Labor Day Weekend Missouri Trip

Ben and Sherrill and us got together and took a little trip to Missouri over the Labor Day weekend. 

We met up in Winterset and kind of got a late start because Donna and I had some things to do and we got a little behind. They were waiting on us but I still had to fill up and get some air in my brand new tires. Took longer than I had planned. 

We left there and took Hwy 169 down and picked up Hwy 2 and went to Bedford where we stopped for lunch and fuel. The Junction Cafe is a good place to eat if you have never been. If you are in the area, make sure to stop in. They even take cards now which they didn't in the past. Makes it easier on those of us who don't carry cash much. 

We left there taking Hwy 148 south into Missouri and took it to Hwy 71 and then to Hwy 36 where we took it into St. Joseph. We stopped in St. Joseph to see the Jesse James house. Sherrill is a big Jesse James history buff and Donna and I thought it would be cool to check out. It was a very interesting site to check out. Lots of stuff to read and see on his life and death. $3 fee

Next door was the Patee House Museum. This is a large old hotel with lots of things in it from days gone by. Stuff on the pony express, old fire trucks, planes, military equipment. It really would take most of a day to really go through this like it should be done. This was very interesting and deserves another visit. $5 fee

St. Joseph really has a lot of things to see and do. There is a pony express museum that we didn't have time to check out.  I think this town will have to be a place to make an extended visit to in the future. 

From here, time was slipping away from us and we needed to head for Sedalia and our motel for the night. We took Hwy 36 over to Hwy 65 and headed south. Once in Sedalia, we found the Stardust Motor Inn and checked in. Nothing special but clean and good enough for all of us.

Once we got checked in, we beat feet south for one of the reason we came this way. Ben and Sherrill had been to a place called Charley's Buffet and said it was amazing. They are only open on Friday and Saturday nights from 4:30 - 8:30. You go about 15 miles south of Sedalia to the town of Cole Camp. Pick up Hwy 52 and head east. When you get to Hwy B you turn south and go 10 miles. You'll not miss the place. If nothing else, you'll see the line waiting to get in. Hwy B is a wonderful road to ride. A little spooky to come back out on after dark but we made it. Would like to go back down just to ride that whole road in the daylight.

When we arrived, the lot was pretty darn full but we found a place to park the bikes. Got in line and began chatting with others. It only took 20 minutes or so to get in. I am sure if it had been earlier in the day, the wait would have been longer but in our case the time went pretty fast. We kept looking in the windows and checking out the decor. It is a pretty good sized place and it was full. They use tables that are well designed for their purpose. Once in, paying 13.50 each, you are taken to a table and greeted by a very friendly staff. You order your drink and head off to the buffet. Wonderful is all I have to say about the buffet. Shredded ham and beef. Breaded chicken breast. Soup. Asian dishes. All kinds of side dishes and desserts.  Everything was absolutely wonderful. The dinner rolls are the best I have ever had I think. Pig out as much or as little as you want. Well worth the time to stop by if you are in the area. Worth the time to make it a reason to visit the area.

After we stuffed ourselves, we made our way back to the hotel. Everyone talked about how miserable they were being stuffed with good food. Actually, I wasn't miserable, I did pretty good. I over ate but I didn't let it get too bad. I forced myself to quit and it was a good thing I did. It was after 10 by now so we all just called it a night and crashed. 

Got up the next morning but was a little lazy at getting around. Made our way north out of Sedalia and ate breakfast at a little restaurant a few miles out of town. We had planned on heading for home but the conversation turned to how no one really wanted to go home. We wanted to enjoy the roads in Missouri some more. Soooo.... we made a few phone calls and took care of some details that needed to be taken care of and decided to ride more of the area. 

Ben took the lead and led us north and east through some towns and on some nice lettered roads. Lots of curvy windy roads in Missouri. We really need to spend more time in the area. Sherrill took the lead for a while and took us on a tour of all the houses they lived in in Missouri. We stopped at a park in the town where they had lived and we made plans. It was getting late in the afternoon and we picked a couple of towns that we figured we could make it to before dark and made some reservations. 


We took off and headed east. We stopped at a cemetery so Ben and Sherrill could pay respects to people they knew. After that, we headed for the town of Shelbyville to get some fuel and find something to eat. This is when I found out that apparently, Missouri is in another country. We were told nothing was open where we could get anything to eat. The clerk at the station gave us directions to some town but we still weren't sure if there would be any place to eat. Donna was smart enough to look up places in the town we decided to stay in and see if anything was open. No luck. Only a BP and a Casey's where we could get pizza. Not what we wanted but we resigned ourselves to the fact that that may be our only choices and we took off. 


Still seeing some of the sights, we took some roads and ended up in the town of Bethel. I passed right by a restaurant and Donna hollers at me that she saw a restaurant and people outside. We went around the block and came back and asked the couple outside if the place was open. They said yes and we inquired about the food and they said it was good. We went in and found it to be a quaint little place. Not a large menu but enough for what we needed. Burgers and fries. They were pretty good. While we were waiting on our food, we got word that the weather was not so good back home even though it was supposed to be nice. Not much we could do. Just had to hope our basement didn't get filled with water. Turns out, it didn't rain much here. 


After our dinner, we did a little snooping around the town and came across a sign that said "Hair Sheep Exhibit". This intrigued me, I had no idea what that was. Went back and asked the couple outside what a Hair sheep exhibit was. This old gentleman says he is a hair sheep expert. Turns out, he is a Veterinarian and he actually raises and sells hair sheep as well as other animals. Hair sheep, it turns out, are a kind of sheep that actually has hair and not wool. I guess they are easier to care for. No sheering. They shed. Meat supposedly tastes better as well. Very interesting couple. And, it turns out, they are from Kentucky. You would have thought they were the local town folk. Very nice people. They even invited us to come visit them.


By now, it was getting pretty late and we wanted to get to the motel before dark. Worried about deer so we took off and made a hot shot to Edina where we were going to spend the night. Still some nice roads getting us there. We got to down just before dark and stopped at a station to get directions to the motel and to pick up some beverages for the evening. Motel was easy to find, just a couple of blocks down the road. Not a real swell place but it was alright to just spend a night. We got unpacked and parked the bikes by the room where there was covering in case the weather got bad. Spent a good night in the room having some adult beverages and just talking and laughing. Then called it a night and crashed. 


Got up the next morning to a very gloomy sky. Looked like rain was going to hit us any minute so we decided to stay put and let it blow over. Ben and I both checking our radars on the phone. Looked like a pretty good storm so decided to stay put. After quite a bit of time, the rain had never made it to us so we decided to take off. As we were getting ready to jump on, it started to lightly rain. We pulled out our rain gear and suited up and headed over to Kirksville where we stopped for breakfast. Had some rain but nothing too serious. After breakfast, the weather was getting better again and we headed north. Up Hwy. 63 and over on some county roads and back into Iowa where we stopped at a little country store in the town of Exline. It's a little south and east of Centerville. This store is a neat place. Lots of knick knacks to look at and buy. They also have food and ice cream. Very nice little place. Make it a point to go that way some time and stop in. 


After some time in Exline, we zig zagged our way back home. This was a fantastic weekend and we are planning on going back to the St. Joseph area and the Cole Camp area again. May make a winter weekend out of it.