Trip to St. Joseph, Missouri
Fall 2005
We
(Daryl, Cindi & Ashley) decided we would take a trip this fall to see the
foliage since we have not done that in several years. I think it was late
September when we started talking about it and looking on the internet for the
best locations. The fall
foliage philosophers on the internet recommended the St. Joseph, Missouri
area and we had never been there so we agreed it would be a good
choice for us. We left home on the morning of October 14th and instead of traveling the
interstate all the way we elected to drive some less traveled highways. We drove
I-35 as far as Ottawa
and then
detoured toward Lawrence
on highway 59,
we
followed 59 all the way to
Atchison, KS,
without really thinking about what was there (Atchison,
KS, is the
County Seat of
Atchison County). As we got closer Cindi remembered that her Grandfather Funk was an
engineer on the
Atchison-Topeka
& Santa Fe railroad and spent considerable time in
Atchison during those years. We took a tour of the town and found
Amelia Earhart's
Birthplace Museum. It sits high on the bank of the Missouri river
along with other turn of the century homes. A very large brick home was For Sale
across the street and the curator of the Museum told us the asking price was
$300,000. We spent about an hour there and would recommend it to anyone going
through the area. Atchison holds an
Amelia Earhart Festival
every year in mid July. After visiting the museum we drove around town looking at the
architecture and the scenery. There are many very impressive huge old homes there. Just below these beautiful homes, and out of
their view, is a modernized
riverfront park that extends for about a mile along the bank of the Missouri
River with a couple of restaurants. We drove by
Benedictine College,
Mount St. Scholastica Convent, and
the St. Benedict's Abby. The
Atchison
County Historical Society also has a museum there in the
restored Sante Fe railroad depot which traces the rich history of Atchison
County with impressive collection of guns, railroad memorabilia and Amelia
Earhart's personal effects. We
talked about stopping to see if there were any photos of Cindi's grandfather but we
didn't, maybe next time.
We left Atchison and took highway 7 north toward
St.
Joseph, thinking that the foliage may be better in the country. It was a nice
drive but the foliage did not really show up. We drove to the end of
highway 7 and got onto highway 36 headed east. Just a few miles east of the
junction was the town of
Troy, KS. We had some friends who used to live there
(Mike & Mary Owens). From the highway we could see a huge building in the center
of town and wanted to investigate so we ventured into town. As it turns out,
Troy is the county seat of
Doniphan County
and that huge building is the county courthouse. Which would explain why Mike
and Mary lived there; Mike was a highway patrolman.
Troy is a beautiful little town and had a very well maintained downtown area
with original buildings and some great old homes.
Further down the road
was the town of Blair (Fort
Blair), KS, and then
Wathena, KS. I remember seeing a
Blair elevator in Atchison, KS, interesting! Just outside of Saint Joseph we
hooked up with Interstate 36 and turned north onto Belt highway.
Belt took us to
Fredrick avenue where our hotel was. We stayed in a
Hampton Inn with Hilton Honors points that I earned while traveling for Boeing.
That evening we ate at the
Whisky Creek Steakhouse just across the street and had an
excellent meal. They had a great
menu
and Ashley enjoyed throwing her peanut shells on the floor.
On Saturday morning we went to the
Patee House Museum
and Jesse James Home
and Museum in the downtown area of Saint Joseph. The Patee House existed since 1858
as a 4 story brick luxury hotel, a college, a sanitarium, and various other
businesses including the
Pony Express office
from 1860 - 1861.
This 1860 map of the City of Saint Joseph and Vicinity was on display and I
found some interesting things on it. In the upper left hand corner is the name
of the Surveyor and Civil Engineer,
Frederick J. Ebert
- our hotel was on Frederick
avenue, probably named after the
Surveyor of that
period. In the lower right hand corner is a plot of land owned by
John Patee, the
same man who built, owned, and operated the Patee House, a luxury hotel in that
period. Interesting! Jesse James was killed just one block from the Patee House
and his
home
was moved to its current location next to the Patee House.
After visiting the museum we drove to Hyde park on the
south west side of town. Some of the trees were turning but it was not in full
color yet. I think the following week will be better. From there we drove up
southwest parkway, a winding tree covered street past some parks and golf
courses and through some very nice neighborhoods with large turn of the century
homes. The street changed names a couple of time but eventually took us to the
north side of town to an area called Lovers Lane where there was also some
beautiful foliage. After grabbing a bite to eat at McDonalds we drove around the
south side of the city on I-229 by-pass and got off onto 59 which headed south
out of town and turned into 45 after a while. About two miles out we began to
see the foliage in the
background on this page. About 13 miles south was a
little town called Lewis & Clark
Village, MO. It reminded us of Lake Waltana, it had a picturesque lake and a
single road lined with houses. Back on 59 we followed the trees for about 15
miles to
Weston, MO. We drove all around that area, up and down hills and
around curves and pretty much covered the area
between the Missouri river and
I-29 from St. Joe to Weston. It was beautiful country.
On the way back into St Joe we stopped for dinner at a
place Emily Davis recommended to us, the
Hoof & Horn. It was kind of a shady looking place along the railroad tracks
in a warehouse district; we were a little scared at first but we thought if it
is good enough for Emily it is good enough for us and there were lots of cars
out front. As it turns out, the Hoof & Horn is one of the oldest businesses
in
Saint Joseph and the first restaurant in Saint
Joseph. It has been a restaurant since it was built in the late 1800s. The Prime Rib
was great! I definitely recommend it.
On the way back to the hotel we drove past the famous
(former) Immaculate Conception Church with two spires.
Here is a photo. It is no longer a church but is still used for weddings,
receptions, etc.
We had a great time and enjoyed the drive home on
Sunday.
| Brief History of Saint Joseph, MO | Foliage Photo #1 | Foliage Photo #2 |
