Independence, Sibley, Lexington, and Waverly, MO - Independence MO Weekend Getaway

Preview: Founded in 1827, Independence became known as the Queen City of the Trails, heading three dominant routes west— the Santa Fe, California, and Oregon Trails. (The Santa-Cali-Gon Festival, held annually on Labor Day weekend, commemorates the opening of these prairie pathways.) Fortunes were made here during the westward expansion and Victorian periods, and many of the charming homes built during these times have been designated with historic markers. Today Independence is best known as the home of the thirty-third president, Harry S. Truman. Places related to his life here include his home, courtroom, and office, as well as the Harry S. Truman Library. Just a few blocks from the Harry S. Truman National Historic Site (Truman home) is Independence Square, filled with restaurants and shops housing arts, crafts, antiques, and memorabilia. It’s fun to go exploring around a historic area that has a great past. It’s the weekend and you’re lying in bed daydreaming about places you’d rather be. You yawn and stretch, envisioning a drive through the Old South, with its historic homes and genteel manners. An instant later you picture yourself savoring a harvest of apples in New England. But a trip like that may cost more money than you want to spend. Besides, you’ve only got a day to relax—and this is it. Not to worry. You could be out right now, picking apples in Missouri. Or taking in lunch at a lovely river town crammed full of historic homes and antiques shops. All this and more are within a forty-five-minute drive east of Kansas City near Sibley. Once one of the great river ports of this state, river trade made Lexington a fine commercial center and an outfitting point for those heading west. A U.S. land office was established in 1823, followed by a courthouse, a bank, churches, colleges, and more than 120 lovely antebellum and Victorian homes and buildings. The cannonball embedded in one of the courthouse columns is a relic of the Confederate victory in the 1861 Battle of Lexington. This chapter from the DayTrips series describes many fascinating, exciting, (and many free of charge) things to do, most within a two-hour drive of Kansas City. Each Day Trip includes, destination highlights, places to visit along the way, choice restaurants and lodging, and shopping.
© Copyright Shifra Stein with Diana Lambdin Meyer published by The Globe Pequot Press all rights reserved.


Duration: One day to several days
Best Time to Go: Year-round
This travel guide comes from:
Day Trips from Kansas City Guide Book