On the road again: Recommendations for Bison fans headed to Grand Valley State

The No. 4-ranked Harding Bisons travel to Allendale, Michigan, on Saturday to meet No. 5 Grand Valley State University in the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs. The kickoff against the Lakers is set for 12 p.m. CST at Lubbers Stadium. Harding is making its ninth playoff appearance. 

Allendale is a 12-hour drive from Searcy, so you’ll need to think about some rest stops along the way. St. Louis and Chicago are obvious choices for food and fun, so we’ve asked a couple of Harding travel pros for their recommendations.

Dr. Jim Miller, professor of communication and dean of the Honors College, is a native of St. Louis and knows where to find the best food in the Gateway to the West. Amy Cox, associate professor of art and associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences travels regularly to share the art and architecture of Chicago with her students.

Recommendations from Dr. Jim Miller

If you’re making the road trip to Allendale, Michigan, to cheer on the Bisons this weekend, you’ll drive through St. Louis, the city where I was born and raised.

It’s a city famous for Cardinals baseball, the Gateway Arch and the nation’s oldest Thanksgiving Day high school football rivalry.

It's also one of America’s  best food scenes.

While everyone thinks of The Hill — the city’s long-established Italian-American neighborhood — for unforgettable meals, Farotto’s Italian Restaurant has been serving up some of the River City’s finest Italian cuisine for more than 70 years. It should certainly  be one of your stops on the way to another national championship.

I recommend starting with the toasted ravioli, a local favorite. Like most older Italian restaurants in the area, Farotto’s fills its ravioli with a blend of spinach, cheese and finely ground meats, including beef and pork. The ravioli are breaded and deep fried until golden brown and then sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. Dip them in the marinara sauce to complete the flavor.

The temptation will be to fill up on toasted ravioli before getting back on the road. Do not give in before trying the sausage pizza. 

St. Louis-style pizza is my favorite for two reasons. First, unlike the deep-dish pizza other cities offer, the thin, crispy crust of the St. Louis-style won’t leave you feeling heavy for the remaining seven-hour drive to the Wolverine State.  

Second, St. Louis style-pizza is topped with the city’s delicious signature provel cheese, a combination of cheddar, Swiss  and provolone with a touch of liquid smoke. It's as good as the Bison’s flexbone offense.

The perfect complement to a sausage pizza is a Farotto’s house salad made with iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, house-made Italian vinaigrette dressing and, of course, more provel cheese.

The Hill isn’t the only place to find some of the nation’s best Italian food. Located at 9525 Manchester Road, Farotto’s is a St. Louis classic that you must experience.

Go Bisons!

Recommendations from Amy Cox

Of course, I will always recommend an architecture tour and an art museum, and  I believe the best place to admire architecture is in Chicago. From the early skyscrapers of the late 1800s to the most recent buildings by the amazing Jeanne Gang of Gang Studio, you can see every style and innovation in construction and design — not to mention some of the classics from Frank Lloyd Wright and Mies Van der Rohe. The Chicago Architecture Center is the best place to schedule a tour. I love that their website is simply architecture.org. This time of year it will be a walking tour since the boats are not running. 

The Art Institute of Chicago is a phenomenal museum with some very famous works such as “American Gothic” by Grant Wood, “Night Hawks” by Edward Hopper, “The Bedroom” by Vincent VanGogh and dozens of paintings by Monet. If you want a throwback to “Ferris Buller's Day Off,” go stand in front of “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” by Georges Georges Seurat. Don't forget to walk up close to see the points of color. My personal favorite is the Thorne Miniature rooms located in the basement. The miniatures are a little hard to find, but worth it! Museum hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m. 

Right next to the Art Institute is Millennium Park, where you can take photos at the "bean” — officially the "Cloud Gate" by Anish Kapoor. This time of year you can ice skate on the Maggie Daley Park Ribbon. It’s much more fun than skating in circles on a small square rink with no shade to NYC Rockefeller Plaza. Be sure to make reservations..

Most people are familiar with the Magnificent Mile for shopping, but I prefer State Street in the Loop. It was made famous in the early days of department store shopping with a wide, divided avenue. While you shop, I suggest you take in famous buildings like the Marshall Field and Company, now Macy's, where you can see the breathtaking Tiffany glass ceiling in the cosmetic department or have lunch in the Walnut Room. Also, check out what the internet calls "Goth Target.” This is a touchy subject for architecture enthusiasts because it is not at all Gothic. Designed by Louis Sullivan, it is a beautiful example of Chicago style by one of the fathers of modern architecture. 

When it comes to food in Chicago, there are staples, of course: hot dogs, pizza (I prefer Lou Malnati's), and Garret Popcorn (the Chicago mix of caramel and cheddar is worth the hype), but my favorite standard is the Italian Beef. Al's Beef is fantastic, and there are several locations around Chicago. I recommend it with provolone and dipped. Remember to stand with feet apart and lean over when you eat it. 

Millers Pub on Wabash in the Loop is a strange but wonderful combination of Italian, Greek and German food in a warm old-school atmosphere. It serves incredible calamari and fish and chips as well as a huge Greek salad. Word of warning: if you are interested in the Greek chicken, it will take an hour, it will feed more than one person, and it is totally worth it. Even though it's a "pub," it's HA and family-friendly.

There are plenty of famous Instagram places to eat in Chicago, and, of those, I recommend Cindy's Rooftop in the Chicago Athletic Association Hotel. The atrium gymnasium converted to a restaurant has stunning views of the park and the lake. Reservations are recommended.  

If you don't make it all the way downtown, one of my favorite cultural spots is on the campus of the University of Chicago in Hyde Park. Three fantastic sites are on the corner of Woodlawn and 58th Street including the Frank Lloyd Wright Robie House, the Rockefeller Chapel and the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures. The institute is "10,000 years of humanity under one roof" and has collections from Egypt, Nubia, Persia, Mesopotamia, Syria, etc. The Robie house tours are incredible even if you are not an architecture nerd like me. Feel free to walk into Rockefeller Chapel if the doors are open! 

For the kids (and adults) who like a good interactive museum, check out the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry. It’s located near the University of Chicago and on the site of the World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair of 1893.