Midwest sampler: travel America highlights top tourist attractions in 10 states

Travel America, May-June, 2004 by Roberta Sotonoff

Contact: Minnesota Office of Tourism, (888) TOURISM; www.explore minnesota.com.

MISSOURI

THE SHOW ME STATE

EXPLORE MISSOURI'S CITIES, forests, and 50,000 miles of rivers and streams. Wilderness, towering bluffs, and the Missouri River border the 225-mile Katy Trail so popular with hikers and bikers, while fishing, canoeing, and golf get accolades at central Missouri's sprawling Lake of the Ozarks. Nearby is the ever-popular neon entertainment destination, Branson, a hotbed of music shows and theme parks. In the Mississippi River town of Hannibal, journey into the past at Mark Twain's boyhood home and see Becky Thatcher's house and other scenes from Twain's books. In St. Louis, ride to the apex of the mighty Gateway Arch, the city's symbol. Under the Arch is the Museum of Westward Expansion. The recently restored 1,370-acre Forest Park is home to museums and the city's famous zoo. Sip brew and see the Budweiser Clydesdales on an Anheuser-Busch tour. There is much that makes Kansas City unique--fountains, Art Deco architecture, steaks, and barbecue. African-American life is chronicled at the Jazz Museum and Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. KC is the birthplace of the American shopping mall, the Moorish-styled Country Club Plaza. President Harry Truman lived in nearby Independence, where attractions include his home and the Truman Presidential Museum and Library. In St. Joseph, early mail service is remembered at the Pony Express Museum.

Contact: Missouri Division of Tourism, (800) 810-5500; www.mis souritourism.org.

NEBRASKA

THE CORNHUSKER STATE

SINCE PREHISTORIC TIMES, Nebraska has been a destination for everyone and everything. Just check out Ashfall Fossil Beds Historic Park near Royal or the Platte River when the sandhill cranes take their spring break. Omaha, the state's largest city, is home to Father Flanagan's Boys Town and the Henry Doorly Zoo. The world's deserts are simulated under the zoo's geodesic dome, the largest on earth. It also has a "Kingdoms of the Night" caves exhibit, an underground river, a rainforest, and the new Hubbard Gorilla Valley. In nearby Lincoln, check out Nebraska's Capitol, the Museum of Nebraska History, and the National Museum of Roller Skating. A Lincoln food specialty is the Runza sandwich--homemade bread stuffed with cabbage and ground beef. Pioneers are celebrated at Grand Island's Stuhr Museum, one of the country's largest living history museums. The Great Platte River Road Archway Monument over 1-80 in Kearney has a museum that commemorates the Oregon, Mormon, and California trails. Close by is Harold Warp's Pioneer Village, with 350 antique cars, and Cabela's, the fishing, camping, and hunting outfitter. Down the road in Hastings, the Hastings Museum remembers Edwin Perkins, inventor of Kool Aid. The exhibit includes the original Kool-Aid Man costume and traces the drink's history from its humble beginnings to becoming an international icon and Nebraska's official drunk. On the western side of the state is Chimney Rock, the most recognized landmark on the Oregon, Mormon, and California trails.