After our visit to Springfield, Illinois, we headed back to Missouri to spend time at Lake of the Ozarks and meet up with our daughter Laura and her family. On the way, we stopped in Warrenton, Missouri, for a bite to eat. Social House 227 looked promising with parking for the rig nearby.

Social House 227’s décor caught my attention as I walked through the door. The framed boxes and crates with plants added a hint of comfort and coziness.

And then I saw a contraption hanging on the wall. What the heck? Ahh. A modern-day jukebox. That’s the source of the background music. It reminded me of cafes back in the day when jukeboxes sat against a wall or little ones sat at each table. We would select the song we wanted to hear, put coins in the slot, and wait for our song to play. Modern times call for modern ways to select music and pay. TouchTunes has an app for that to go along with their jukeboxes.

“Smash” burgers seem to be the foodie fad of the moment, so I tried one at Social House 227. The word “smash” refers to the patties being smashed by hand. Although, I submit it also means having to smash the two 4-oz patties topped with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, peppers, bacon, cheese, onion rings, and a fried egg in order to stuff the thing in my mouth. I’m glad I tried it, although I’m not sure I’ll order another one anytime soon. It was the kind of messy where I had to hang on to the thing with both hands until the last bite as the juices and sauce dripped off my chin.

Here are few places we visited while in the Ozarks:

Bagnell Dam Strip

Bagnell Dam Strip seems the place to be for food and shopping in Lake Ozark, Missouri. There we saw Marty Byrde’s Gastropub. I wondered which Marty Byrde came first, the gastropub or the Netflix TV series Ozark? It turns out Jason Bateman’s character on Ozark was the inspiration for the name of the restaurant. I understand a few drinks are named after other characters in the series.

There are several other restaurants on the strip, some with nighttime entertainment, waiting to cater to every hungry mob’s desire. Shoppers will also find stores where they can scratch their itch to find the perfect gift for someone special.

Willmore Lodge

The Willmore Lodge contains the visitor center for the Bagnall Dam. The Adirondack-styled 6,500 square foot building contained twenty-nine rooms when completed in 1930 for Union Electric.

I thought it fascinating to learn the entire building was cut and assembled in Oregon. Then it was marked, disassembled, and transported by train to Missouri. It took three months to reassemble the structure using square wooden pegs and “overlapping corner-saddle notching” to hold it together. I’m not a woodworker and have no idea what notching is, but “overlapping corner-saddle notching” sounds extra sturdy to me.

Union Electric sold the property at some point, setting off an exchange of owners over the years. In 1996, Union Electric repurchased it with the purpose of retaining it as a National Historical site and housing the history of the region.

Inside, the massive fireplace and open beam ceiling should have given off a cavernous vibe. Instead, the warmth of the wood, the comfy-looking furniture, and the natural light made me want to curl up on one of the chairs, pull out a book, and settle in for a cozy reading session.

A hallway on the fireplace side of the lobby leads to a museum. The museum contains artifacts, photos, and descriptions of the area before the dam was built, how the dam works, and the local wildlife visitors might see in the area.

A few Bagnell Dam facts:

• Named after William Bagnell, a railroad man who founded a town on June 30, 1883
• The dam was completed in 1931
• To make way for the dam, houses and farm buildings in 22 communities were moved or destroyed.
• The dam is one-half mile long and 148 feet high from bedrock (equivalent to a 12-story building seven blocks long)
• It holds back 600 billion gallons of water in the Lake of the Ozarks (the largest man-made lake in the world covering 86 square miles)
• The current owners, Ameren Missouri, upgraded the dam in 2017 and 2018 at a cost of $53 million.
• Osage Energy Center produces more than 500 million kilowatt hours (equivalent to the needs of 42,000 average households)
• Ameren Missouri’s goal is to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Outside, is a walkway around the building with views of the shoreline across the lake.

And a path leads to a garden, a huge fireplace with a grill, a gazebo, dogwood trees, and expansive views of Lake of the Ozarks.

Ha Ha Tonka State Park

In need of stretching our legs, we found Ha Ha Tonka State Park. With 31 miles of trails, we were confident of finding something interesting. The park displays the karst geological formations for which Missouri is known. The dissolving action of water on bedrock is what created the caves (approximately 7,500 are known), sinkholes, springs, and natural bridges throughout the state.

The something interesting we found was the ruins of a European-style castle. The castle was the vision of Robert M. Snyder, a wealthy Kansas City businessman. Construction began in 1905, but one year later, Mr. Snyder died in one of the state’s first automobile accidents.

It wasn’t until 1922 that the structure was completed under the direction of Snyder’s sons. The Bagnell Dam divided the property in the 1930s, much to the dismay of the Snyders. Eventually, the property was used as a hotel. In 1942, a fire broke out, gutting the castle, and destroying the carriage house.

Then in 1976, vandals burned the water tower. In 1978, the property was included in the newly created Ha Ha Tonka State Park.

From the castle ruins we saw heavy equipment at the water level and gravel haulers driving in and out along the sandbar. Apparently for years, gravel had washed from Dry Hollow Road into the underground karst system and deposited into the Ha Ha Tonka Spring. This created gravel bars in Trout Glen Pool. Besides dredging the pool and spring to remove 10,000 cubic yards of gravel, a paving project along Dry Hollow Road will prevent further problems.

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Although there was plenty more for us to do and see while at Lake of the Ozarks, we took advantage of down time before hitting the road toward home. Neither of us were looking forward to a week of back-to-back driving days, so I built in a few extra days along the way.

Next Up: Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Museum and Home in Abilene, Kansas

Safe Travels