Show-Me Missouri, a travel magazine, this week released a Show-Me Missouri travel app for Apple iPhones, iTouches and iPads.
According to the Apple app store, the application contains more than 200 entries and 1,000 photographs. It costs $2.99, and updates are free. The app is compatible with iOS systems of 3.0 and up.
And the app includes Route 66 as one of the categories that users can explore.
The Daily Dunklin Democrat spoke with Show-Me Missouri Publisher Gary Figgins about the app:
The Show-Me Missouri app project has been more than a year in the making, and it is a work-in-progress, as additional entires are already being compiled for future updates, said Figgins. The Show-Me Missouri app is not an electronic version of the quarterly full-color travel magazine, but is, instead, a travel assistant that provides in-depth information on a wide range of attractions and destinations in the state. […] Each listing includes an in-depth description, admission cost and hours. Users can visit attraction websites and call for more information, all from within the app.
Attractions are cross-referenced in 17 different categories: Art & Architecture, Caves, Child Friendly, Civil War, Distinctly Missouri, Famous Faces, Fun On The Water, Great Photo Ops, Highway 36, Historic Places, Mississippi River, Missouri River, Museums, Naturally Missouri, Route 66, State/National Parks and Theme Parks & Zoos. The listings can be sorted by name, distance from current location, cost and region. With iPhone or iPad “Location Services” activated, directions can be generated for each listing using the internal map on an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. Somewhat different from a regular GPS, “lesser-known” attractions without actual street addresses are plotted on the device’s map, allowing directions to be generated even without an address.
Here are a couple of screen shots from the app:
Using the app, I saw less than two dozen attractions listed for Route 66. A lot of restaurants and motels are left off, although the Missouri Hick Bar-B-Q in Cuba and the Munger Moss Motel in Lebanon made the cut.
Sadly, the marvelously restored Wagon Wheel Motel in Cuba was omitted. And the app includes an embarrassing photo — a car driving across the Meramec River Bridge at Route 66 State Park, a feat which is no longer possible since the closing of the bridge in 2009.
It’s not a bad app for someone seeking major attractions or side trips from the Mother Road. And don’t be surprised if state tourism agencies and other big-time travel magazines get into the act.
But better travel apps exist out there for roadies, include Roadside America’s, River Pilot’s Route 66 Attractions app for Garmin GPS, and Kelly Ludwig’s Road Trip 66.