St. Louis – While impressive exhibits fill the new National Blues Museum, one of the simplest is guaranteed to bring a smile.

Next to the display paying homage to Chuck Berry is an image of the artist on a sequence of small photos that...

Jefferson City, Mo. ? The Duck Room is a basement nightclub at Blueberry Hill restaurant in the Delmar Loop area of St. Louis. But one night each month, it becomes a living history museum with a performance by rock music pioneer Chuck Berry.

"He's by far our most famous citizen," says Joe Edwards, owner of the restaurant and music club that anchors the six-block entertainment and shopping district. "He was the first poet laureate of rock 'n' roll. Not only did he write his own songs, but he was a heckuva guitar player. Still is."

February marks Black History Month, and Missouri has its share of important figures, from Dred Scott and George Washington Carver to jazz and ragtime musicians and Negro League baseball players. Their museums create an interesting itinerary for observing the special month. But you might also consider a stop at the Duck Room.

At age 86, Berry still performs his signature hits, and does the impromptu duck walk across the stage. His daughter, Ingrid, and son, Charles Berry Jr., perform in the band and help out when Dad sometimes misses a lick. The adoring audience doesn't mind, greeting those senior moments with shouts of "We love you Chuck!"

While music critics disagree on the first rock 'n' roll record, Berry gets unanimous credit for being the entertainer who took the music worldwide, starting with "Maybellene," his first single released in 1955. Berry was the first inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, and recently received its American Music Masters Award at a tribute concert.

"He not only changed music, he helped change culture," said Edwards, Berry's long-time friend and part-time manager. "His music reached across the dividing line between blacks and whites. It also helped bring down the Iron Curtain. The Hungarian ambassador visited Blueberry Hill and said eastern and western Europeans listened to Chuck on their transistor radios. It did more to bring them together than any military threat."

Scientist Carl Sagan paid homage to Berry in the late 1970s, when he chose the recorded sounds that would be aboard the Voyager space probes headed outside the solar system. "He included samplings of some of the best of what was on Earth," Edwards said. "There were sounds of Brazilian jungles, some classical music and, for the 20th century, it was 'Johnny B. Goode' by Chuck Berry."

Admission to the Berry concerts at Blueberry Hill is $35. Visit BlueberryHill.com for a schedule.

While a trip to Blueberry Hill to see Chuck Berry represents a pop-culture focused experience, there are plenty of sites in Missouri for more traditional exploration during Black History month (and year-round, for that matter). Here's a quick sampling:

George Washington Carver National Monument, in Diamond: Tucked away in the southwest corner of the state, the national monument is at the site of the Moses Carver farm, where George Washington Carver was born to a slave girl in 1864. As an infant, he and his mother were kidnapped by Civil War guerillas. George was returned; his mother was never found.

The monument includes a state-of-the-art visitors center that tells the inspirational story of Carver's arduous struggle to rise from his humble beginnings to become an artist, scientist, educator and humanitarian. His research showed that rotating crops of peanuts and soybeans with cotton could revive Southern soil. To encourage the practice, he developed more than 300 uses for peanuts.

The 240-acre site includes a short walk through woods near a spring-fed stream where young George discovered his love for botany. Later, George wrote of the experience: "Day after day, I spent in the woods alone in order to collect my floral beauties and put them in my little garden I had hidden in the brush not far from the house, as it was considered foolishness in that neighborhood to waste time on flowers."

George Washington Carver National Monument is the first national monument to mark the birthplace of anyone other than a U.S. president, and the first to honor an African American. For details, visit www.nps.gov/gwca.

Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site, near Butler: Dedicated in October 2012, the plot of rolling prairie near the Kansas border is Missouri's newest state historic site. It honors the African-American soldiers who fought a small but important Civil War battle.

The 240 soldiers, many of them escaped slaves, were members of the First Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry. In October 1862, they won a battle against a larger force of Confederate guerillas, marking the first time black troops were used in Civil War combat.

At the time, there was a national discussion about whether black soldiers would fight against whites. This skirmish, known as the Battle of Island Mound, answered that question, and made headlines as far away as New York City.

A white officer assigned to the unit wrote: "We have demonstrated that the Negro is anxious to serve his country, himself and race."

