31 Best Sights in Missouri, USA

Two blocks east of the Plaza is the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, known for its outstanding Asian-art collection and the Henry Moore Sculpture Garden on the south grounds. The new Bloch Building expansion, the brainchild of architect Steven Holl, spans the equivalent of a 67-story building lying on its side. It houses the museum's collections of contemporary and African art, as well as a research library and galleries for rotating photography exhibits.

Across Pershing Road from the Liberty Memorial is the jewel in Kansas City's attractions, Science City, a 55,000-square-foot science museum in the restored train station, was once the second largest train station in the country. The museum contains 50 hands-on learning environments, including a planetarium, "extreme" movie screen, and media lab. Built in 1914, the train station itself houses a vintage rail exhibit and a variety of restaurants, shops, and theaters.

The American Jazz Museum honors Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Charlie Parker, and other jazz greats. You can listen to hundreds of jazz CDs in the interactive studio and sound library. Numerous shops and restaurants line the streets of this historic area.

Arrowhead Stadium, where the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs play

A Kansas City original, the Boulevard Brewing Company gives tours that end with free tastes of their nine different brews.

Attending a live musical performance is the highlight of many a visitor’s trip to Branson, and while there are dozens to choose from, a few stand apart as being among the city’s most innovative. One of these is Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede, a lively dinner show that features live horseback stunts, pyrotechnic feats, and a four-course meal of Southern finger food (vegetarian options are also available). If you get here early, you can catch free preshow performances in the lobby.

Attractions at this favorite of St. Louis children include a 160-acre petting zoo, education-based elephant and bird shows, an animal preserve, and train ride to visit the famous Anheuser-Busch Clydesdale horses and their breeding facility. A wide selection of outdoor summer-friendly food is available to enjoy in an outdoor dining area.

The Hallmark Visitors Center takes you through the greeting card giant's humble history, as well as the cardmaking process. Exhibits include a video archive of Hallmark's most famous television commercials and a printing press operator that produces real Hallmark cards.

Truman's life and career are the focus at the Harry S Truman Museum & Library. You'll also frequently find traveling exhibits and speakers.

Just off Branson's famous Route 76, the local branch of the Hollywood Wax Museum offers visitors the chance to get their photos snapped with eerily realistic replicas of their favorite film stars of yesterday and today, from Charlie Chaplin to Johnny Depp. You can even climb into the fist of a giant King Kong figure, but you’ll have to pay extra if you want to take the photo home. The gift shop in this recently renovated museum is chock-full of Hollywood memorabilia.

as well as an IMAX theater

The Kansas City Zoo includes a 5,000-acre African-plains exhibit.

The Kansas Speedway hosts NASCAR's elite Nextel Cup Series, Busch and Craftsman Truck Series, and the IndyCar Series. The Legends, a shopping and entertainment district, has grown up around the track.

Kauffman Stadium, home of Major League Baseball's Royals

The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art has an ever-growing permanent collection of 700 works in a broad range of media.

Liberty Memorial, a tower built in 1921 to commemorate the war. Extensive structural renovation, completed in 2002, has stabilized the tower's 217-foot observation deck and improved the original underground museum.

Also in Fleming Park is Missouri Town 1855, a reproduction 1800s town created from more than 30 transplanted period houses, barns, stores, and outbuildings. The staff and volunteers wear period clothing. It's closed on weekdays in fall and winter, and Monday in spring and summer.

On the crest of a hill at the northern edge of Penn Valley Park, north of Westport, is the National World War One Museum at Liberty Memorial. Visitors enter the nation's only official World War I museum via a glass walkway suspended over a poignant field of 9,000 faux poppies, each representing 1/1000 of the 9 million soldiers killed during the war. The facility houses a research center and interactive exhibits that examine the stages of the conflict—and the world—before, during, and after America became involved. Special features include audio alcoves, a reproduction of trench warfare, two films, and interactive tables where visitors can use laser pointers and a computerized surface to create take-home souvenirs. The museum is attached to the

In the Museums at 18th & Vine complex, the cornerstone of the historic 18th and Vine district, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum documents the history of African-Americans in baseball through films and a multimedia gallery.

