Last summer I was in Jefferson City for a wedding. I had a chance before the wedding to take in downtown, which is a strange mix on High Street of well-preserved buildings, while on the other side of the Capitol it is a wasteland of parking lots.

The Capitol itself is one of the most beautiful in the country, designed much in the same style as Michelangelo’s dome for St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

The inside is equally as ornate as the outside.

The dome dominates the skyline from miles around, sitting majestically on a bluff of the Missouri River.