Blogathon: Missouri Postcards, Booneville and Camdenton

I've been saving these for when I needed a pick-me-up... and believe me, I need one stat! I'm seriously tired and even though we're on the home stretch of Blogathon 2007, it's hard to keep motivated. But maybe a little blast from the past will help.



I grew up in Lebanon, Missouri, and most of my relatives are in or near Springfield or up near Washington (close to St. Louis). I was pleasantly surprised to find some postcards in this box from Missouri; since the grandparents lived in Springfield I didn't think they'd considered driving in state to be traveling.



The first card (way up at the top) is from a diner called Adam's Cafe in Camdenton. This is such a cute little place. When I was a kid I went to Camdenton several times to see movies, because Lebanon didn't have a theater anymore. We also went to nearby Bennett Spring, and my favorite place, Ha Ha Tonka. My husband and I have gone back to Camdenton a couple times and stayed at a decent hotel with a private whirlpool (man, I would love that right about now!). Ha Ha Tonka has fences and pathways so you can't climb around all the ruins anymore, which is kind of disappointing, even though I know it's the right thing.



I can't place where this diner is, or would be. The card is from the 1950s, and while I found some postcards online from Adam's, there doesn't seem to be an Adam's anymore.



The second card is from Booneville, featuring Pete's. There's also a street scene card where you can see Pete's again, next to the Montgomery Ward's. This site has more info on Pete's, which was "known for good food." The Booneville cards are all from 1952.



The last card is of the Abou Ben Adhem shrine mosque in Springfield. I thought this was a religious mosque, but it's apparently Shriners. I don't know anything about Shriners, but every old man I knew in Missouri was a Shriner. A neighbor across the street from us in Lebanon was the band major for a famous Shriner marching band, and he had the coolest fez I've ever seen.