Just blocks from the almost-completed Sprint Center arena, the Power & Light District is a nine-block area featuring restaurants, shopping, theaters and Kansas City Live, an outdoor concert pavilion.

The first thing you’ll notice when visiting Branson’s branch of Ripley’s Believe it or Not is the museum’s unusual facade, with long fissures designed to look as though the whole place has been cracked in an earthquake. This unusual design is a nod to the 1812 earthquake, which supposedly caused the Mississippi to reverse its flow. From there, things only get weirder. Inside, you’ll witness a number of unbelievable oddities, ranging from a two-headed taxidermied calf to so-called shrunken heads. The replica of Rome’s Colosseum made entirely of playing cards isn’t really an oddity, but is certainly a display of some serious talent.

North of downtown, the River Market has some of the city's most distinctive ethnic restaurants and markets. In the summer months, a Saturday- and Sunday-morning farmers' market draws thousands.

One of Branson's biggest draws for families, Silver Dollar City boasts 30 rides and attractions, ranging the mild Happy Frogs kiddie ride to some pretty intense roller coasters. Those looking to maximize the fear factor won't want to miss the chance to take a ride on the WildFire, a loopy coaster that reaches speeds of up to 66 mph. Other popular rides include the American Plunge, a five-story splash ride, and the recently added Outlaw Run, the world's steepest wooden roller coaster. Off-season visitors should note that most of the rides close when temperatures drop below 35°F.

But if it's Wednesday and you're in the mood for something different, head to St. Raymond's Hall, a church hall across the street from the Ralston Purina Headquarters in the La Salle Park neighborhood, a five-minute drive southwest of the Gateway Arch.

St. Raymond's is an Eastern Rite Catholic Church founded in 1898. But for three hours on Wednesdays, from 11 until 2, it's also a favorite lunch spot for city aldermen, judges, lawyers, factory workers, housewives, and children.

A large community of Lebanese families forms the base of the church membership. In the 1960s, an all-volunteer group of these church-members decided to raise funds for the upkeep of the church by serving cafeteria-style lunch once a week. And they've been doing it ever since. Parishioners prepare Lebanese specialties like meat-and-spinach pies, grape-leaf rolls, kibbi aras (a deep-fried mixture of ground beef, cracked wheat, onions, and spices), and pita bread. These are dished out along with American standards.

The very reasonable prices the freshly prepared food, and the unique atmosphere draw a steady and diverse clientele. There is always a line, but don't worry. It moves quickly.

Swope Park is also home to the Starlight Theatre, an outdoor theater hosting Broadway plays and other family-friendly entertainment.

Year-round, tourists and locals enjoy the Steamboat Arabia Museum, which houses goods—from French perfume to buttons to coffeepots—salvaged from the Arabia's muddy grave 132 years after it sank in the Missouri River in 1856.

A short drive from Branson will take you to this gorgeous natural expanse on the banks of Table Rock Lake, a popular camping spot with facilities for boating, fishing, and even scuba diving. There are also hiking trails, mountain-biking trails, and picnic areas. At the marina you can rent boats and purchase tackle and snacks. The flora and fauna in the park include oak and hickory trees, glade plants, wildflowers, wild turkeys, and foxes, as well as tarantulas.

Butterflies are everywhere at Branson’s Butterfly Palace, an interactive attraction dedicated to the world’s most beautiful insect. The palace includes a tropical aviary that contains not only butterflies of all colors and sizes, but also tropical birds and plants. There's also a theater that screens a documentary on monarch migration, a mirror maze, and a bungee obstacle course. At the museum’s science center you can check out a variety of rain-forest butterflies, amphibians, reptiles, and even cockroaches under a microscope.

While in Independence, you can visit the nearby Truman Home, Truman's Summer White House.

Showcasing some of the world's greatest classic toys, as well as a few modern ones, this museum is fun not only for children, but also for adults wanting to get nostalgic about their childhood. There are more than a million toys here, and collections include vintage toy trains, old school lunchboxes, tin toys, toddler pull toys, and many decades' worth of Barbie dolls and action figures. The gift shop is well stocked with classic toys to take home, including plenty of Mr. Potato Head figurines.