10,000 objects from different cultures and times. The collection began with just two small paintings. Back in 1928 two seascapes by Philadelphia artist Mary Butler began the permanent collection which focuses on American art from the 18th century to the present.

Wonders of Wildlife National Museum & Aquarium

I admit that I have never been to such an extensive museum dedicated to land and water preservation. The museum and aquarium are located in the HUGE, and very first Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World. Voted multiple times by USA Today reader polls as America’s Best Aquarium, there is so much to see.

The website shares details of this amazing stop, “Spanning 350,000 square feet with over 1.5 miles of trails, Wonders of Wildlife takes you on a journey through immersive habitats that entertain and educate while sharing the story of America’s most significant conservationists throughout history and today. The experience celebrates those who hunt, fish and act as stewards of the land and water. Located next to Bass Pro Shops National Headquarters in Springfield, Missouri, the campus is a centerpiece of America’s Conservation Capital in Missouri’s Ozark Mountains.”

Besides all of this, there is also an immense space to shop!

Springfield Brewing Company, great food, cool environment!

I loved the building that this local award-winning brewery was located in! The beautiful brick two-story building was built in 1910 by Job Newton. He ran the Newton Grain Company out of it until 1924. After that, it was the Greene County Farmers Sales Association until 1964. Several businesses and years later, in February 1997 the Paul Mueller Company purchased the building, renovated it with the help of BRP Architecture, and opened it on December 19, 1997, under the name – Springfield Brewing Company. The brewery offered locally crafted beer with great food. This continued until 2011, when a group of local investors and craft beer lovers purchased the building. Today, they have added an onsite distillery, Ty Iechyd Da Elevated Spirits, making small batch spirits.

Our group tried some Poutine, and pretzels. I loved the pretzels, and Keith and I split a great classic pizza. There was a band playing offering a great background for a quiet Sunday night! I tried a light pale beer that I think was their Sunshine Daydream Summer Wheat. Very nice.

Dickerson Park Zoo, bird sanctuary, animal hospital, and more!

After breakfast at the hotel, Susan picked us. She had a day in nature planned for us. We got an amazing backstage tour of the beautiful Dickerson Park Zoo. On golf carts, Joey Powell, the Public Relations/Marketing Director and her staff took us around the zoo. We saw so many things! We got to see kangaroos up close and met Pheonix the rescued eagle. At Dickerson Park Zoo, they have a raptor rehabilitation program and Phoenix is one of the rehabbed birds. The goal is to release them back to the wild when possible!

Dickerson Park Zoo is more than just a zoo, it is a zoological park that has more than 500 animals that represent 160 different species. We met Dr Steph, the zoo vet that runs the animal hospital. It was amazing what they are able to do!

The highlight of the day was when we got a chance to feed giraffe’s crackers and take a giraffe selfie!

Shopping and a few other things!

We stopped in to see the beautiful Oasis Hotel where they sport an ice bar! This colorful hotel is quite lovely!

We then headed to C street for retail therapy! While some buildings are empty, most are filled with fun shops, and then there is the beautiful architecture and art!

The website shares a bit about this area, “Welcome to Historic Commercial Street, Springfield’s first historic district and the original downtown of North Springfield. Enjoy the historic architecture, imagine a time when both the passenger and freight depots on nearby tracks bustled with activity; visit and support the new entrepreneurs that have replaced the dry goods, mercantile and turn-of-the-century taverns.”

The tracks are still evident as well as a very neat foot bridge that Susan said they are trying to raise funds to restore. In a cute store, I found a fun cat teapot and cups for my collection. At the bee store, I bought a T-shirt. My favorite stop of the day though was the Pedaler’s Bicycle Museum! There, we saw a very rare lamplighter bike and a railroad bike. Owner James Allen who has taken treks across the country as well as collected gave us a whirlwind tour.

We ate lunch at a beautiful Peruvian restaurant Cusco’s. The art inside and outside was just beautiful. The food was tasty as well!

Dessert at Andy’s Frozen Custard

After a day of touring, the group was clambering for ice cream, and Susan took us to a Springfield, Missouri favorite, Andy’s Frozen Custard. We all had a hard time deciding what to order. In the end though, we were all delighted and quiet for about ten minutes while we downed the exquisite custard!

Missouri Insitute of Natural Science

This wonderful Missouri Institue of Natural Science museum offers an array of fossils and artifacts many that have come from the nearby Riverbluff Cave. Not open to the public, this cave is still in active research. This is a true kids haven with a big dinosaur, and fun things to view!

Oh My Finley Farm, a Springfield, Missouri Treasure!

Keith’s favorite place of the trip hands down! This former Ozark mill on the banks of the Finley River features so much. There is a great farm restaurant where we shared a roasted chicken. Then we walked paths out to the picturesque Chapel and perused the lovely urban farm. Finley Farms is so beautiful every view is a postcard!

After dinner, we stopped at the beautiful Nathanael Greene/Close Memorial Park which is part of the Springfield Botanical Gardens, what a great place to walk off dinner!

Before the road trip home!

Tuesday morning, a few of us met Susan at Gailey’s Breakfast Cafe, which has been at this location since 1942. Great food!

While waiting to meet the group, we enjoyed some of the public art nearby.

Before heading home, we had a few Keith type of stops! He had wanted to check out the Route 66 Car Museum. Located on the original Route 66 in Springfield, Missouri, we loved seeing this iconic part of town. As I mentioned earlier, Springfield is said to be the birthplace of Route 66. This car museum fits in perfectly with Route 66 Americana. The museum is a privately owned car collection belonging to Guy Mace, who started collecting in 1990 when he bought his first Jaguar. Then Guy just kept on collecting, and now we are able to enjoy the fruits of his collecting labor!

The whole trip Keith kept joking asking, “Are we stopping at any antique malls?” Well, before hitting the road, we did, we stopped at the Relic Antique Mall, where they have a bit of everything! This 90,000 square foot mall is the largest antique mall in the state of Missouri! In the back section, they also have a flea market section. Keith was in nirvana!

On our way home, we took one fun detour onto the old Route 66, and found a BBQ place for Keith to enjoy before leaving BBQ heaven! Springfield, Missouri is a delightful town full of art and nature, and all you need to do is go to the Visit Springfield website and plan your trip! You will be glad you did.