August 7th, 2021 … Summer of Fun continues! Day 11 Route 66 Caravan – Joplin, MO

We took the short caravan drive to Joplin Missouri. We had a late lunch at Finn’s. Finn’s, is a semi-fine dining restaurant with linen napkins. With classy signature cocktails, hand-made food, fresh ingredients, a relaxed and sophisticated atmosphere, warm fireplaces and outdoor patio, it is perfect for our small gathering. 

The Chefs at Finn's are food experts with just the right touch to make our private event even more special. Inside, there was a spacious dining room with crystal chandeliers and a small back room with a bar. 

It has a beautiful stone fireplace, paneled walls, and substantial chairs made from rich wood and leather, the room feels like a library in a traditional English manor, and reminds me of an atmosphere often found in upscale restaurants in big cities.

We had preselected entrees. Charlie got the 32^nd Street Pasta and I had the Shrimp Skewers with potatoes and asparagus.

 

Cathy, Patti and I headed out to see a few sites! Our first stop was Grand Falls. Located on Shoal Creek, it is one of Missouri’s most scenic destinations. Known as the largest continuously flowing natural waterfall in Missouri, Grand Falls is a must-stop-photo-op for visitors. It’s just a few minutes downstream from Wildcat Park. “The Falls” plunges 12 feet down a 163-foot-wide ledge of solid chert before crashing into jagged crags and then flowing peacefully to the south. 

It’s almost like a little Niagara Falls right here in Missouri. Above the falls there’s a man-made dam. This was installed to form a reservoir that supplies water to Joplin residents. Also at one time there was an electric plant on the west side of the falls. In the fall, when the leaves are gone, you can still see the remnants of the concrete pillars when you look across the falls.

Our next stop was the Joplin Tornado Victims Memorial at Cunningham Park. When you are standing in Cunningham Park, at a tribute that reminds us of what once was, we can see scores of new homes encircling the park’s perimeter. This rebuilding is reassuring us of what is, and what will be. This is the resilience of the human spirit. Joplin has come a long way since the evening of May 22, 2011, when an EF5 tornado devastated the city. 

At 5:41 p.m. on a Sunday, a tornado touched down on the western edge of Joplin and destroyed roughly one-third of the city along its 13 mile-long path to the eastern edge of town and into the neighboring town of Duquesne and rural Jasper County. The EF-5 rated tornado, with wind speeds exceeding 200 mph at times, killed 161 people and injured more than 1,000 others, and damaged or destroyed 7,500 homes and 531 businesses. The storm killed around 160 people, caused $2.8 billion in damage and forever changed a community.

This tribute at the park serves to honor the people who aided them in their progress. Located in the northeast corner of the park, the tribute features four circles which represent Rescue, Recovery, Demolition, and Rebirth. 

A mosaic in the center symbolizes the miraculous “Butterfly Stories” which were told by many children after the storm, and the shards of the mosaic pedestals represent broken lives being put back together again. The hard hat, gloves and hammer represent the heroic efforts of rescuers and volunteers. 

The stainless steel band represents the “The Miracle of the Human Spirit” wristbands that many people wore during the recovery process. This memorial was designed and constructed by Drury University Hammons School of Architecture students.

Just south of the Volunteer Tribute is the “Proclamation of Restoration” fountain, a replica of the historical fountain, is a plaque that memorializes the 161 lives lost on May 22, 2011; exactly 161 trees have been planted in the park to honor those lives, as well. 

A nearby reflecting pond built on the site of the park’s original playground commemorates the lives of the children that will never play in the playground again.

Walk to the northeast corner of the park and you’ll find the outlines of three homes that were destroyed in the tornado. Here you can read about the tornado and recovery, as well as walk through the Butterfly Garden, or sit and reflect on a bench in front of one of the fountains. The Butterfly Garden and Overlook at Cunningham Park, is an Open Space Sacred Place where individuals may work through the pain of grieving for a loved one or something lost.  

  

Conceived as a place of healing in response to the devastating tornado, the garden gives form to the Four Tasks which help people move into the next phase of life after experiencing a loss, and each are represented as architectural and natural elements through the gardens.

The first task, “Accepting the Reality of Loss,” begins as visitors pass through the portal of the lost home, the front door. The path takes you on a journey around the site, allowing for Task Two “Processing the Pain of Grief.”  Areas with a bench and journal act as destinations and offer a sacred space in nature to move towards. Task Three, “Adjust to a World without What was Lost.”  Visitors are encouraged to write and reflect in the journals.

The penciled outline of the homes that used to stand, especially the Carl Owen house, which was built in 1911, on the site represent all homes erased by the storm and story plaques educate future generation on the destruction, acts of heroism, survival  and the Miracle of the Human Spirit to provide the first part of Task Four, “an Enduring Connection to What was Lost.”  The balance of Task Four, “We move on but do not forget,” is created by a unifying circle with butterfly attracting flowers which provide a feeling of surround within the garden, an encompassing sense of boundary, safety and enclosure.

Additional features continue the symbolism and metaphor.  Thirty-eight segments of the waterwall represent the minutes the tornado was on the ground.  A void at minute 7 signifies the moment the tornado struck Cunningham Park. The 2 individual water features represent this void in its broken form and then put back together, scarred but whole again. We were fascinated by this feature.

We went to check out “the biggest Coke bottle.” That was a bust, but we found it!

We went downtown to check out the town’s Route 66 Mural Park, which features two tile murals (“Cruisin into Joplin” and “The American Ribbon”) and a mock 1964 Corvette. 

The murals were proposed by Paul Whitehill, designed by artists Chris Auckerman and Jon White, and produced by Joplin’s Images in Tile. Thomas Hart Benton’s rough sketches, completed by his grandson, can be found at city hall.

We also found a record mural on the ground at the Mural Park. Historic Route 66 brought travelers through the heart of Joplin in the mid-20th century. This city became a popular stop on the highway, and businesses along Main Street flourished because of it.

Our final stop was an oversized Ampersand. Convenience stores typically offer in-and-out experiences for people on the go, but one such store in Joplin invites customers to linger. Kum & Go, one of the nation’s largest convenience store chains, has brought its marketplace concept to th Joplin area, and with it, a colorful 8-foot-tall and 7-foot-wide ampersand sculpture. The sculpture was designed and created by the art studio Sticks.

The shape of the sculpture reflects Kum & Go’s slogan “Where & Means More,” and the company’s core values and culture are showcased on one side. The other side contains words and images that highlight important people, places, and events in Joplin’s history, such as its mining industry, Route 66, and the outlaws Bonnie and Clyde; as well as Joplin’s reputation as a community of “strength and hope,” which was demonstrated after the May 2011 tornado when our citizens rose from the rubble and began building a new city.

It was a great day of  exploring! #twolaneadventures