Best Missouri Attraction (2017)

Branson is known as the Live Music Show Capital of the World, so it's no surprise that this entertainment district has something for everyone. Besides 50 live performance theaters, the area has a walkable downtown with loads of shopping options.
Photo courtesy of Branson Convention and Visitors Bureau

Located in the heart of St. Louis, Forest Park encompasses nearly 1,400 acres of land. It is one of the largest urban parks in the United States, nearly a third larger than New York City's Central Park. The park is widely used for outdoor recreation and features bicycle paths, jogging trails, baseball diamonds, soccer fields, boating and skating.
Photo courtesy of Matt Kitces / Wikimedia Commons

The Missouri Botanical Garden, the oldest continuously operated botanical garden in the nation, was founded in 1859 as a center for conservation and education. Today, the 79-acre garden includes Henry Shaw’s original 1850 estate home, a 14-acre Japanese strolling garden and one of the largest collections of rare and endangered orchids on the planet.
Photo courtesy of Flannery Allison / Missouri Botanical Garden

Established in 1933, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is among America's premier art institutions, boasting a variety of prestigious works dating from antiquity to the present. The Atkins is renowned for its magnificent collection of rare European, American and Asian art, and the 17-acre Sculpture Park features the largest stateside collection of bronzes by British sculptor Henry Moore. 
Photo courtesy of Alison Young/USA TODAY

Housed in the 600,000-square-foot former warehouse of the International Shoe Company, the St. Louis City Museum has a bit of everything – the world's largest jungle gym, a 10-story spiral slide and a rooftop garden with stellar views of the city. 
Photo courtesy of regan76 / Flickr

Mark Twain's earliest inspiration for his stories of the Mississippi River likely came during his childhood years in the town of Hannibal. The Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum comprises six historically significant buildings and two interactive museums brimming with Twain artifacts.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Clark / USA TODAY

In 1856, the Steamboat Arabia sank near Kansas City, carrying 200 tons of cargo. The Arabia Steamboat Museum displays some of the many treasures found when the boat was recovered in 1988, including dishware, guns, tools and clothes.
Photo courtesy of Arabia Steamboat Museum

One of Missouri's most fascinating and unique museums chronicles 400 years of psychiatric history, including the 130 years when the grounds housed the State Lunatic Asylum No. 2.
Photo courtesy of Glore Psychiatric Museum

The state-of-the-art Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts houses two venues, the 1,800-seat Muriel Kauffman Theatre and the 1,600-seat Helzberg Hall. Both host Broadway-style shows, orchestras, bands, operas and ballets.
Photo courtesy of Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

Among the interactive exhibits at the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum are a replica of Truman's Oval Office, timelines of his personal life and presidential years and his grave site.
Photo courtesy of Harry S. Truman Library