The Route 66 Chick

Today was a gray-skied, soupy-aired, yellow-air-quality kind of Midwestern day, the kind of day that makes it seem like you're looking at everything through a slightly out-of-focus lens. And I'm back in Missouri, giving this Route 66 trip another try.  First stop today was Stanton, Missouri, for a visit to the Jesse James Wax Museum. Personally, I think wax museums are creepy but I can't resist them. And in Missouri you have to check out the Jesse James history! The museum has a 10-minute video, mainly presenting Rudy Turilli's (of Meramec Caverns fame) evidence that Jesse James lived on as Frank Dalton until the ripe old age of 102, vignettes with wax figures, and a big room of firearms on display. All for the price of $7.42. You know, Missouri has Jesse James, like Illinois has Al Capone. They each slept, ate, robbed, carried on, virtually everywhere, each in his own respective state, at least according to local lore. In fact, one restaurant in northern Illinois act...