Halfway in between Kansas City and St. Louis lies the Midway Travel Plaza. The center is part truck stop, hotel, bar, boot store, fireworks store, antiques store, rodeo ground, restaurant, and tattoo parlor. Midway recently received its own reality TV show, Truck Stop Missouri on the Travel Channel. Now Midway is well known nationwide after heightened coverage from the show. Midway has always been a regional staple to Mid-Missouri and has not lost it’s character despite the fame. 

Midway has not let the fame get to it. Its business at usual 24/7/365 where the drama consists of “a pretty dramatic effect on us… our business is definitely up” says convenience store manager Randy Trierweiler. Most truckers feel Midway is just the same, if not a bit busier. Many truckers haven’t been to Midway in years, others are regulars each week on standard routes. Without film crews there, its hard to tell that this is the same truck stop on TV. Business has increased at the convenience store, with curious passerby recognizing the Midway name or locals making a point to check out the place. Increased business, better catering to travelers, improving trucking services. It almost sounds like a free lunch, increased business and revenue with the same character. Randy acknowledges however, that the many passer by are not known locals, and Midway employees regret that “they don’t know them better.”

Even if the Travel Channel had never done a show on Midway, things would still be good. Despite a economic slump and record high diesel prices, Midway sits on the i70 Corridor, one of the most heavily trafficked and trucked segments of interstate system in the United States of America. This strategic location guarantees a steady flow of traffic. Midway still has to innovate, and as one trucker stopping for a rest said, ” a lot of the truck stops they try to improve things make things better for the truckers, I’ve seen a few improvements” since the last visit. Midway still works to keep its competitive advantage with hotels, gas stations, and other travel related businesses in nearby Columbia.

At the Back Door Lounge above the convenience store on weekend nights the music is playing and the beer is flowing. Stetsons and Lucheses march to the guitar and the country/rockabilly sounds. Bartenders stay busy pouring drinks and popping cans of Stag amongst a pallor of cigarette smoke, a smell that lingers on your clothes hours after leaving the bar. Regulars dance the night away, including a couple that met there in the 1990s and have been dancing every weekend since.

Others are here only for a few nights, such as Cowboy, a employee of the Union Pacific Railroad from Houston. Patrons swill beer straight from the pitcher during lively pool games. There’s no cable TV scripting here and the culture of the Midwest and Missouri make a strong showing. Even if Truckstop Missouri was filming an episode at the bar, the patrons probably would not notice much. If there’s any sign that the TV fame has not changed the character much of Midway, the proof is in the pitcher at the Backdoor Lounge.

The photos presented represent a snapshot of Midway during Fall of 2011. The trucks, their truckers, the gas station, the bar, the events up on the hill, make Midway a unique place. Its good to know that it hasn’t lost its charm and humility. Then again a place in business for decades wouldn’t be expected to.