The state historic site, south of Butler, has a circular gravel path that leads around some 40 acres of reclaimed prairie. Interpretative panels along the way explain what happened, and the significance of those events. Visit MoStateParks.com for more information.

The 18th and Vine Historic District, in Kansas City: A magical musical trip across Missouri could start at the Duck Room, in St. Louis, and end at the Blue Room, in Kansas City.

The 18th and Vine area was the center for black culture and life in Kansas City from the late 1800s to the 1960s. The Negro National League was founded near the district in 1920.

The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum opened in the early 1990s, and the complex was expanded in 1997 with the addition of the American Jazz Museum, which showcases the city's musical heritage. The two first-class museums contain hundreds of photographs, artifacts and film exhibits that tell their stories.

The baseball museum profiles the league's great players, including Satchel Paige, Buck O'Neil and Jackie Robinson, who played for the Kansas City Monarchs and was recruited in 1945 by the Brooklyn Dodgers to become the first African-American in the modern era to play in the major leagues.

The jazz museum describes the careers of such artists as Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald. But the museum doesn't stop at past greats. The Blue Room is an adjoining jazz club that showcases the best local and national jazz talent, in an intimate setting.

Visit AmericanJazzMuseum.com and NLBM.com for schedules and more information.

Scott Joplin House State Historic Site, in St. Louis: Like jazz, gospel, blues and rock, African Americans played a dominant role in creating yet another genre of music. Scott Joplin combined the structure of classical music with the free-flowing expression in jazz and gave the world the tinkling sounds of ragtime.

Born in Texas, Joplin took formal music classes in Sedalia, where he wrote "Maple Leaf Rag," earning him the title of "King of Ragtime."

He moved to St. Louis in the spring of 1900 to become a teacher and composer. His time in the city was his most productive and successful period. He wrote his first opera, "A Guest of Honor," and "The Entertainer," which was used as the theme song for the 1973 movie, "The Sting." The classic piano rag is still played on ice-cream trucks throughout the area.

Joplin later moved to New York, where a string of personal disappointments took its toll. He died April 1, 1917. He was 49.

The second-story flat in a large brick house at 2658A Delmar Blvd., where Joplin lived in St. Louis, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. In 1984, the house and adjacent row buildings were acquired by the Department of Natural Resources and underwent an extensive restoration to become the first state historic site dedicated to an African American.

The second floor has been furnished with the décor and artifacts of Joplin's era. Exhibits on the first floor interpret his life and work and include a music room where ragtime is played on a player piano. For more information, visit MoStateParks.com.

The Old Courthouse, in St. Louis: Now part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial that includes the Gateway Arch, the majestic Old Courthouse has a 150-year history, highlighted by the landmark Dred Scott case.

The courthouse was the site of the first two trials of the pivotal case in 1847 and 1850. Scott and his wife, Harriett, were slaves who sued for their freedom, arguing that they had lived in free territory with their owners.

The Scotts won in St. Louis, but their owner, Irene Harrison, appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court, which overturned the lower-court decision. The case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which agreed Scott and his family should remain in slavery. Although the Scotts later were freed, the decision hastened the divided country into the Civil War.

"The Legacy of Courage: Dred Scott & the Quest for Freedom" is a display in the courthouse on the first floor in the area where the original cases were heard. A bronze statute outside depicts Dred and Harriett Scott. Dred Scott's grave is in Calvary Cemetery, in north St. Louis. For more information, visit nps.gov/jeff.

If you're ready for a history-themed road trip, VisitMO has plotted your course, with the multi-day Trip Idea found here.

Tom Uhlenbrock is a staff writer for the Division of Tourism.

About the Missouri Division of Tourism
The Missouri Division of Tourism (MDT) is the official tourism office for the state of Missouri dedicated to marketing Missouri as a premier travel destination. Established in 1967, the Missouri Division of Tourism has worked hard to develop the tourism industry in Missouri to what it is today, an $11.2 billion industry supporting more than 279,000 jobs and generating $627 million in state taxes in Fiscal Year 2011. For every dollar spent on marketing Missouri as a travel destination in FY11, $57.76 was returned in visitor expenditures. For more information on Missouri tourism, go to http://www.visitmo.com/.


