Our Route 66 Adventures: Springfield Route 66 Musical Road

Date of Visit: May 2, 2026

In honor of Route 66's Centennial and the United State's 250th, Springfield, Missouri, added some rumble strips on the edge of Saint Louis St a little bit past the Queen's Gate 66 sculpture.

If you drive it at a steady 30 MPH, it plays "America the Beautiful." It took Dad a few tries to stay on it for almost the whole part as the last part is not lined up straight with the rest.

See full list of Our Route 66 Adventures here and Google map here.

Destination Info:

Springfield Route 66 Musical Road 

1667 E Saint Louis St

Springfield, MO 65802

Our Route 66 Adventures: Missouri Route 66 Centennial Traveling Exhibit at Gillioz Theatre

Date of Visit: May 1, 2026

The Route 66 Centennial Traveling Exhibit has a Missouri and New Mexico version on display in their respective states at various locations this year. We saw it while it was on display at the Gillioz Theatre in Springfield.

The exhibit features info about Route 66 including sites to see and its history in Missouri.

The exhibit also gave us a chance to see inside the Gillioz Theatre, which is also celebrating its centennial this year. A few days later we saw Disney Pixar's Cars here.

See full list of Our Route 66 Adventures here and Google map here.

Destination Info:

Route 66 Centennial Traveling Exhibit

Gillioz Theatre, Springfield, MO (Apr 30-May 2, 2026)

Crawford County Historical Society, Cuba, MO (May 3-Sep 15, 2026)

Red Cedar Inn Museum and Visitor Center, Pacific, MO (Sep 17-18. 2026)

Red Oak II, Carthage, MO (Sep 18-20, 2026)

Our Route 66 Adventures: Route 66 Birthplace Plaza

Date of Visit: May 1, 2026

The Route 66 Birthplace Plaza is one of the new things added to Springfield, Missouri for the Route 66 Centennial. The plaza is located where the Colonial Hotel once stood, which was where the telegram proposing the route be named 66 was sent. There is a plaque on the keys sculpture about the birth of Route 66.

The Plaza features "The Ghost of the Colonial Hotel" sculpture to represent the hotel that once stood at this location.

On the ground there is a mosaic map of Route 66.

The building behind the plaza has a mural.

The building across the street on Park Central E has a plaque that also commemorates the telegram that gave Route 66 its name. John T. Woodruff has an office on the 7th floor of the building. He was involved in selecting 66 as the name along with Cyrus Avery and was also the first president of the U.S. Highway 66 Association.

Across the street on Jefferson Ave is a Route 66 shield sculpture.

See full list of Our Route 66 Adventures here and Google map here.

Destination Info:

Route 66 Birthplace Plaza

205 S Jefferson Ave

Springfield, MO 65806

Our Route 66 Adventures: Queen's Gate 66

Date of Visit: April 28 & May 1, 2026

Queen's Gate 66 is a new sculpture in Springfield, Missouri, that was dedicated as part of the Route 66 Centennial Kick Off weekend. We first saw it on April 28 when we were staying at the nearby Best Western Rail Haven. At the time it was not quite completed, so we made sure to visit again after it was dedicated a few days later.

While there were still some finishing touches to be done when we first saw it, it was already lit up, so we got an idea of how it looks at night.

When we visited it after it was finished, we were able to walk up to it and through it.

Under the middle of the sculpture are murals with some about on Springfield, Missouri, as the Birthplace of Route 66 and featuring some of the various landmarks of Route 66. One side focuses on Missouri and the other side features some highlights of the other states Route 66 goes through.

See full list of Our Route 66 Adventures here and Google map here.

Destination Info:

Queen's Gate 66

1701 E Saint Louis St

Springfield, MO 65802

Our Route 66 Adventures: Andy's Frozen Custard

Date of Visit: May 1, 2026

While we were driving around finding the Springfield 66 Statues, Dad decided to pull in to the Andy's Frozen Custard on Glenstone Avenue to try out the frozen custard. The day before we found out it was headquartered in Springfield when the parking spot we found happened to be in front of the headquarters. Thus, it seemed appropriate to try it out while in Springfield.

Dad had just a vanilla frozen custard. I had a Blueberry Cobbler Sundae.

See full list of Our Route 66 Adventures here and Google map here.

Destination Info:

Andy's Frozen Custard

2119 N Glenstone Ave

Springfield, MO 65803

Our Route 66 Adventures and Ranger Dan: 1.2 Lincoln Home National Historic Site - 10 Years of Ranger Dan

Date of Visit: May 4, 2026

As we have visited Lincoln Home NHS before, we just made a quick stop for their America 250 and Route 66 stamps. Of course, I had to get some Ranger Dan photos, too, because this is where I got the original Ranger Dan almost exactly ten years ago.

Route 66 Sign in Visitor Center

Whether this one is the original or not, we have no idea. The original Ranger Dan lost his hat in the Mammoth Cave parking lot the day after I got him. When we got home, I bought a second one online and we glued his hat on. I also ordered a Ranger Susan, whose hat I took and glued on to the original Ranger Dan.

One of the Ranger Dans stays in my backpack and the other stays in the truck. Which is the actual original we forgot. However, we do know that the one in my backpack has its original head, while the one in the truck is the one I dropped at the FDR Memorial earlier this year and broke the hat. Because we had glued the hat on, in order to replace the hat we had to also replace the head. Thus, the truck one has a new head and hat.

Previous Visits to this National Park unit:

• 1.1 Lincoln Home National Historic Site

See full list of Ranger Dan's National Parks Visited here.

Ranger Dan: 117.1 George Washington Carver National Monument

Date of Visit: May 1, 2026

While doing Route 66 things in the Springfield, Missouri area, we took a detour to visit the George Washington Carver National Monument and collect the America 250 stamp. We enjoyed walking the Carver Trail and learning about his early life here. We then explored the exhibits in the visitor center, which were more focused on his later life.

Carver Trail

Carver Birthplace

Carver Spring

Boy Carver Statue

Williams Pond

1881 Moses Carver House

My Sketch of Moses Carver House

America 250 Stamp

Moses Carver Grave

George Washington Carver

Tree Ring History

Carver's Bedroom

See full list of Ranger Dan's National Parks Visited here.