On April 30, NBC's TODAY came to Birthplace Plaza to mark Route 66's 100th anniversary, and Springfield showed up and showed out. Emmy-winning actor John Goodman joined the broadcast, and the crowd that had been gathering since 2:30 a.m. was ready for all of it.
Al Roker didn't hide his surprise. "There's this great influx of young energy here," he told us. "It's like I'm in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, only everybody's clean." Coming from Roker, that's about as high a compliment as a city can receive.
Laura Jarrett felt the pull of the city's history. "It's still got the nostalgia, the Steak 'n Shake from 1962, the original silver tray." Dylan Dreyer summed it up: "There's something reassuring about having the old mix with the new."
Springfield's food scene had its national moment too, from James Beard-nominated Chef Calvin Davis of The Order at Hotel Vandivort to Leong's cashew chicken, the dish Springfield invented and the country is still catching up to.
Roker called the Ozarks "the worst kept secret in America." Dylan is already planning to bring her kids back. For those of us who live here, that's not a surprise. It's just nice to hear.