This particular “fine dining” establishment has opted out of ladies’ room stall doors completely, leaving the two toilets in plain view.

There’s also full-length mirror in the bathroom which provides a clear reflection of yourself sitting on the closer of the two toilets.

And finally, the bathroom is laid out in such a way that anyone in the bar would be able to see the person on the first toilet if the door were opened.

You think I jest?

*sigh* What am I going to do with you, Missouri?

Chat Dump, photo by MilliGFunk

Chat dumps are where mining waste goes when it dies. Erm, I mean chat dumps are the huge heaps of mining waste. When we were kids, we’d call these sand mountains, and we’d beg our parents to let us play on them.

In winter, we wanted to sled down them. In summer we wanted to build sand castles on them (out of them). In spring and fall, we probably begged our parents to let us roll down them. Not once during my childhood did I ever step foot on a chat dump. I guess my parents were fans of trespassing. No sense of adventure, I tell you…

I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I have no idea what you call these things, but if someone could fill me in, I’d be happy about it. I’m fairly certain that these things play an important role in the life and death of the mining waste that rests in the chat dump when it dies.

What Do You Call This? photo by MilliGFunk

So meet me halfway, dear readers. I’ve told you about chat dumps, so can any of you tell me what these monstrosities are called?

Marvin Chapel, photo by smalltowngirl

When I got off of US Highway 67 to drive into the town of Bonne Terre, I saw a sign for a United Methodist church five miles away in the opposite direction of the town. I took a detour to check the church out.

Marvin Chapel United Methodist Church sits on Missouri Highway 47, five miles east of Bonne Terre. I didn’t see an established date on the building, but the church didn’t look very old. The structure was simple, but the red front doors felt welcoming.

If you like Missouri church posts, check out Villa Ridge Christian Church (Villa Ridge, MO), St. Stephen Roman Catholic Church (Richwoods, MO), St. Paul Lutheran Church (Farmington, MO), Bellevue Presbyterian Church (Caledonia, MO), and another post on Bellevue.

Marvin Chapel, photo by smalltowngirl

Bonne Terre, photo by smalltowngirl

My most recent small town Missouri adventure was a freezing cold trip through Bonne Terre, Missouri. Bonne Terre is one of those old Midwestern mining towns that feels haunted to me as I walk its streets. I can so clearly imagine the time when Bonne Terre was booming and miners and railroad men spent their hard-earned money in the town’s bars, but the town simply isn’t that vibrant in 2009.

According to the sign in the picture, the first lead mining took place in what’s now Bonne Terre in the late 1790s, but the town wasn’t established until the 1880s.  Jean Baptiste Pratte opened the area’s fist “lead diggings”. In 1864, all 946 acres of lead diggings were purchased from Pratte by the New York City-backed St. Joseph Lead Company. It was the St. Joseph Company who took the initiative to build the town of Bonne Terre.

Missouri is the oldest and largest lead-producing state in the United States, and Bonne Terre sits at the heart of the largest lead-mining district in the country. While the lead-belt’s history is rich, little remains now but historic sites and huge mounds of chat that, as kids, we called sand mountains.

Starburst - (Not Photoshopped), photo by smalltowngirl

St. Francois State Park was a pleasant surprise. This park sits directly on US Highway 67 north of Bonne Terre, Missouri, and I’ve driven past it countless times through the years without ever visiting it. The park boasts four trails ranging in length from .5-mile (Missouri Trail) to 11-miles (Pike Run Trail).

Frozen, photo by smalltowngirl

The first hike we took was along the Mooner’s Hollow Trail, a 2.7-mile loop that though judged moderate in difficulty on the MO State Parks website, seemed to me to be easy-to-moderate. There weren’t many steep inclines, and there weren’t many roots or larger rocks along the trail.

Rushing Water, photo by smalltowngirl

Much of the trail followed a dry creek bed, so I anticipate that this trail may be best hiked during dryer months. Mooner’s Hollow Trail follows Coonville Creek in the Coonville Creek Natural Area.

Missouri Hills, photo by smalltowngirl

St. Francois State Park is one of 83 State Parks in the state of Missouri. The park boasts more than 2,700 acres of land, and welcomes hikers, horseback riding, fishing, camping, picnicking and swimming. There are shower houses and out buildings in the park. The park currently opens at 8 am and closes at 6 pm.

The