August 21, 2023 • 9 mins
On this week's episode of WTN, Steven Foutes, Director of the Missouri Division of Tourism, stops by to give me the inside scoop on the "show-me state!" Steven details Missouri's hidden gems, culinary scene, what to do in each area of the state, and more!
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Good morning, and welcome back toWhere to Next, a travel podcast with
me your host Francesca Presti, andjoining me today Stephen Fould, director of
the Missouri Division of Tourism. Stephen, thank you so much and welcome to
the program. Thank you very muchfor having me. Looking forward to speaking
with you. I'm very excited totalk all about Missouri. Visitmo dot com
is where you want to go tofind out more information and to start planning
(00:21):
your trip today. But Stephen,let's dive right into it. Let's talk
Missouri. So Missouri is probably mostwell known for its two largest metropolitan areas,
Saint Louis and Kansas City. Andyes, we have to correct people
quite frequently that Kansas City is inMissouri, I know, right right,
So that's something we usually try toclear up right off the bat. And
so you know, in Saint Louiswe have the iconic Gateway arch, which
(00:45):
is a monument to our nation iswestward expansion and the explorers who traveled west.
In Kansas City, perhaps most recently, it's most well known as home
of the Super Bowl champion Kansas CityChiefs. Of course, there's a lot
more to Kansas City than football,but that's been something that i'll the people
have connected to Kansas City for thelast couple of years. It's certainly home
to the best barbecue in the UnitedStates and is well known, of course
(01:08):
for a lot of cultural attractions likethe Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, the
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, and others. So it's it's a great place to
visit here in Missouri and Saint Louisas well, beyond the Gateway Art you
know home and the Saint Louis Cardinals. As you can tell, we're fans
of sports here in Missouri, thebig sports fans and sites like the National
(01:30):
Blues Museum, Forest Park, whichis one of the largest parks in the
country that has the free admission,Saint Louisoo, and Saint Louis Art Museum.
So really a lot to see inthose two major metros. And then
as you get out across the stateyou'll find cities of populations of all sizes.
We have a lot of really charmingsmall towns in Missouri like Herman's most
(01:53):
well known for its wineries and Germanheritage. We have places like Annible,
Missouri, which is the hometown ofMark Twain Marceline, where Walt Disney spent
part of his childhood and where there'sa museum dedicated to him. And then
other kind of mid size or largermetros like Columbian Springfield, Columbia is home
(02:14):
to the University of Missouri. Springfieldis a stop on Route sixty six,
and then of course in Branson,Missouri, a lot of live shows and
great outdoor opportunities. Absolutely, oneof the first things I saw on your
website visitmo dot com and big letterswas Missouri vacation with a personality. Can
you expand on that for us andkind of tell us where they came from?
Yeah, So that really stems fromour current marketing campaign where we have
(02:39):
a spokesperson, if you will,or a tour guide who embodies the attractions
and destinations that are available to youin Missouri. So we like to say
that no matter what your travel MOis, we have a MO for you.
And so when we think about thosepersonalities, what we've done is embodi
MO Missouri through about twenty five ortwenty six different MO characters. So you
(03:04):
might have Outdoors MO, you mighthave Lake MO, or Culture MO,
or Sports MO or Family Fund mofoodie and on down the list. Just
trying to tie people into those differentthose different niche attractions that they might be
interested in, but doing it collectivelyso people can see again the diverse array
(03:27):
of opportunities they have here in Missouri. Absolutely, And speaking of that diverse
array of opportunities, could you giveus a couple of the most popular things
to explore when visiting Missouri? Absolutely, I think again, you know,
there are several things that rank amongthe most popular. Of course, the
Gateway arch is the icon of theshow Me State and is one of the
things that people we always encourage peopleto go visit when they're here in the
(03:51):
show Me State. The Branson areais very popular with travelers. Again,
a lot of live shows, alot of family attractions, a lot of
outdoor opportunities and shoppings on the greatoutdoor locations. There is a place called
Big Cedar Lodge which is on theshores of Table Rock Lake and it has
a lot of family activities and it'sconnected to an attraction called Top of the
(04:12):
Rock which is noted for its golfcourse and a wonderful museum that looks at
the history of the Ozarks. Andthen you know, of course, in
Kansas City, one of the greatperformance venues in the United States is the
Kaufman Center for the Performing Arts.It's a really beautiful venue. It has
two distinct concert halls in it,and it's a wonderful place to see a
live performance. And you know whereour offices are located in Jefferson City.
