In July 2009 we were proud to show off the new Lewis & Clark Trailhead Plaza and the heroic bronze sculpture group “Corps of Discovery” to world renowned travel advisor Arthur Frommer and his wife Roberta from New York City on their visit to Missouri’s capital city.

Frommer grew up in Jefferson City and for his 80th birthday, his wife surprised him with a secret birthday trip—- whose destination wasn’t disclosed to him until they were in the taxi headed to their airport in New York—- for this trip via air to St. Louis and then AMTRAK’s “Missouri River Runner” to Jefferson City.

Their visit was chronicled on the front page of the Jefferson City News Tribune.  See:
http://www.newstribune.com/articles/2009/07/17/news_local/167local11travel.txt

For the occasion Sabra Tull Meyer, the Columbia, Missouri sculptor was on hand for a special tour of her vision in bronze. The statue group is composed of Captain Meriwether Lewis,  Captain William Clark,  York the manservant of Clark’s, and George Drouillard—the civilian guide/interpreter.  Lewis’ Newfoundland retriever named Seaman is also a part of this “Captain’s Mess.”  Together they passed by today’s Jefferson City on June 4, 1804 and returned on September 19, 1806 on their river highway—the Missouri River.

A good front page picture and caption are worth a thousand words! Arthur also had nice things to say about the sculptor Sabra Tull Meyer, her sculpture and his visit to Jefferson City on the Frommer Travel Show July 19,2009 podcast from NYC’s WOR radio station.

Do a lot of tourists come to visit the Lewis & Clark statue?  It must be a big attraction to catch the attention of a World renowned travel advisor.  How many tourists does this part of Missouri get each year to visit this monument?  Is this a place that many people take their families to during summer vacation season?

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Arthur Frommer grew up in Jefferson City. We were pleased to welcome him back to the city on the occasion of his 80th birthday. While the Lewis & Clark monument is not a primary destination of most of our visitors, it is adjacent to the Missouri State Capitol building. As a youth he spent many hours visiting the halls and museums, and artwork in the Capitol.

Thus, our local Lewis & Clark Task Force docents annually give scheduled talks to roughly 2000 visitors per year. This number includes 50-75 foreign visitors. A far larger number of visitors also stop by the monument—including cyclists traveling the Katy Trail State Park. They can now tour Jefferson City via our new Missouri River bike/pedestrian bridge attachment. The view from the Missouri River bridge is spectacular and definitely worth the visitors time to observe the mighty river from this viewpoint.