Comfort Inn – Springfield, MO

Archive for the ‘Springfield Sites’ Category

The battle at Wilson’s Creek was the first battle fought west of the Mississippi river. The Battle of Wilson’s Creek marked the beginning of the Civil War in Missouri. In September 1864, General Sterling Price was provide approximately 12,000 men to break the federal hold on Missouri.  By time this battle campaign came to an end, Price moved his troops nearly 1,500 miles, fought 43 battles or skirmishes. The campaign ended in disaster for Pierce. He was defeated without rebound on October 23, in the biggest battle fought west of the Mississippi. His withdrawal ended organized Confederate military operations in Missouri.

If you’re a civil war enthusiast you’ll be excited to hear that channel 7 koam-tv that last month the Quapaw Tribe and Downstream Casino presented $40,000 to the Newton County Tourism Council for a documentary about Pierce’s battle of Newtonia, Missouri.

According to KOAM-TV, The Newton County Tourism Director Steve Roark stated the upcoming 150th anniversary of the Civil War makes the film especially timely. “This documentary will be done by the end of 2010 and available for viewing in 2011,” Roark says. I’ve just recently came to the understanding the civil war interest is on the rise and this documentary should be well received.

The most interesting thing about this battle was it the only Civil War battle where Native Americans fought against each other. Perhaps you’ll be planning on attending the shooting of this documentary. If so, we hope you’ll plan your hotel accommodations with us during that event or as you pass through visiting Wilson Creek Battlefield. We hope so anyways!!

If you were to describe the Dickerson Park Zoo you might say, “It’s small but not too quaint of a zoo primarily because it has all the major attractions of a large metro zoo without the heavy traffic.” After mapping our visit, we were able to see every animal in the most proficient manner. The best part was halfway through we positioned ourselves next to the food court enabling us the opportunity to enjoy lunch.

We went to the South American exhibits first, then circled back to the to the Australian habitats, then we took in the  African exhibits. The really cool part was we were able to purchase a animal snack keys so the kids were able to get grain to feed the animals and fish, great fun!!

Of course no visit to the zoo is complete with out seeing the snakes, so we did just that. They had an Anaconda, which if you do not know is the largest snake in South America. We attended on a slow day so the snake exhibit was not as busy as I had seen in times past. All the hustle and bustle left us exhausted and only half way through, so we went to lunch.

The train was our next best option allowing lunch to settle and allowing us to see the lemurs. So we paid for the train, not exactly expensive but not cheap either. The only real disappointment was the train ride was extremely short and was over way to fast. I was hoping it would last at least long enough to allow my lunch to hit bottom.

We were a bit depressed when we arrived at the otter habitat as there were none to be found. We continued up the path to the Tropical Asia exhibits, excited by the fact that the tiger and cheetah both were easily found. Cheetahs are my children’s favorites. I think primarily because of Chester the Cheetah… LOL.

Visiting the Missouri habitats next, the wolves were out playing and having a good time as were they coyotes. Over half a gig of photos later, all the shots on my iPhone, many of which I was able to post immediately. Of course, we stopped at the gift shop as we were exiting, and left.

The Dickerson Park Zoo is an excellent reason to make a trip to Springfield Missouri. We certainly hope during your stay you’ll book a hotel room with us. We look forward to serving your needs!