(04:35):
I'm really fond of our state capital. I think it's one of the most
beautiful capitol buildings in the US.I'd put it up against anyone's not only
from the exterior perspective, but becauseof all the artwork and murals that adored
the inside and the sculpture work onthe outside. So there really is a
lot to see and do here inMissouri. So much so, and to
find out more and to start planningyour trip today, all you have to
(04:57):
do is go to visit mo dotcom. I'm on this morning with Stephen
Fouled, the director of the MissouriDivision of Tourism. And anytime I like
to travel, I'm always researching andmaking reservations ahead of time because I am
a girl that likes to eat.So let's talk about the culinary scene in
Missouri. What is that like?What's that look like. I think when
most people think of Missouri in ourculinary scene, they're going to jump to
(05:18):
barbecue, and rightfully so. AsI said, Kansas City as the best
barbecue in the country, and SaintLouis is not far behind. In my
opinion, Saint Louis has really gota vibrant barbecue scene as well. So
I think that is what a lotof people connect us with. But we
have some interesting stories around Missouri relatedto food. If you've ever had toasted
(05:40):
ravioli, you can thank Missouri forthat. It was discovered a little bit
by accident, many many, manyyears ago when a baker or chef accidentally
dropped ravioli into the fryer and cameup with toasted ravioli. Now you can't
hardly go anywhere in Missouri without findingthat. The same can be said for
gooey butter cake. If you've everhad a gooey butter cake, you can
(06:03):
thank of Missouri baker who mixed upthe amounts of butter and flour in the
recipe and came up with this concoctionthat is really sweet and is another staple
of dining or dessert. I shouldsay in Missouri and then as you get
out around the state, I thinkwhat you'll find is because Missouri was a
(06:23):
melting pot of cultures, we havea lot of influences in our cuisine,
French and German in Springfield, Missouri. Springfield is credited with inventing cashew chicken
from a chef there who the originalstyle was a little bit different than what
we might know today, but factremains at Springfield bills itself as the originators
(06:44):
of cashew chicken. So depending onwhere you are in Missouri, you're going
to have a lot of cultural touchpoints with your food, lots to choose
from. I like a variety,and I feel like there truly is never
anybody better to learn about somewhere,you know, other than the people who
are born there, raised there.And I know that you're a lifelong Missourian,
So I would love for you,in your personal opinion, give me
(07:04):
like one or two hidden gems ofMissouri. You know, you always have
those things that people like you saidthe arch, it's kind of the shining
star. You've always got those thingsthat drop people in that everybody knows about.
But what are a couple of thingsyou know that maybe fly a little
bit more under the radar. That'sa really good question. And so because
we do have, you know,a lot of small towns, I think
we have a lot of hidden gymsto think about. So a couple of
(07:25):
really interesting ones to me are Oneis found in Fulton, Missouri, which
is kind of here in the middleof the state, just a little bit
south of I seventy. It's abouttwo hours from both Saint Louis and Kansas
City. There's a museum dedicated toWinston Churchhill in Callaway County and Fulton,
Missouri. So that might be alittle bit weird, you might think,
because a it's in the middle ofMissouri, be it's in a mostly agricultural
(07:47):
community. But there's a college there, Westminster University, where in the nineteen
forties Winston Churchhill gave what became knownas his Iron Curtain speech. And so
there is a circus sixteen hundreds ChristopherWren church that was moved from the UK
to Fulton, Missouri and recreated.And then there's a museum about Winston Churchhill
(08:11):
in the basement there, so thatI think is really a unique and interesting
story. And then in southern Missourithere's a small town called Perryville, that
they have a full sized replica ofthe Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, dcat.
And again, Perryville is a littlebit off the beaten path, but
it's a really charming town. They'vegot some really cute shops and restaurants for
(08:33):
people to visit. They're going tobe one of the sites in April of
twenty twenty four that will experience asignificant amount of totality when we have that
full solar eclipse. There are severallocations in southern Missouri that will have that,
but Perryville is one of those.So those are a couple of the
hidden gems that we like to talkabout. Well, it sounds like Missouri
has so much to offer, andif you want to start planning your trip
(08:54):
today you want to find out moreinformation, all you have to do is
visitmo dot com. Stephen director ofthe Missouri Division of Tourism, Stephen Fouts
on with me this morning. Stephen, I want to say a big thank
you for giving us some of theinside knowledge, the inside scoop from a
true lifelong Missouri and all about thegreat state of Missouri. This morning.