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Hermann, Mo. ? If there was an award for Christmas decorations inside a home, Father Bill's residence would win hands-down.

The Rev. William Debo lives in the rectory adjoining Hermann's St. George Catholic Church, whose bell tower stands high above this quaint river town in the hills of the Missouri River Valley. Every Christmas, the 21 rooms inside the three-story red brick building are decorated, top to bottom, in a prodigious labor of love by a group of dedicated town residents.

"Everybody says, when they come here, that it's the best they've ever seen," Father Bill said.

There are no prancing reindeer, no animated Santas, no overbearing music. Each decoration is carefully planned, and artfully executed. The visitors who go through on tours are overwhelmed by twinkling lights, pine boughs and trees, and vintage ornaments, carolers and manger scenes. There are 31 trees, 7-foot or taller, this year.

"We started decorating in mid-October with a core group of about 20 volunteers," Father Bill said. "Numerous people pop in and out, people in the community who know we need help. We opened Saturday, Dec. 1. Since then, there have been bus tours kind of non-stop."

The tours are free, but donations are welcomed. The event raised some $10,000 last year; money was distributed to the needy by Hermann-area churches. Tours are by appointment; call 573-486-2723.

The Franciscan Friars served St. George Parish until 2002, when Father Bill was appointed the first diocesan priest for the parish. He brought with him his art degree and Christmas spirit. This is his 10th year decorating the rectory.

"A representative of the Chamber of Commerce wanted us to be on the house tour, but I was afraid they weren't going to get enough bang for the buck," Father Bill said. "She stood in the foyer here and said, 'I assure you, there's more in this room than we'll see in all the other houses combined.'"

Carrying J.P., his white Maltese, Father Bill began a tour of the home in the parlor.

"This is the Victorian tree that started all the madness," he said. "These are hand-dried flowers out of my garden, vintage ornaments, hand-strung beads. I hand-dipped the lights to get that shade of pink."

Several of the decorated rooms have themes. The dining room is all white and silver, with poinsettias, a tiered cake and seven donated dresses on forms, representing a vintage wedding. There is a Mardi Gras room with masks, beads and clowns; a Wizard of Oz room with Father Bill's collection of memorabilia; and a military room decorated with uniforms, helmets, medals and photos of soldiers, young and old.

"Every year we get more photos and uniforms," Father Bill said. "People want to memorialize their friends and family."

The attic is Santa's workshop, with a seated Mr. and Mrs. Claus taking a well-deserved rest. The basement wine cellar is decorated for the first time; tiny white lights and pine boughs hang from the pipes and rafters. Hermann is in Missouri's wine country, and the wine racks are full of local vintages received as gifts.

"We'll leave it all up until mid-January," Father Bill said. "We take our time taking it down."

Tom Uhlenbrock is a staff writer for the Missouri Division of Tourism.


About the Missouri Division of Tourism
The Missouri Division of Tourism (MDT) is the official tourism office for the state of Missouri dedicated to marketing Missouri as a premier travel destination. Established in 1967, the Missouri Division of Tourism has worked hard to develop the tourism industry in Missouri to what it is today, an $11.2 billion industry supporting more than 279,000 jobs and generating $627 million in state taxes in Fiscal Year 2011. For every dollar spent on marketing Missouri as a travel destination in FY11, $57.76 was returned in visitor expenditures. For more information on Missouri tourism, go to www.VisitMO.com.

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Jefferson City, Mo. ? New owners of two vintage motels on Route 66 in Missouri are doing their best to see traffic keeps on trucking on the legendary highway.

The Wagon Wheel Motel, in Cuba, is in tip-top shape after a complete renovation under Connie Echols, who bought the rundown motel in 2009 and has lovingly restored each of the stone cottages.

"It was horrible," Echols said of the motel, which was built in 1935 and is the oldest continuously operating tourist court on the historic highway. "It had the original wiring and plumbing."

On the far western side of the state, the Boots Motel, in Carthage, opened (last spring) the completed wing of a restoration project that will return the motel to what the first Route 66 motorists found.

