re: Stopping point between Memphis and St. Louis

A few years back, I helped one of my best friends move his fiancee down from Green Bay to New Orleans (I drove the truck, they took her car). On that trip I requested we take a slightly different, easterly route rather than all interstate, mainly for the reasons listed here that there is a whole lot of nothing north of Memphis, and we stopped overnight in Paducah, Kentucky which was kind of cool.

But since you are going more westerly via St. Louis, I'd have to agree with others and say Cape Girardeau (a college town) is your best bet, with Sikeston being a secondary choice.