Are we there yet?
The refrain rings through road-tripping heads, even if kid-sized backseat drivers aren’t around to call it out.
But if you believe the journey matters nearly as much as the destination, you open yourself up to the possibility of rewarding roadside stops. And Missouri is ready to reward you.
The Show Me State has a number of great and strange attractions worth pulling off the highway. If you’re traveling across the state this summer, or just want to get to know your local oddity, here are 17 of the most interesting stops to make.
More:These 9 underrated destinations within 2 hours of Columbia are good for day, weekend trips
The Awakening
Where: 16100 Main Circle Drive, Chesterfield
What you’ll find: J. Seward Johnson Jr.’s sculptural creation comes with an inherent sense of drama; “buried in the ground,” The Awakening gives “the impression of a distressed giant attempting to free himself from the ground,” as the city of Chesterfield’s website describes it.
Black Madonna Shrine
Where: 100 St. Joseph’s Hill Road, Pacific
What you’ll find: Modeled after a shrine in his native Poland, a Franciscan brother created this site, which features shrines and grottos made from native Missouri rock; the area also includes “dazzling mosaics and multi-colored rock sculptures,” according to its website.
Boathenge
Where: 11301 S. Smith Hatchery Road, Columbia
What you’ll find: This legendary spot is a Missouri River rat’s answer to the great and mystical Stonehenge. According to legend, the boats just arrived; “initially seen following the hundred years’ flood of 1993, this series of painted boats … is the work of anonymous artists,” Atlas Obscura notes.
Boots Court Motel
Where: 107 S. Garrison Ave. in Carthage
What you’ll find: Founded by Arthur Boots, this 1939 motel offered travelers rest along iconic Route 66; Boots touted the “radio in every room” and an original nightly price of $2.50. The place also is famous for its celebrity clientele, such as return guest Clark Gable, Mickey Mantle and Gene Autry. You can still make reservations today, though the price has gone up just a bit.
Community Bookshelf
Where: 114 W. Tenth St., Kansas City
What you’ll find: When is a parking garage not just a parking garage? When it forms a giant monument to the love of reading. The four-story garage at Kansas City’s center-city library is decorated to look like book spines, with titles such as “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “Charlotte’s Web” and more; the “books” are 26 feet tall by 9 feet wide, according to the library’s description.
Jim the Wonder Dog
Where: Marshall
What you’ll find: Jim, a Llewellyn setter, lived in the early 20th century and became known for his remarkable intuition. Jim “performed” at the Missouri State Fair, before dignitaries, and gained a reputation across the country for following commands in languages other than English, picking strangers out of a crowd after simple descriptions, and supposedly predicting the winners of sporting events and the sexes of unborn babies. Here, Jim is honored with a bronze statue and pastoral water garden.
Maxie, the World’s Largest Goose
Where: Sumner
What you’ll find: The name really says it all: created in 1976, the 4,000-pound goose sculpture serves as “the mascot of the so-called wild goose capital of the world,” Atlas Obscura notes.
McBaine Burr Oak
Where: Burr Oak Road, Columbia, just off the Katy Trail
What: Standing beneath this local legend is akin to a spiritual experience, as visitors are shaded and shrouded by the centuries-old witness, also simply referred to as “big tree.”
Moonrise Hotel Rooftop Terrace Bar
Where: 6177 Delmar Boulevard, St. Louis
What you’ll find: Atop this St. Louis hotel is what’s been termed “the world’s largest man-made moon”; under its astral glow, patrons are promised “a dramatic view of the bustling Delmar Loop district and St. Louis skyline.”
Charlie Parker Memorial
Where: East 18th and Vine streets, Kansas City
What you’ll find: Go Bird-spotting with this sculptural homage to the jazz great. Constructed in 1999, artist Robert Graham created a large green bust of the saxophonist with the inscription “Bird Lives.”
Red Oak II
Where: Just a few miles northeast of Carthage
What you’ll find: Artist Lowell Davis conceived and essentially recreated his childhood home, which had become a ghost town by his adulthood. Red Oak II includes “a collection of early 20th-century buildings like a general store, a Phillips 66 station, an old school house and even an old cemetery,” Carthage’s tourism website notes.
Route 66 Red Rocker
Where: 5957 Route ZZ, near Cuba
What you’ll find: The 42-foot, red-orange rocking chair at least gives the impression of having a seat and taking a load off. Once the largest rocker in the world, now relegated to second place, the chair has nothing to be ashamed of, creating an indelible American scene alone Route 66.
Sliced Bread Mural
Where: 709 Washington St., Chillicothe
What you’ll find: Chillicothe boasts a number of murals, but this one’s the greatest since sliced bread — really. The mural marks the community’s pioneering status as the first place machines sliced bread back in 1928.
Turtle Playground
Where: Oakland and Tamm in St. Louis, on the south side of Interstate 64/40, within sight of the St. Louis Zoo
What you’ll find: Tucked into the city of St. Louis, and technically a part of Forest Park, these giant concrete turtles wait, slowly and steadily winning the hearts of kids of all ages who want to climb upon their backs. The turtles were designed by City Museum founder Bob Cassilly.
Uranus
Where: 14400 State Highway Z in St Robert
What you’ll find: Look, we all can’t be mature all the time. Roadside billboards beckon travelers to check out the town-like attraction, which features such stops as Uranus Fudge Factory, Uranus Sideshow Museum and the Uranus Ice Cream Co. If nothing else, take a picture by some of the posted signs and send them to your more delightfully juvenile friends.
The World’s Largest 20th-Century Pecan
Where: 119 W. Broadway St., Brunswick
What you’ll find: This 12,000-pound concrete statue replicates the Starking Hardy Giant pecan, discovered and farmed by the area’s James family, who kept pecan orchards for around 60 years, according to the city’s website. The giant pecan was moved from the family’s roadside stand into town about a decade ago.
World’s Largest Fork By Mass
Where: 2215 W. Chesterfield St., Springfield
What you’ll find: Stick a fork in your search for outsize greatness — it’s done with this 35-foot-tall, 11-ton utensil. The fork initially sat outside a Springfield restaurant, then was moved next to the advertising agency which designed it, according to the city’s tourism website.
Aarik Danielsen is the features and culture editor for the Tribune. Contact him at adanielsen@columbiatribune.com or by calling 573-815-1731. He’s on Twitter/X @aarikdanielsen.