Rosati, MO lookout tower

[Mandi Milenko]

Hey I think we drove by that when we tried to take route 66 to Springfield last weekend. Unfortunately, my husband was pissed because we were lost at the time so he wouldn't stop. Is it on 17 or something like that?

BTW...Fuck route 66. I didn't even find John's Modern Cabins and i don't know why cuz I was following directions that I seen on a lot of websites and drove all the way down Sugar-whateverthefuck-road and didn't see a damn thing. I also missed the Trail of Tears monument because we had to hop on the highway and my sour-puss husband wouldn't head in the opposite direction once we got off so I can see it. He is such a dick!!

The one thing that was AWESOME about 66 was the Wild Animal Safari in Strafford. The damn ostriches charging at our car and pecking at our windows scared the hell out of me though. I felt like I was in Jurassic Park!!


this thing was scary as fuck!! (my window was really dirty because of all the animal slobber)


(Zedonk chewing on my window...don't worry..I rolled it down and fed the poor guy)

[colony]

Haha, that's hilarious. This summer my father-in-law and I will be cycling on Rt 66 from Joplin all the way back up here to St. Louis. Although he's not much into UE, unfortunately. I would prefer to snap some pics on the way back.

[Mandi Milenko]

That sounds fun!! I didn't make it past Springfield, but I heard there is some ghosts towns that you go through. You should definitely stop at the animal safari! They have tour buses that go through the park if you're not driving. It's well worth the $15.95 they charge and make sure you buy a bag of feed so you can feed the animals!

[crazydrummerdude]

This is not the tower on 17 or 7 or whatever.

I didn't know the animal safari was still active. Hmm.

[slow_walker]

[Mandi Milenko]

It's definitely not for the PETA-minded but it's cool as hell to see at least once! It's the first time I've been, but I heard it's better with the new owners. It's still in pretty sad shape, so I would hate to have seen it before they improved it. All in all though it didn't bother me much and I enjoyed myself! One word of advice though...use the bathroom before you go in. You DO NOT want to use theirs!!

[crazydrummerdude]

You didn't happen to check out the Caveman BBQ place on your way, eh? I've been meaning to go there to see if it's still active. It's another Route 66 tourist trap.

[Mandi Milenko]

I'm not sure if I saw that or Hick's Barbecue or both. We hopped on 44 right at Hazelgreen because we got lost and hubby said "no more 66". I didn't get to check out much of anything with the hubby there. Looks like 66 will have to be a by-myself trip, or with someone else more interested in exploring.

[the_p0ssum]

Missouri Hick BBQ is right along old 66 as you roll into Cuba on the east end of the town. Caveman BBQ is up in Richland, and isn't all that close to 66.

[ropingk]

and Hick is for sure open

[the_p0ssum]

From this site:

"1948 - The Missouri Department of Conservation erects a fire lookout tower on the southwest side of Rosati where it had purchased 92 acres of land from Sam and Mary Vitali in 1947. The tower still stands today but it has become obscured from view due to the height of the trees around it. It stands on top of the westernmost of the three knobs which Knobview was named for."

Also, here's a pic of the tower:

[crazydrummerdude]

Good work.

[Chris]

There is a tower like this at 21 and Tishamingo Road, I think it's much, much taller, and is open to the public.

Missouri Hick is open as is the cave restaurant. The cave place has new owners, new website, and new hours.

[Eagle90]

There's a fire tower south of Rolla off 63 highway as well. There's another one off old 66 just east of St Robert and Big Louie's on the south side of the road.