Farmer's Market and lunch at Booche's in Columbia, MO

We arrived in Columbia, Missouri on July 30th hoping to stay at Cottonwood RV Park for 4 nights. Well maintained and named Top Rated in Trailer Life for 2009.  A biker conference was coming into Columbia on Monday and all parks, and motels were full.  We could stay 2 nights but had to leave on Sunday.  Pralines and I really loved this park and wished we could stay longer.  There was a lovely pool. A very nice laundry and beautiful grounds, flowers all around every campsite.

On Saturday, we headed to a Farmer's Market. It was crowded and the vendors had wonderful fruits and vegetables of all types.  There was eggs and fresh trout as well.  Also baked goods.  Some of the vendors were Amish. I didn't know there was an Amish Community in Missouri.  As you can see there was entertainment also.  They had a stimulus jar for tips.  We enjoyed them.

For my birthday Heather had gotten me a book called Roadfood by Jane and Michael Stern.  They write the "Roadfood" column in Gourmet, the winner of three James Beard Awards for Best Magazine Series, and are regulars on public radio's The Splendid Table.  Knowing we were hitting the road Heather thought this book was a must as it promised affordable, enjoyable dining options along America's highways and back roads. In Columbia, MO. Jane and Michael recommended Booches, so we headed there for lunch.  Booches is a magic name to hamburger aficionados.  We located this restaurant is in the heart of downtown Columbia in the University of Missouri District.  As you can see the inside has a beautifully craved bar.  We were lucky to get a table.  We got there around noon

but before we left the placed was jammed.  The empty bar that you see in this picture, was soon full of people  waiting for a table.  We ordered two hamburgers and two diet cokes.  No french fries here but you could get a bag of potato chips.  The burgers were cooked behind the bar and arrived on waxed paper.  The burgers were about the size of sliders.  We took one bite and ordered two more.  Delicious!!! This is also a billiard parlor and there were a few guys playing.  Bob thought they should put in more tables and get rid of the billiard tables. We just got a taste of Columbia but we had no more reservations at our campground we had to move on to somewhere tomorrow.

We were fortunate to find online a state campground at Fingers Lake where we could get reservations.  We would have to move but would be just a little further outside of town, so that we could spend more time in a town we were falling in love with in a very short time.