Take a Trip to Springfield, Missouri

What are you planning for this summer?  How about a trip to Springfield, Missouri!?

My family and I were lucky enough to travel to Springfield and experience the city May 7 through the 10.  There was so much to do, and we had such a great time!  Even the travel to and from (16 hours) was an adventure all in itself.

We saw beautiful scenery...it was surely a road trip to remember!  We experienced new parts of eight different states.  On the way there, we went through Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, and down to Springfield.  On the way home, we went directly south to Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama.  We have so many pictures of the scenic mountains, rivers, and farmland.  This was our first time in the Ozarks (and seeing how rice is farmed!).

Tennessee River

Farm land in Arkansas

We arrived to our hotel really late, so we checked right into the Best Western Coach House.  It was beautiful.  The room was clean and large enough for our entire family!  I also like that it is in a centralized location, we can access everything from our spot.

Best Western Coach House - Springfield, MO

My Kia is playing Peek-a-Boo!

The first activity we did was go to the Askinosie Chocolate Factory.  This is located on Commercial Street.  They make some of the best chocolate I've tasted.  Plus, they were making their white chocolate right in the front of the store!

Askinosie Chocolate Factory Entrance

Inside Askinosie Chocolate

Charlie was really excited to go here!

Nothin' like a chocolate factory!

After the chocolate factory, we walked around and enjoyed everything on Commercial Street and downtown.  There were a ton of unique boutiques and places to explore.  There is a lot of history in Springfield.

Commercial Street - Springfield, MO

Downtown - Springfield, MO

After walking around so much, we got hungry. We went to Springfield's Incredible Pizza Company for lunch.  This place is awesome.  They had everything on buffet-- from tacos to pizza.  Not to mention their desserts!  There were a ton of arcade games, go karts, and everything in between.

Charlie playing skee ball.

Cici riding a dinosaur.

The last thing we did on the first day was go to the Discovery Center.  Now, this place was fun!  It is centrally located, and easy to find!

Discovery Center - Springfield, MO

Charlie had a lot of fun digging for fossils, laying on a bed of nails, and more!

Looking for the fossils!  Keep digging!

Ouch!  Look at how tough he is!

Charlie and Trey found the airplane launcher and Discovery Town to be their favorite parts.  This is too much fun, and very inexpensive.  Your kids will have a blast here.

Airplane Launcher

Discovery Town

Your kids will be able to experiment with a ton of different theories, and they'll learn new things...

How lightning works!

Learning about magnets!

...and YOU will, too!

Different color shadows

Nano Particles

The second day, we had even more stuff to do!  I'm telling ya-- this vacation was jam packed!

The first activity was Dickerson Park Zoo.

Welcome to the zoo!

Charlie said that the zoo was his favorite part of the trip.

Sitting on top of the tiger!

He saw a few of his favorite animals...

Elephants!

Giraffe chewing up some greenery

...and I saw some of mine!  The peacocks were walking around the zoo showing off their plumage.

Beautiful male peacock

Bright pink flamingos!

After the zoo, we drove out to the country part of Springfield, and took a tour of the Fantastic Caverns.  This is the only drive-through cave in North America!

Our tram ride through the cave

The cave was so big and just gorgeous.  There were lights, so we were able to visually see all of everything (even in the dark zone!).  We learned all about its history as well as the ecosystem of the cave itself.

Yep-- this is real.  Nature hard at work!

Gorgeous cave that took thousands of years to form.

We even got to see the original explorer's namesake written in charcoal.

Original-- since there isn't any weather elements in the cave, it doesn't affect the charcoal.

After leaving Fantastic Caverns, we were hungry.  We stopped by Andy B's for a game of bowling and some dinner.

Andy B's

We had a good time bowling, and the food was great!  Unfortunately, we didn't receive the best service here.  I probably wouldn't return here if we ever end up in Springfield again.  However, the place was beautiful and well-kept.

Entrance-- to the right is the arcade, and the left is where you can dine

Bowling!

Of course we had to stop by the largest Bass Pro Shops that I've ever seen in my life-- the granddaddy of ALL outdoor stores.  It would take me all day to walk around this place.  Charlie bought some fishing lures here for his birthday!

There were alligators swimming around... and lots of statues to take pictures with!

Alligators at Bass Pro

Charlie loved the statues

We had some fun out and about... I found a Sephora...

My favorite store!

...and the famous Andy's Frozen Custard!

You need to try their concretes!

There are so many things that we didn't get to do, but we really cherished the memories that we have made with the stuff we did.

  It was a busy weekend, but one well spent.  Everything went smoothly, but one thing that I would like to point out is that we have noticed the local people were not the nicest.  We had more run-ins with rude people than not.  I feel that this is something that I should mention, because as far as touring the area I didn't receive very much help.  

If you need a summer vacation plan, start here.  There is a little something in Springfield that everybody will enjoy!

Come visit the Springfield Visitors Center at:

815 E St Louis St #100

Springfield, MO 65806

(800) 678-8767

DISCLAIMER:  I received the product mentioned above complimentary for review and testing purposes. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.  All opinions stated above are solely mine, and have not been influenced in any way.  I am disclosing this information in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.