I'm always glad to talk about Missouri, Francisco. Thank you so much.
Good morning, and welcome back toWhere to Next, a travel podcast with
me your host Francesca Presti, andjoining me today Stephen Fould, director of
the Missouri Division of Tourism. Stephen, thank you so much and welcome to
the program. Thank you very muchfor having me. Looking forward to speaking
with you. I'm very excited totalk all about Missouri. Visitmo dot com
is where you want to go tofind out more information and to start planning
(00:21):
your trip today. But Stephen,let's dive right into it. Let's talk
Missouri. So Missouri is probably mostwell known for its two largest metropolitan areas,
Saint Louis and Kansas City. Andyes, we have to correct people
quite frequently that Kansas City is inMissouri, I know, right right,
So that's something we usually try toclear up right off the bat. And
so you know, in Saint Louiswe have the iconic Gateway arch, which
(00:45):
is a monument to our nation iswestward expansion and the explorers who traveled west.
In Kansas City, perhaps most recently, it's most well known as home
of the Super Bowl champion Kansas CityChiefs. Of course, there's a lot
more to Kansas City than football,but that's been something that i'll the people
have connected to Kansas City for thelast couple of years. It's certainly home
to the best barbecue in the UnitedStates and is well known, of course
(01:08):
for a lot of cultural attractions likethe Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, the
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, and others. So it's it's a great place to
visit here in Missouri and Saint Louisas well, beyond the Gateway Art you
know home and the Saint Louis Cardinals. As you can tell, we're fans
of sports here in Missouri, thebig sports fans and sites like the National
(01:30):
Blues Museum, Forest Park, whichis one of the largest parks in the
country that has the free admission,Saint Louisoo, and Saint Louis Art Museum.
So really a lot to see inthose two major metros. And then
as you get out across the stateyou'll find cities of populations of all sizes.
We have a lot of really charmingsmall towns in Missouri like Herman's most
(01:53):
well known for its wineries and Germanheritage. We have places like Annible,
Missouri, which is the hometown ofMark Twain Marceline, where Walt Disney spent
part of his childhood and where there'sa museum dedicated to him. And then
other kind of mid size or largermetros like Columbian Springfield, Columbia is home
(02:14):
to the University of Missouri. Springfieldis a stop on Route sixty six,
and then of course in Branson,Missouri, a lot of live shows and
great outdoor opportunities. Absolutely, oneof the first things I saw on your
website visitmo dot com and big letterswas Missouri vacation with a personality. Can
you expand on that for us andkind of tell us where they came from?
Yeah, So that really stems fromour current marketing campaign where we have
(02:39):
a spokesperson, if you will,or a tour guide who embodies the attractions
and destinations that are available to youin Missouri. So we like to say
that no matter what your travel MOis, we have a MO for you.
And so when we think about thosepersonalities, what we've done is embodi
MO Missouri through about twenty five ortwenty six different MO characters. So you
(03:04):
might have Outdoors MO, you mighthave Lake MO, or Culture MO,
or Sports MO or Family Fund mofoodie and on down the list. Just
trying to tie people into those differentthose different niche attractions that they might be
interested in, but doing it collectivelyso people can see again the diverse array
(03:27):
of opportunities they have here in Missouri. Absolutely, And speaking of that diverse
array of opportunities, could you giveus a couple of the most popular things
to explore when visiting Missouri? Absolutely, I think again, you know,
there are several things that rank amongthe most popular. Of course, the
Gateway arch is the icon of theshow Me State and is one of the
things that people we always encourage peopleto go visit when they're here in the
(03:51):
show Me State. The Branson areais very popular with travelers. Again,
a lot of live shows, alot of family attractions, a lot of
outdoor opportunities and shoppings on the greatoutdoor locations. There is a place called
Big Cedar Lodge which is on theshores of Table Rock Lake and it has
a lot of family activities and it'sconnected to an attraction called Top of the
(04:12):
Rock which is noted for its golfcourse and a wonderful museum that looks at
the history of the Ozarks. Andthen you know, of course, in
Kansas City, one of the greatperformance venues in the United States is the
Kaufman Center for the Performing Arts.It's a really beautiful venue. It has
two distinct concert halls in it,and it's a wonderful place to see a
live performance. And you know whereour offices are located in Jefferson City.
