Absolutely. Love the small towns along the way. When I rolled through Baldwin, I stopped to get a bite at a local eatery. It began to storm so the lady that ran the place told me to bring my bike inside the restaurant so it wouldn't get wet. Bless her heart. I did the all-you-can-eat buffet at the Hotel Nauvoo and certainly got my money's worth. The Chain of Rocks Bridge is incredible and what a great way for cyclists to cross the Mississippi. Standing on it, it's hard to imagine it once carried the traffic of the famous Route 66. You may have seen the Lewis and Clark Museum, also. That was one of my favorites along the way. But then again, I'm a huge Lewis and Clark fan so I may be biased.
The bottom line, though, were the many friendly small towns along the route. One of my most favorite aspects of bike touring is sitting down in the local small town cafe and ordering the special from a waitress that calls me "hon."