"We want to make it as authentic a motoring experience from 1949 as we can make it," said Deborah Harvey, one of two sisters who bought the Boots, which once was scheduled to be torn down for a Walgreens. "We want to make the rooms as though you're stepping back in time."

A four-night tour of the Mother Road included stays at the Wagon Wheel and Boots, as well as the Rail Haven, in Springfield, the city where Route 66 got its name, and the Munger Moss Motel, in Lebanon, where the iconic neon sign has been repaired and relit.

Route 66 ran from Chicago to Los Angeles, a total of 2,448 miles, including 317 miles in Missouri, from downtown St. Louis to the Kansas state line west of Joplin.

The highway was named officially in April 30, 1926, at a meeting in Springfield. It served as one of the nation's chief east-west arteries until it was removed from the U.S. highway system in 1985, replaced by Interstates. Interstate 44 through Missouri now follows much of the route from St. Louis to Springfield.

But by then, its romantic status as a roadway to the west, and a pathway to adventure, had been recognized in song and on TV. "Get your kicks on Route 66" was the mantra of the faithful who refused to let the highway fade away.

Today, states such as Missouri have erected "Historic Route 66" signs along bypassed sections of the highway, and tourists come from the world over to drive its twisting two lanes and visit the Mom 'n Pop motels and roadside attractions that still line its route.

"It's the best way to see America, end to end," said Echols, owner of the Wagon Wheel. "Overseas, it's a prestige thing to ride 66, especially on a motorcycle. In summer, a third, maybe closer to a half, of my business is from overseas. One night last summer, we had 11 rooms rented from 10 different countries. Half of them didn't speak English."

Followers of the Mother Road know the important stops, and the people they'll find there.

"I rented 36 rooms to travelers from Australia two weeks ago," said Ramona Lehman, who owns the Munger Moss. "Last year, I had a group from the Union of South Africa."

They come to stay in the motel, and to visit with Ramona and her husband, Bob, and hear their stories of life on the Road.

"I make sure I'm here when we have big groups," Ramona said. "I had a guy from Brazil come in and he said, 'Are you Ramona?' He reached over to touch me and said, 'You are real!'

"There's something about the people who travel on Route 66. They fall in love with our country, and our road. It puts goose bumps on me."

A labor of love
Connie Echols owned a florist shop on Route 66 in Cuba, but long had admired the Wagon Wheel, which included a gas station, café and motel.

"I always thought it was a cool place," she said of the fieldstone buildings.

When the owners died, she bought it from their son and began the arduous restoration, which had to conform to the motel's listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

Today, the old café houses the motel office and Connie's Shoppe, which sells women's accessories and souvenirs; the 19 rental rooms are stylishly decorated, with modern amenities.

"I know what I like when I travel - white linens, good beds and clean, up-to-date bathrooms," Echols said. "We did keep the original doors and windows, and saved the hardwood floors that we could."

Room 22 is a suite with a queen bed, table and chairs, and flat-screen TV in the front room. A jetted tub, shower, small refrigerator, microwave and granite-topped vanity are in the back room.

The motel has become a popular base for exploring Cuba, which is making an impressive bid as a tourist destination. The town has decorated its buildings with 12 murals, and is home to wineries and restaurants including Missouri Hick Barbeque, Frisco's Grill and Pub, and Cuba Bakery and Deli.

"There were a few times I could have quit in the middle of it," Echols said of her labor of love, "but I've never been a quitter."

Rooms at the Wagon Wheel range from $55 for a single to $110 for the suites. Visit www.WagonWheel66Cuba.com, or call 573-885-3411.


Streamline Moderne architecture
Deborah Harvey, of Decatur, Ga., and her sister, Priscilla Bledsaw, of Decatur, Ill., are devoted Roadies who were making the trek from Chicago to Los Angeles in 2006, when they came upon the closed Boots Motel at the intersection of Route 66 and Highway 71, in Carthage.

"We were driving along and kept saying how fun it would be to own a hotel on Route 66 and wave at all the people going by," said Harvey, who is 62 and a historic preservation consultant.

Five years later, the two were the proud owners of the motel built by Arthur Boots in 1939. The original had a gas station and eight rooms with carports. A back annex of five rooms with an underground garage was added in 1946.

