My bride and I love our empty nest — but not during Thanksgiving and Christmas time. Back in 2014, instead of staying in our empty nest at Christmas, we went to The Cabins at Stockton Lake, down in Cedar County, about an hour northwest of Springfield. (Side note: Based on the only carry out food available in the little burg of Stockton, we still have a fond affinity for Casey’s carry out pizza.) 

Since then, we have made about 25 empty nest road trips, typically getting away for a three- or four-day weekend two or three times a year. We’ve explored most of Missouri, southeast Iowa, northern Arkansas, northwest Illinois — yeah, we don’t venture all that far from home. But we also love Columbia, of course, and have managed to craft some memorable staycations and/or day trips around the Show-Me State. 

From our tried-and-tested, must-see or do trip list: Lone Elk Park, just twenty-five miles west of St. Louis; antiquing and flea market excursion to Ozark, Missouri; and The Moonshack, the most incredible Airbnb in southern Missouri — just be sure not to get lost hiking in the adjoining Mark Twain National Forest. (Not that I did. I mean, if you still have a cell signal and can hear your bride banging pots and pans to “hear” your way home, you are not lost. At least that’s what a friend told me …) 

As you dive into our first Weekender issue of COMO Magazine and COMO Business Times, we will take you to day-away and longer stay-away spots in Missouri. Writer Candice Ball reintroduces us to the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre, which begins the 2024 season on June 7. Arrow Rock is just forty miles west of Columbia. You might want to follow along with Amanda Long who takes us to some great dining beyond the COMO city limits: Fayette, Fulton, St. James, and Macon. They are not overnight trips unless you want them to be. 

Lydia Graves shows us the ropes on the Missouri Distillery and Spirits Tour. (These are spirits of the distilled variety, not spirits of the ghostly kind, though if the latter is your cup of tea, I will connect you with my friend Sandy Selby in Arrow Rock for her ghost tours this fall.) 

Some other stories of note in these issues: The “As Seen Online” department features “The Sweet Buzz of COMO Honey,” by freelancer Sarah Joplin, making her debut both on our website and in the magazine. A published author and accomplished writer, you can expect to see more of her work. The same can be said of Caroline Dohack, a good friend and one of my former Tribune colleagues. Her story previewing the Unbound Book Festival appeared at comobusinesstimes.com, and she has some bylined pieces coming up in future print editions, as well. She is an exceptional storyteller. 

You will also enjoy the PYSK (Person You Should Know) feature on Stephen Foutes, the director of the Missouri Division of Tourism. He and I worked together at the Jefferson City News Tribune back in the ‘90s, and we also both worked at separate times for old-school editor/publisher Charlie Hedberg at the Centralia Fireside Guard. (Charlie was a one-of-a-kind gem of journalism.) 

Finally, the photo on this page has nothing to do with the Weekender issue except that it’s my mom and me, and she is as responsible as anyone for me being a journalist and an editor. And since Mother’s Day is in May, and Mom/Ruby turned 90 in March, it only seems fitting to ask you to join me in congratulating my Dixieland belle of the ball. 

I love you, Mom! 

Now get ready for your next day trip, fuel up and stock up in COMO before you leave, and whatever else you do, let your mom know you love her.