Monday, May 24, 2010

Castle ruins in the state of Missouri

In all the years we've lived here, not once have we traveled about 2 hours north to explore the castle ruins in Ha Ha Tonka State Park. It's fun to say! We only scratched the surface during our mere hour visit, but it was well worth the stop. We had a chance to see the Castle ruins, the dream of a man wanting a little European experience in America, purchasing 5,000 acres of land and building a mansion, his castle, overlooking the beautiful landscape. Sadly, he died before it barely began, and the enormous structure, completed by his sons, was destroyed by fire after only about 20 years standing. Now it's ruins stand vacant on the state park of Ha Ha Tonka overlooking the amazing natural land formations that exist because of the karst topography there. I hope we go back to take a trek over the natural bridge, or on a hike to see the spring that is the 12th largest in Missouri - supplying 48,000,000 gallons of water DAILY! You might want to include it in your Summer plans this year. Maybe we'll see you there!