The back building was the first to be restored, opening last May. The sisters combed the flea markets and used furniture shops in Carthage for antique chenille bedspreads and period furniture to decorate each room, many of which maintain their original wood floors and tiled bathrooms.

There are no TVs, but each room has a radio to fulfill Arthur Boots' promise of "a radio in every room."

Future plans include removing a gabled roof that was added later, spoiling the Streamline Moderne architecture of the main building, and replacing the green neon that decorated the exterior.

The sisters figure it will take up to five years to have the Boots back to original condition, but it's already drawing international visitors.

"We got a couple of motorcyclists from Tahiti, and we've had people from nearly every European country," Harvey said. "This is our first year, but we're making enough money to pay the bills."

And they've already achieved one of their important goals. "In the evening, we sit out front and wave to passersby," Harvey said. "People will stop by and tell us stories about staying at the Boots."

Rates for a single are $66 and for a double $71, as in Highway 71. Visit BootsMotel.Homestead.com, or call 417-310-2989.

State's first Steak 'N Shake
Springfield bills itself as the "Birthplace of Route 66," and the Best Western Route 66 Rail Haven is a good place to stay while exploring the city's attractions.

The original Rail Haven, built by brothers Elwyn and Lawrence Lippman in 1938, had eight sandstone cottages with adjoining garages and a rail fence. By the time the motel became a founding member of the new Best Western chain in 1951, it had 28 rooms.

Today, that total is up to 98 and the original eight cottages have become part of a modern strip motel with all the expected amenities. Antique gas pumps, vintage signs and a pair of 1955 and 1956 Fords decorate the grounds, paying homage to its link to the historic highway.

"Nothing's been torn down here," said Tonya Pike, a Route 66 historian who helps in marketing the motel. "We're considered a classic example of how a cottage court becomes a strip motel. There are other hotels out there as old as we are, but we're the only one that's a founding member of a national chain and still part of that chain."

A brochure in the motel office describes other Route 66 highlights in Springfield, including the Rest Haven Court, Shrine Mosque, Gillioz Theatre and the first Steak 'N Shake in Missouri, which has its original black-and-white sign and offers curb service.

Rates start at $79.99. Visit BWRailhaven.com, or call 800-304-0021.

Keeping it alive
Change may be coming to yet another landmark motel on Historic Route 66.

Ramona and Bob Lehman, who have owned the Munger Moss Motel in Lebanon for 41 years, have listed it for sale.

The hotel has 44 rooms, and 17 two-room efficiencies. Some of the rooms are decorated with themes, including Room 18, which is dedicated to the dearly departed Coral Court Motel, the infamous no-tell-motel that was torn down and replaced by a subdivision in St. Louis.

"It's decorated in pink and black," Ramona said of Room 18. "I also call it my bordello room."

Although Ramona and Bob, like their motel, are in good shape, they both are in their mid-70s and looking for a new lifestyle.

"I won't sell it just to anybody," Ramona said. "I want somebody who loves Route 66 to take it over. It's part of our heritage. We've got to keep it alive for our kids."

Rates are $48 for a single, and $55 for a double. Visit MungerMoss.com, or call 417-532-3111.

Tom Uhlenbrock writes travel stories for the State of Missouri.

About the Missouri Division of Tourism
The Missouri Division of Tourism (MDT) is the official tourism office for the state of Missouri dedicated to marketing Missouri as a premier travel destination. Established in 1967, the Missouri Division of Tourism has worked hard to develop the tourism industry in Missouri to what it is today, an $11.2 billion industry supporting more than 279,000 jobs and generating $627 million in state taxes in Fiscal Year 2011. For every dollar spent on marketing Missouri as a travel destination in FY11, $57.76 was returned in visitor expenditures. For more information on Missouri tourism, go to www.VisitMO.com.

 

Links referenced in this article:

Wagon Wheel Motel
www.VisitMO.com/wagon-wheel-motel.aspx

Boots Motel
www.VisitMO.com/boots-motel.aspx

Best Western Route 66 Rail Haven
www.VisitMO.com/best-western-route-66-rail-haven.aspx

Munger Moss Motel
www.VisitMO.com/munger-moss-motel.aspx

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