Day 3 on our Route 66 adventure was packed with iconic stops, unexpected discoveries, and plenty of laughs as we made our way from St. Louis to Springfield, Missouri.
We started the morning at the Gateway Arch (and the Arch’s museum) in St. Louis, taking in the incredible views of this engineering feat and reflecting on how far we’d already come.
Before officially heading west, we made a side trek to the National Museum of Transportation, where one exhibit stood out above all the rest—the famous “Rubber Duck” truck from the classic movie Convoy. Seeing such a legendary piece of trucking history in person was a highlight of the day. This also has been a dream of Jay’s for quite some time – after all, this is one of his favorite movies. We spent some time reminiscing about his grandfather, with whom he often watched this movie.
The truck also became the site of a special milestone for our journey: we left our very first painted rock for another traveler to discover. It’s fun imagining who might find it and where their own Route 66 adventure might take them.
We also made sure to bring our Culture Espresso coffee tumbler, to keep our coffee warm while we were making our stop at the Ribber Duck,
Back on the Mother Road, we stopped at the Route 66 Missouri State Park Visitor Center before continuing through a string of classic Route 66 towns including Eureka, Pacific, Union, Sullivan, and Cuba. Each town had its own charm, but Cuba was especially memorable.
The city had adorable birthday cake displays celebrating both Route 66’s upcoming 100th anniversary and America’s 250th birthday. We also couldn’t miss the world-famous Route 66 Rocker—the largest rocking chair in the world—which made for a perfect photo stop.
From there, we continued west through Rolla before making what might have been the most fitting Route 66 stop of the day: Uranus. Naturally, we had to get some fudge. It just seemed wrong not to. Hahah!
As evening approached, we finally rolled into Springfield, the Birthplace of Route 66. We visited the Birthplace of Route 66 sign and took a moment to appreciate standing where this legendary highway officially began its journey nearly a century ago.
Dinner was at Black Sheep, where we enjoyed a well-earned meal after a full day on the road. We both had burgers and fries, plus habanero cheese curds and truffle fries – all of it was fantastic and we can’t recommend it enough! JUST GO! You will love it! Plus, the staff is so kind and friendly, it always makes a place that much more special when the staff amazing like they were here.
To cap off the evening, we drove Springfield’s Musical Road. At exactly 30 miles per hour, the grooves in the pavement played “America the Beautiful” through our tires. As we listened to the song while driving one of America’s most historic highways, it felt like the perfect ending to a day spent celebrating both Route 66 and the country’s rich history.
VOLUME UP – and listen closely. 😍🇺🇸❤️🤍💙
Tomorrow, the road leads us farther west, but Day 3 will be hard to top. Between the Rubber Duck, giant rocking chairs, fudge, and a highway that literally sings, Missouri delivered everything we hoped for on Route 66.
Life with Mary and Jay 