Howdy, pardner! We're continuing our journey out West to St. Joseph, Missouri, begun in Part One of this series.
Westward Ho!
Just an easy gallop away from the Patee House Museum and Jesse James House is the Pony Express National Museum, at the site of the former Pikes Peak Stables. What better time than the 150th Anniversary of the Pony Express to experience the many exhibits here? You can pump water from the original well, and shift a mochila saddle from one horse to another, just like Pony Express riders once did. There’s even a room exploring pioneer kids’ lives, so your young Calamity Jane and her cowboy brother can try out the frontier lifestyle.
Happy Trails
There’s lots more to see and do in St. Joseph, so plan on spending a long weekend there to take in the St. Joseph Visitor Center (a great place to pick up maps and travel brochures for future road trips), the Missouri Valley Trust Bank Building (where scenes from the 1973 film Paper Moon took place), Mount Mora Cemetery (the final resting place of many Civil War veterans and two Pony Express Riders), Twin Spires (a former cathedral complex with stunning stained glass windows), the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art (housed in the former home of the creator of the Big Chief writing tablet), and the St. Joseph Museums complex (featuring the Glore Psychiatric Museum, best skipped by sensitive souls and those under age 14).
Takeaway Art
If seeing the fabulous art collection at the Albrecht-Kemper Museum and Twin Spires’ gorgeous stained glass windows have inspired you, be sure to visit Tobiason’s Studio, where you can enjoy hands-on experience making a small Old West stained glass souvenir to take home.
Splashin’ Good Time
If your kids have had their fill of museums, buy day passes to Monkey Cove WaterPark at the Ramada Inn & Conference Center. You’ll enjoy the slow, winding Lazy River and the Spa Massage Hot Tub, while they frolic and squeal under the 100-Gallon Dump Bucket! It’s good, clean family fun!
THE FINE PRINT
To continue your journey through St. Joseph, Missouri, read Part One and Part Three of this series. For more information about St. Joseph (just 35 miles north of the Kansas City airport--perfect for a daytrip, but better suited for a long weekend's exploration) and upcoming events marking the Sesquicentennial of the Pony Express, go to http://www.stjomo.com/
Comments
For something which didn't last long, the Pony Express really captured the imagination.
I haven't visited those museums since I was a kid, but they're such fun.
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