Springfield

Springfield calls itself the birthplace of Route 66 — the name was reportedly coined here in a downtown hotel room in 1926 — and the city leans into that claim with a string of murals, neon-lit motor court signs, and a downtown square built for exactly this kind of pilgrimage. Lia and I arrived planning a quick overnight before continuing south into the Ozarks and ended up staying two full days, pulled in by a livelier, more layered city than the highway-trivia reputation suggests.

Historic square and Route 66

Park Central Square anchors downtown, its Beaux-Arts buildings and central fountain surrounded by the kind of independent bars and restaurants that have moved back into a once-quiet downtown over the last decade. We walked a stretch of the old Route 66 alignment through town, spotting restored neon signage on former motels and diners, then found the small plaque marking the spot where the highway’s name was allegedly settled on over a 1926 meeting. It’s a modest monument for a road so mythologized, but standing there, at what’s claimed as mile zero, gave our own drive south a nice sense of ceremony.

Bass Pro Shops and the outdoor city

No visit to Springfield skips Bass Pro Shops’ original flagship store, a genuinely astonishing complex with indoor waterfalls, aquariums stocked with alligators and giant catfish, a bowling alley, and a taxidermy collection so extensive it functions as an accidental natural history museum. Lia, no hunter or angler, still spent two hours wandering it, more amused than she expected to be. The store’s presence says something true about Springfield’s identity as an outfitting hub for the Ozarks beyond it — this is where lake-and-woods weekenders from across the region stock up before heading into Table Rock or the Mark Twain National Forest.

Breweries and the Ozarks edge

Springfield has quietly built a solid brewery scene, and we spent an evening hopping between taprooms in the Rountree and Galloway neighborhoods, one housed in a converted ice factory with exposed brick and a beer garden strung with lights. We ate cashew chicken, a dish Springfield claims to have invented decades ago and still serves at Chinese restaurants across town with genuine local pride, alongside barbecue that leans smokier and vinegar-forward than its Kansas City cousin two hours north. By our second evening, wandering the square after dinner, the city felt less like a highway waypoint and more like a small, self-assured regional capital with its own particular tastes.

Getting There

Springfield-Branson National Airport sits about ten minutes southwest of downtown, with direct flights from several major hubs, making it a convenient gateway for trips into the southern Ozarks. St. Louis is roughly three hours northeast via I-44, and Kansas City about the same distance northwest via Highway 13 and I-49. Downtown and the square are walkable, though a car is useful for reaching Bass Pro Shops and the outer neighborhoods.