This weeks adventures.
My first adventure this week was to Pulaski County. On my way to Pulaski County I stopped at the Route 66 Gasconade River Bridge which is still here in Laclede County, but near the border with Pulaski. I had not been to the bridge since they closed it down for safety reasons. It certainly has seen better days! Some metal railing was missing and much of the concrete was crumbling away.
My next stop was Roubidoux Spring at Laughlin Park in Waynesville, Missouri. It is also along Route 66 and The Trail of Tears. The Cherokee Indians crossed the Roubidoux Creek here and camped near the spring. The spring is also a very popular spot for cave divers who explore the inside, several have lost their lives doing so.
Behind the spring is a large cliff on top of which was an old military fort. When I got to the street it was supposed to be on the address listed was in the 100 block and all the addresses on that street were in the 400 block. I know it was the right area though, so I drove up and down all the streets. It's all houses now and I knew there was nothing left of the old fort. I had hoped there would be a marker sign or plaque I could take a picture of though, but I didn't see one.
I did manage to get a good view of the nativity scene overlooking Waynesville though. I didn't know it was there and I had never heard anything about it. On a hill on the opposite side of the town there was a nativity scene which must have been a couple stories tall, kind of like the Hollywood sign. When I was walking around by Roubidoux Spring I spotted it, but couldn't get a good picture because of tree limbs in the way.
I stopped at Frog Rock on Route 66 next. I'm not sure which town it is technically in, but I would say it's on the border between Waynesville and St. Robert. It's just a big boulder sticking out from the side of a hill along the road which they paint to look like a frog.
I then went on to Uranus, Missouri on Route 66. It's not an actual town, but leads you to believe it is. Which is one of the reasons why most people have never heard of it, the other reason is tourist billboards for it didn't start popping up along Interstate 44 for it until a couple years ago. More people would probably know it as Big Louie's or Big Louie's Entertainment Complex. It used to be a big strip club, probably the largest in the area until you got to Kansas City or St. Louis. I think one time I heard they claimed to employ more people than Wal-mart. They used to have huge search lights in the sky I remember driving down I-44 as far away as Richland and seeing them miles and miles away. It could be a pretty wild place! I think the soldiers from Fort Leonard Wood got banned from going for a while. Apart from the strip club they expanded it over the years I remember a sex store, liquor store and The Chicken Bones restaurant has been around for a while.
They must have decided to take things in a new direction and turn it into Uranus, Missouri. What used to be the inside of the strip club is now the fudge factory, gift shop, taffy store, indoor shooting range and sporting goods store. They still have a strip club there, but it moved into what looks like a much smaller building. My guess is it still gets pretty wild there at night, but now during the day you see families on vacation stopping and people touring Route 66 stopping. While I was there I saw lots of other people walking around taking pictures.
By the time I finished at Uranus the battery on my camera has getting low. lol So I headed home.
Also I took my niece to Springfield this week. We ate at TGI Fridays and then went to Dickerson Park Zoo. We walked around the entire zoo and despite it being a really nice day there were only a handful of other people there. They were doing a lot of construction everything from power washing, putting in new railings, remodeling exhibits and redoing walk-ways. After the zoo I took her shopping at Hobby Lobby so she could get some art supplies.
Walking around Hobby Lobby always makes me want to take pictures, so many good props in that store!
I was going to go to a hockey game tonight, but I was feeling extremely lazy and just couldn't bring myself to get ready. Plus it's really cold outside! Tomorrow is supposed to be even colder, but I may take my mom down to Cracker Barrel in Waynesville to eat.
Guess that is about it, catch ya'll later.
My next stop was Roubidoux Spring at Laughlin Park in Waynesville, Missouri. It is also along Route 66 and The Trail of Tears. The Cherokee Indians crossed the Roubidoux Creek here and camped near the spring. The spring is also a very popular spot for cave divers who explore the inside, several have lost their lives doing so.
Behind the spring is a large cliff on top of which was an old military fort. When I got to the street it was supposed to be on the address listed was in the 100 block and all the addresses on that street were in the 400 block. I know it was the right area though, so I drove up and down all the streets. It's all houses now and I knew there was nothing left of the old fort. I had hoped there would be a marker sign or plaque I could take a picture of though, but I didn't see one.
I did manage to get a good view of the nativity scene overlooking Waynesville though. I didn't know it was there and I had never heard anything about it. On a hill on the opposite side of the town there was a nativity scene which must have been a couple stories tall, kind of like the Hollywood sign. When I was walking around by Roubidoux Spring I spotted it, but couldn't get a good picture because of tree limbs in the way.
I stopped at Frog Rock on Route 66 next. I'm not sure which town it is technically in, but I would say it's on the border between Waynesville and St. Robert. It's just a big boulder sticking out from the side of a hill along the road which they paint to look like a frog.
I then went on to Uranus, Missouri on Route 66. It's not an actual town, but leads you to believe it is. Which is one of the reasons why most people have never heard of it, the other reason is tourist billboards for it didn't start popping up along Interstate 44 for it until a couple years ago. More people would probably know it as Big Louie's or Big Louie's Entertainment Complex. It used to be a big strip club, probably the largest in the area until you got to Kansas City or St. Louis. I think one time I heard they claimed to employ more people than Wal-mart. They used to have huge search lights in the sky I remember driving down I-44 as far away as Richland and seeing them miles and miles away. It could be a pretty wild place! I think the soldiers from Fort Leonard Wood got banned from going for a while. Apart from the strip club they expanded it over the years I remember a sex store, liquor store and The Chicken Bones restaurant has been around for a while.
They must have decided to take things in a new direction and turn it into Uranus, Missouri. What used to be the inside of the strip club is now the fudge factory, gift shop, taffy store, indoor shooting range and sporting goods store. They still have a strip club there, but it moved into what looks like a much smaller building. My guess is it still gets pretty wild there at night, but now during the day you see families on vacation stopping and people touring Route 66 stopping. While I was there I saw lots of other people walking around taking pictures.
By the time I finished at Uranus the battery on my camera has getting low. lol So I headed home.
Also I took my niece to Springfield this week. We ate at TGI Fridays and then went to Dickerson Park Zoo. We walked around the entire zoo and despite it being a really nice day there were only a handful of other people there. They were doing a lot of construction everything from power washing, putting in new railings, remodeling exhibits and redoing walk-ways. After the zoo I took her shopping at Hobby Lobby so she could get some art supplies.
Walking around Hobby Lobby always makes me want to take pictures, so many good props in that store!
I was going to go to a hockey game tonight, but I was feeling extremely lazy and just couldn't bring myself to get ready. Plus it's really cold outside! Tomorrow is supposed to be even colder, but I may take my mom down to Cracker Barrel in Waynesville to eat.
Guess that is about it, catch ya'll later.
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