From St Louis follow I-44 (the interstate is built over most of Route 66 in Missouri) 28 miles west to Route 66 State Park, with its visitor center and museum inside a 1935 roadhouse. Although the displays show vintage scenes from around St Louis, the real intrigue here concerns the town of Times Beach, which once stood on this very site. It was contaminated with dioxin and in the 1980s the government had to raze the entire area.