Date of Visit: May 3, 2026
Location: Roots Coffee Bar, Springfield, MO
Rating: 👍 (Like)
Dad stopped at Roots Coffee Bar to get us coffees on his way back from church.
Dad had the Roots Brew Latte (vanilla, honey, cardamon, cinnamon). He got me a Lavender Cookie Butter Latte, which he made up based on the flavor options they had. It ended up being a very good flavor combination.
Dad picked up this morning's coffee from Roots Coffee Bar after church.
We spent the morning visiting Wilson's Creek National Battlefield including the exhibits at the visitor center and some short trail stops on the driving tour.
At noon, we got tickets for the free showing of Cars at the Gillioz Theatre. As the doors did not open until 1pm, we had drinks and appetizers at the nearby Big Whiskey's to kill time.
We enjoyed watching the Cars movie and getting to see inside the Gillioz Theatre, which like Route 66 also turns 100 this year.
Date of Visit: May 2, 2026
Location: Eurasia Coffee Co, Springfield, MO
Rating: 👍 (Like)
Our third and final coffeeshop of the day was Eurasia Coffee Co.
I had an Iced Almond Croissant Latte (buttery almond syrup, vanilla cold foam, almonds, and powdered sugar). Dad had a Yuzu Elderflower Espresso Tonic (Yuzu juice, simple syrup, espresso, fevertree elderflower tonic).
We also shared a Toasted Sesame Cookie.
Date of Visit: May 2, 2026
Location: Kingdom Coffee, Springfield, MO
Rating: 👍 (Like)
We did not plan to stop at another coffeeshop right after having visited The Coffee Ethic, but our next stop finding the Springfield 66 Statues led us to parking at Kingdom Coffee to walk the short trail over to the Night Riders of the Mother Road statue.
Dad and I both had a Lavender Sage Latte.
Date of Visit: May 2, 2026
Location: The Coffee Ethic, Springfield, MO
Rating: ❤️ (Love)
We started our day at The Coffee Ethic.
I enjoyed the seasonal Cherry Brulee Latte (cherry vanilla, caramelized sugar).
Dad had the Peanut Miso Cortado. He is glad he tried it, but not something he would order again.
We also shared a potato crusted quiche.
Another day exploring Springfield and taking in some of the Centennial Kickoff events.
We started with coffee at The Coffee Ethic.
Next we started driving around Springfield to find the rest of the Springfield 66 Statues. At our first stop, we ended up at our second coffeeshop of the day, Kingdom Coffee.
My favorite we found this morning was the Wings of Route 66.
While driving around, we drove the Musical Road - three times for Dad to mostly get it right.
Before finding the rest of the statues, we checked out the Red, White, and Bridge Bash on Historic Commercial Street, which included checking out some model trains on display at the Historic Firehouse No. 2.
We also found Askinosie Chocolate and got some chocolate to take home.
On Commercial Street, we also ended up at our third coffeeshop of the day - Eurasia Coffee Co.
Next we drove around the Springfield area and found the rest of the 66 statues including Dad dropping me off at the airport baggage claim to go in and find it while he drove around the airport loop.
While driving around, we also ended up at Buc-ee's. Had to stock up on Ranch 'n Crackers because Mik said he was taking my last bag.
Once we found all the statues, we decided to go back to the Springfield Visitor Center to get the other two pins you can earn from checking in at the statues.
We had considered skipping the Ozark Public Television Lost and Found on Route 66 documentary at the Fox Theatre, but since we ended up nearby at the visitor center right before the doors were to open at 3pm, we decided to see it as it also gave us an opportunity to see inside the Fox Theatre.
We finished our day with two rounds of mini golf at Getaway Golf.
Our day included two coffeeshops, George Washington Carver National Monument, exploring more of Springfield, MO; and some Route 66 Centennial Kickoff events.
We started our day with coffee at Echelon Coffee in Republic, MO.
At George Washington Carver National Monument, we learned about his early life here as we walked the trail and leaned more about his later life in the exhibits inside the visitor's center.
As we headed back to Springfield, we stopped at Joplin Greenhouse Outpost Coffee.
In Springfield, we drove to find a few of the Springfield 66 Statues.
We made an unplanned stop at an Andy’s Frozen Custard because Dad had to try it (and I wasn't going to say no to some frozen custard).
Next we visited Queen’s Gate 66, which is now complete, but the road around it was still closed.
We then went and found the new location for the Springfield Visitor Center/Route 66 Welcome Center and collected the stickers and pin we earned from checking into places on the Ozarks Coffee Trail, Springfield 66 Sculpture Series Route, and Birthplace of Route 66 Passport.
Across the street, we checked out the Route 66 Traveling Exhibit at the Gillioz Theatre.
We then checked out the new Route 66 Birthplace Plaza.
We then went down St. Louis Street to find a place to watch the Celebrate America on Route 66 Parade. I walked and Dad went back to move the car nearer to the parade start so that we could be done watching the parade sooner and get to the drone show.
After the parade, we headed over to the Jefferson Avenue Footbridge Lighting & Drone Show as our last thing of the day.
