Of course I'll have pancakes with that...

We had way too much breakfast on Watson (Rte 66) in St. Louis this morning. And after that breakfast, Neil and I didn't even think of eating until 7pm. in Joplin. Let's just say, you can get pancakes with anything in St. Louis. And there's no such thing as a "small plate".

It was lovely to see Barry, as it happens all too infrequently these days. But it was all good. And we got to see his newly remodeled kitchen and little pooch, Goose. On the way to breakfast, we had a lovely tour of Forest Park (location of the 1904 World's Fair and a really pretty park.) And after breakfast, we continued on Watson toward the "frontage" road that is the part of Rte 66 that hasn't been torn up or become part of I44 directly.

Now for the sad news....while Missouri has been kind enough to put Historic Route 66 markers along the path, there's really nothing left of Route 66 in the entire state. As a matter of fact, Joplin looks like a newly minted penny with its brand new malls, new hotel rooms and new restaurants. There were a few yards of original road to be seen in the western part of the state. But even the legacy cabins and motels mentioned in the late 1990's guidebook are no longer there. History has marched on. The stuff we call progress looks really really scary.