MISSOURI - Last minute travel specials to Kansas City, St Louis, and Springfield.

St Louis - Home of the 630 foot Gateway Arch, the "Gateway to the West". Visitors can ride a tram to the top of the Arch, and look out and watch the Mississippi River flow by the city below. Follow this with a visit to the museum under the Arch and the nearby Old Cathedral, the oldest church in St. Louis. Just across the street is the Old Courthouse, the site of the Dred Scott trial.

For a night on the town, take in Grand Center arts and entertainment. Enjoy a concert by the world class St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. Visit the "Fabulous Fox" Theatre and the St. Louis Black Repertory Company. Then head for one of St. Louis's many pubs, microbreweries or a riverboat casino.

Kansas City - Kansas City boasts more fountains than any other city except Rome and more boulevards than any except Paris. Its 1,769-acre Swope Park is one of the largest urban parks in America. However, Kansas City is perhaps best known for its steaks, barbecue and jazz. With more than 60 barbecue restaurants and numerous cookoff competitions, it is arguably the nation's barbecue capital. Kansas City became a hotbed of jazz shortly after World War I in the now-famous area around 18th & Vine. Jazz is undergoing a renaissance here, a factor in the new Kansas City Jazz Museum, a complex that also includes a new Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

Both General Motors and Ford have major plants here, ranking Kansas City eighth in the nation in auto assembly. The metro area straddles the Missouri-Kansas state line and includes more than 136 cities and 11 counties.

Springfield - Springfield broke into the top ten of America’s Best Places to Live and Work, as determined by Employment Review. Springfield’s "thriving economy, first rate education and superior health care" put it at number nine on the list. "It may have one of the most common city names in America, but Springfield is a well-kept secret just waiting to be discovered," the review stated. Also considered were the unemployment rate, projected job growth and cost of living. The group also called Springfield "the cultural center of the Ozarks." It concludes, "Although it is not as big as other cities on this list, Springfield manages to hold its own."

While in Springfield, be sure and visit the Fantastic Caverns. These limestone caves are filled with history, dating back to the 1800s where Native Americans used them as a source of shelter. In 1867, 12 very brave and non-traditional women explored the cave and left their names etched in stone. For a period of time, the caves held a speakeasy where traditional Ozark music was played. Then other country music stars such as Buck Owens and Ray Price would actually perform on a stage in the cave, drawing huge crowds.

This is also the home of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home and Museum where the author of the "Little House" books. These books were the source of the long-running TV show "Little House On The Prarie".