cblaisd

Well, it's that time again.....

Usually I would be asking on this thread:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/west/...oad-trips.html

But a very different challenge this time, so I am coming to the Midwest forum for help

For my friend's and my annual road trip, this year we'll be beginning on a late Sunday evening in mid-February and have until Thursday noon. Will be arriving at MCI (Kansas City) and then my friend will be picking me up to commence our trip.

I had suggested an Ozarks wandering itinerary. He has done the Ozarks to death. He wants to go to the Badlands. I've pointed out that it's 600+ miles and we'd be doing nothing but driving. Which we like, but.....

So I'm looking for interesting alternatives. If you read the thread I mention above, you'll see that we're not into hiking (and it's February!) and generally simply enjoy the road trip aspect, the occasional historical site or marker that we can view National Lampoon Vacation Chevy Chase style and end up in a hotel for the evening to watch "guy videos" replete with car chases and spies.

I've done a tiny bit of research on something like a Platte River wandering or Lincoln Highway, but haven't gotten very far.

With the caveat that of course it's FEBRUARY and the weather may kibosh all plans or cause last minute changes, do you have interesting itineraries for such a road trip? We do need to be back at MCI by noonish on Thursday. We tend to like to drive no more than 300-350 miles per day on interesting roads (interstates if we need to make time, but otherwise, prefer more varied venues).


The availability of no higher than Category 3 Hamptons/Hilton Garden Inns on a route would be a definite plus too.

Gardyloo

As much as I love South Dakota (and I do) I think the Badlands in February is a seriously flawed idea. If you DO decide on heading north, I'd recommend looking at Nebraska Hwy 2 through the Sand Hills (lovely) then up to the Black Hills - maybe Deadwood - for a turnaround point. See the Badlands on the way back if the weather's decent.

But a totally different idea that heads south and east - potentially to better weather - would be to head down to the Mississippi Delta and back via Memphis. Make it a music tour - visit the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale; Graceland, Sun Records, the Rock and Soul Museum in Memphis, whatever. Eat ribs at Abe's at the Crossroads (don't sell your soul) and BBQ and tamales in Memphis. Have a flutter with games of chance and skill in Tunica.

If you're energetic you can extend as far south as Vicksburg and visit the (awesome) battlefield memorial, then drive along the levees with blues and gospel on the radio. Your feet will be ten feet off of Beale by the time you get to Memphis. See the ducks in the lobby at the Peabody Hotel.

Something like this.

DenverBrian

Or you can now see the ducks at the Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg...that sounds like a very guy thing to me!

http://www.newschannel9.com/news/top...ery-8320.shtml

maskedmesothorium

Have you done route 66 in the midwest? It's not as good or intact as in the west, but there are still plenty of old towns to visit with kitchy route 66 stuff. Or maybe something related to the oregon trail? It would be a long drive. There's Chimney Rock in Nebraska and wagon ruts in Wyoming.

How about a BBQ tour? In my opinion the Kansas City BBQ is best, but you could check out the BBQ scene in St. Louis and Memphis.

ksucats

Are you in to state capitals or presidential museums?

You could do something like Topeka-Abilene-Santa Fe trail sites-Dodge City.

You could visit the state capital in Topeka. Eisenhower's museum, burial place, etc. in Abilene. There are a couple other neat places in Abilene that I could give more information on if you were interested. Then you could stop at a "Santa Fe Trail Crossed Here" place. Those aren't really anything to see. Dodge City is quite a bit west, but it sounds like you are looking for a road trip. There is an old west town there and a casino if that interests you.

artemis021

From Kansas City, you could simply head west through Missouri on I-70, stopping at Columbia and St. Louis. Missouri has lot of little things to do with historical markers and such. Maybe even heading beyond to Springfield, IL and see the stuff on Abe Lincoln. I-70 is not an especially pleasant road as far as the midwest is concerned, though. One of the advantages of the midwest is the open road with relatively little traffic.

You could also head up north to Nebraska but not to the badlands, just going along I-80, visiting Lincoln (tour the State Capital and visit the Museum of American Speed or the sheldon art museum, maybe tour memorial stadium) onto Aurora (there's a nice little museum of a famous photographer there-bullets through a balloon stuff) to Grand Island (could visit Stuhr Museum-pioneer stuff) and finishing at the somewhat cheesy Kearney arch ala the final scene(s?) of the movie About Schmidt.

cblaisd

Good thoughts, all. Any further ideas are appreciated!

maskedmesothorium

If you stop in Columbia, I always suggest Flat Branch Brewery. Food is decent, but the beer is excellent. Mmmm. I lived in Columbia for 2 years and I think I miss Flat Branch the most. That and Snappers, which was always more of a trashy, end of the night stop.

djp98374

KC to Memphis is about a 6-7 hr drve.

February is so chaotic with weather.

Option 1 ....drive thru the state to st Louis then explore north ( hanibal) or south ( cape Giradea) some of the historic river town then drive back to KC and explore a different part of the state. Drive across the state is about 4-5 hrs

Option 2 .....drive north up into Iowa and Nebraska following part of Lewis and Clark trail. Ver to Lincoln then drive south through Kansas and visit some of the college towns of Lawrence and Manhattan.

Option 3 ... Ozarks

Option 4... Drive into Kansas then south to Klahma city and Tulsa then up through Joplin and back to KC

cblaisd

Good thoughts. And yes, February weather makes it a crapshoot....

Anyone done the "Lincoln Highway" route in Nebraska?

djp98374

Lincoln highway is roughly US 30 through Nebraska.

http://www.lincolnhighwayassoc.org/map/

cblaisd

And the more I have looked at it, the less interesting both because virtually within site of the parallel interstate most of the way, and because the museum at the Kearney arch is closed through February.

Still toying with my friend's idea (absent blizzards ) to do a badlands trip (and remembering that we are view-from-the-moving-car trippers), my first attempt at a route is HERE.

The first and last nights (B &F) have Holiday Inn Express Points Breaks hotels. D isn't actually an overnight, just a destination on a drive from Winner to Valentine. Only sketchy part is that Winner and Valentine may have only, uh, adventurous motel properties.

djp98374

I thought you were traveling mid Feb???

I thought those point breaks only go through the end of January. Thus new point breaks will come out in early February.

cblaisd

True. My mistake.

Delta Hog

Kind of a combination of some of the above suggestions, but what about a "President's tour"?

Sunday night - drive out to Abilene
Monday - EISENHOWER: drive back to KC and see TRUMAN in Independence. Night in KC and enjoy some of that BBQ.

Tu-W: Go one of two directions: across the state and to Springfield, Illinois for LINCOLN. You could see Columbia & St. Louis this way.

Or, go south to Little Rock for CLINTON. The distance really isn't all that different from Springfield. A good place to hit (your friend would know it if they have done the Ozarks to death) is Eureka Springs, Ark. If you're into that kind of thing, Branson is on the way.