417magazine online has some good info.

Springfield noteworthy things:

Chinese cashew chicken (Leong’s in credited as inventor, but several other joints have good chicken as well.)

Bass Pro store here is OG. Good stop, “museum” is Johnny Morris’ money pit. The outlet store is the first storefront besides his brown derby lure hustle.

Fantastic caverns “America’s only drive thru cave”

Route 66-couple of historic sites still exist (history museum has some stuff)

Red’s giant Hamburg-recreation of a reported first drive thru joint.

Notable landmarks

Gray Campbell farmstead in Nathanael Greene park-moved and saved farm from 100+ years ago

The square- only location where a legitimate western duel was documented

The city hall-cool building

Pythian castle-old building turned venue

Commercial street has a bicycle museum and quaint restaurants and 100+ year old steel girder footbridge(although out of commission due to need of repair lol)

East Walnut street has all the old large houses

Lots of stuff downtown that exists in most other moderately sized cities and good hiking in the area like most of the ozarks. A few breweries and couple distilleries.

everyone will tell you to eat breakfast at gaileys or early bird breakfast pub. The vandivort hotel is fancy, but some rooms you can hear live music from the bars… it does have a rooftop lounge that anyone can drink at