(04:35):
I'm really fond of our state capital. I think it's one of the most
beautiful capitol buildings in the US.I'd put it up against anyone's not only
from the exterior perspective, but becauseof all the artwork and murals that adored
the inside and the sculpture work onthe outside. So there really is a
lot to see and do here inMissouri. So much so, and to
find out more and to start planningyour trip today, all you have to
(04:57):
do is go to visit mo dotcom. I'm on this morning with Stephen
Fouled, the director of the MissouriDivision of Tourism. And anytime I like
to travel, I'm always researching andmaking reservations ahead of time because I am
a girl that likes to eat.So let's talk about the culinary scene in
Missouri. What is that like?What's that look like. I think when
most people think of Missouri in ourculinary scene, they're going to jump to
(05:18):
barbecue, and rightfully so. AsI said, Kansas City as the best
barbecue in the country, and SaintLouis is not far behind. In my
opinion, Saint Louis has really gota vibrant barbecue scene as well. So
I think that is what a lotof people connect us with. But we
have some interesting stories around Missouri relatedto food. If you've ever had toasted
(05:40):
ravioli, you can thank Missouri forthat. It was discovered a little bit
by accident, many many, manyyears ago when a baker or chef accidentally
dropped ravioli into the fryer and cameup with toasted ravioli. Now you can't
hardly go anywhere in Missouri without findingthat. The same can be said for
gooey butter cake. If you've everhad a gooey butter cake, you can
(06:03):
thank of Missouri baker who mixed upthe amounts of butter and flour in the
recipe and came up with this concoctionthat is really sweet and is another staple
of dining or dessert. I shouldsay in Missouri and then as you get
out around the state, I thinkwhat you'll find is because Missouri was a
(06:23):
melting pot of cultures, we havea lot of influences in our cuisine,
French and German in Springfield, Missouri. Springfield is credited with inventing cashew chicken
from a chef there who the originalstyle was a little bit different than what
we might know today, but factremains at Springfield bills itself as the originators
(06:44):
of cashew chicken. So depending onwhere you are in Missouri, you're going
to have a lot of cultural touchpoints with your food, lots to choose
from. I like a variety,and I feel like there truly is never
anybody better to learn about somewhere,you know, other than the people who
are born there, raised there.And I know that you're a lifelong Missourian,
So I would love for you,in your personal opinion, give me
(07:04):
like one or two hidden gems ofMissouri. You know, you always have
those things that people like you saidthe arch, it's kind of the shining
star. You've always got those thingsthat drop people in that everybody knows about.
But what are a couple of thingsyou know that maybe fly a little
bit more under the radar. That'sa really good question. And so because
we do have, you know,a lot of small towns, I think
we have a lot of hidden gymsto think about. So a couple of
(07:25):
really interesting ones to me are Oneis found in Fulton, Missouri, which
is kind of here in the middleof the state, just a little bit
south of I seventy. It's abouttwo hours from both Saint Louis and Kansas
City. There's a museum dedicated toWinston Churchhill in Callaway County and Fulton,
Missouri. So that might be alittle bit weird, you might think,
because a it's in the middle ofMissouri, be it's in a mostly agricultural
(07:47):
community. But there's a college there, Westminster University, where in the nineteen
forties Winston Churchhill gave what became knownas his Iron Curtain speech. And so
there is a circus sixteen hundreds ChristopherWren church that was moved from the UK
to Fulton, Missouri and recreated.And then there's a museum about Winston Churchhill
(08:11):
in the basement there, so thatI think is really a unique and interesting
story. And then in southern Missourithere's a small town called Perryville, that
they have a full sized replica ofthe Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, dcat.
And again, Perryville is a littlebit off the beaten path, but
it's a really charming town. They'vegot some really cute shops and restaurants for
(08:33):
people to visit. They're going tobe one of the sites in April of
twenty twenty four that will experience asignificant amount of totality when we have that
full solar eclipse. There are severallocations in southern Missouri that will have that,
but Perryville is one of those.So those are a couple of the
hidden gems that we like to talkabout. Well, it sounds like Missouri
has so much to offer, andif you want to start planning your trip
(08:54):
today you want to find out moreinformation, all you have to do is
visitmo dot com. Stephen director ofthe Missouri Division of Tourism, Stephen Fouts
on with me this morning. Stephen, I want to say a big thank
you for giving us some of theinside knowledge, the inside scoop from a
true lifelong Missouri and all about thegreat state of Missouri. This morning.
I'm always glad to talk about Missouri, Francisco. Thank you so much.
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