A Real Insider's Guide to a Weekend in St. Joseph, Missouri

This is an insider's look at what to experience during a weekend in my hometown of St. Joe is written in response to Abbe Miller's "A Weekend in St. Joseph, Missouri" published January 9, 2006.

St. Joseph, Missouri is a small city on the banks of the mighty Missouri River.  Jesse James is only a small part of this town's rich and varied history.    Visitors who want to delve deeper into the real St. Joe should make a list of these must-see sites after visiting the Jesse James Home on the grounds of the Pattee House Musuem (housed in the oldest hotel west of the Missisippi River) and the Pony Express Stables.  After you've seen the Pony Express Rider statue, forget the tour guide books and visit some of these sites, each rich in local history.  This contemporary city has plenty to offer in the 21st century with a history that dates back more than 150 years.

You might remember Eugene Field's poetry from childhood with classics like "Little Boy Blue" or "The Duel" but Field's best known surviving poem is "Lover's Lane, St. Joe".   The once wooded, tree lined throughfare was once on the very edge of the growing city and it attracted lovers who idled away the hours in the remote, quiet spot.   Today, Lover's Lane is a major throughfare lined with some of the city's lovliest homes but a  marker dedicated to Field's poem preserves the history of the place.  Lover's Lane runs from 18th Street and Grand Avenue to Ashland Avenue.   Ashland Avenue is just one of many districts filled with beautiful Victorian homes.

Don't stop with just visiting the house where outlaw Jesse James died - tour the large and extensive collections of local history in the adjacent Pattee House Museum.    Known as both the Pattee House and World Hotel, this musuem was restored from ruins to house one of the city's finest collections of artifacts.   Look for house fronts that once graced some of St. Joseph's oldest residential districts, firearms donated by the city police force, Victorian era memorbilia and much, much more.