Help me find the best travel arrangement between Missouri and Tennessee

Depending on the dates of your flight, you can fly Boston to Columbia (with a stopover in Memphis) in the $300 range (e.g. $309 on a Sunday flight). STL Airport to Columbia in a shuttle like that is a 2 hour drive and the shuttle will cost you ~$50 + tip. The MOExpress shuttle also travels between Kansas City and Columbia, if that's a better flight for you. That trip will also be approximately 2 hours in the shuttle for the same price. When you're in Columbia, make sure you go to The Coffee Zone on 9th Street next to the Blue Note and get the Turkish Coffee. Osama (the owner) freshly roasts his own spices and it's the best I've ever had (though I've never had it in Turkey.)

I'm a native Columbian with family still there, and we regularly do the Delta fight from Memphis to Columbia that Jacob G suggested. It's not priced too badly last time I checked. Car rental at Lambert is kind of a pain in the neck (it's far from the terminal, and the I-70 drive to Columbia is no joy). MOExpress is not bad, but it's not terribly cheap either. You probably won't need a car while you're in Columbia -- assuming you're staying in the general campus/downtown area and not right off the highway. Most of the good restaurants/coffee shops/and The Blue Note (site of my first fake ID usage, BTW) are all nearby. Maybe taxi into town from the Columbia airport and rent a car for the drive to Knoxville? (a drive I did with my first manual transmission...ay yi yi). Uprise Bakery next to Ragtag Cinema for outstanding baked goods and sandwiches. Flatbranch Brewery for some tasty beers.

Jessamyn, I have your Columbia, Mo talk in my calendar and I'm super excited about it! To stay: 1. If you are not renting a car, or don't have transport, then you should stay near campus at either http://gatheringplacebedandbreakfast.com/ orhttp://www.universityavenuebnb.com/index.html. The University Ave. B&B does not sell or permit alcohol (see Trip Advisor for grumbly comments). I have not stayed there, but the university puts up guests there. The other choice near campus is the Ramada Inn, which is close enough to walk, if you are super into walking. The B&Bs are close to campus and downtown -- all of the eating, shopping, etc. 2. If you do have a car, and you don't mind driving a ways (maybe 20 minutes), Rocheport is beautiful little town with some nice accommodations. Check out http://www.amberhousebb.com/ or http://www.yateshouse.com/. To get to CoMo: 1. Yes, the MoX is reliable, safe, etc. They even give you bottled water and do door-to-door. They have far more trips to and from ST. Louis, but the KC ones go about five times a day. 2. You can fly directly into Columbia (airport code COU), which Jacob G mentions above. If that's the case, you can easily cab it to your hotel, then walk around campus/downtown until time to go to the airport. Places to see/Things to eat: 1. http://sycamorerestaurant.com/ is good -- local, fresh. 2. Give yourself some time to walk around campus. It is modelled after UVA and March is a great time to see it. 3. Get some http://www.yelp.com/biz/sparkys-homemade-ice-cream-columbia, give the jazz saxaphonist across the street a few dollars, and browse in the http://www.yelp.com/biz/get-lost-bookstore-columbia Please mail me if you have any questions, concerns, etc. I'm happy to help out a fellow MeFite/library geek.

While you are driving through Tennessee, stop and take a look at some of the http://carstations.com/ along the way. The state is positively stinking with them, and the numbers are increasing rapidly. They are really putting the rest of the country to shame. Reason #1 (of 1) to go to Cracker Barrel.

The Kansas City option is good. It's almost the same distance as from St. Louis, and when I lived in Columbia a few years ago, flights to/from there were usually cheaper and more direct. I think it's a nicer airport, too. MO-X is indeed reputable.

Thanks for the info folks. I wound up talking to a friend about this who has a pal who lives in Columbia so I am set with a native guide and a place to stay. I decided to fly into St Louis because the rental cars were cheaper and the flight was somewhat lower, though if I were a different person who could get up at 6 am there was a super cheap flight into Kansas City but the others were comparable to St Louis. The rental car deal is just going to be a slog unfortunately. One-way rentals are just expensive no matter how you slice it, so I figure I'm making up for it by staying with folks in town. I will definitely keep my eyes peeled for electric cars, stop by Coffee Zone, aim for a beer at Flatbranch and mrfuga0 I will see you at the talk!