Missouri Vacation: Kansas City, MO & Kansas City, KS

We shuffled our plans a bit on our final few days in Missouri and routed to Kansas City, Kansas.  My cousin Amy was working in Topeka, KS so we decided to meet in the middle.  The drive from Lebanon to Kansas City took us by the Osceola Cheese Store, which is one of my favorite stops.  Mmmm…cheese.

While we did enjoy our stay at the Ameristar in Kansas City, MO at the start of our trip, we ended up booking the Candlewood Inn & Suites in Kansas City, KS and really liked the extended stay vibe the hotel offers.  We might look into that hotel chain for future travel. 

Anyway, Kansas City, MO, or more so Lee’s Summit, is where my Grandma Amos’ family lives.  We were able to visit with my cousin Dot, whose father, Floyd Sr., was a brother to my Grandma Amos.  We weren’t able to see any of Dot’s children on this visit but we did get to see Dot’s husband Jim.  Dot’s brother, Floyd Jr., was out of town so we missed seeing him and Mary Sue.  We also missed seeing Dot’s sister, Carol, and her family.  Hopefully we can get the whole group together on a future trip.

So, back to Kansas.  Amy, Floyd Jr.’s daughter, and her husband John met us at Arthur Bryant BBQ to try some Kansas City BBQ.  After all, I had to see how it compared to St. Louis BBQ.  Um…not the best restaurant to choose and sadly, I didn’t love the food.  This location was dead when we arrived at 6pm so that might have been our first cue.  After dinner, Amy and I popped into the Coach Outlet, which was located near the restaurant in this large placed called Legends.  We actually ventured over there the next morning for breakfast at Bob Evans, which FYI is delicious.  I wish we had Bob Evans near us.

We had a late flight home and was able to meet up with Dot and Jim for a museum and one more round of Kansas City BBQ.  Kenyon enjoys air museums and Jim worked on air planes/engines throughout his career in the Navy and with American Airlines.  It is extra special to visit a museum with all his knowledge.  The Airline History Museum at Kansas City was amazing.  This is a small organization that brings in planes to refurbish with the hopes of having them fly again.  If they can’t fly, then they will turn them into a stagnant display.  We were able to tour the inside of two airplanes.  It was really a fun museum.  The TWA Museum was nearby so we plan to do that on a return trip.

We had one last BBQ meal at Jack Stack BBQ, which is rated one of the top places to visit.  The brisket was amazing.  At this point along the journey I had given up on trying anymore ribs.  I really prefer my ribs fall-off-the-bone and I think I’ll have to rely on Texas Roadhouse for that.

Our flights home were slightly delayed due to weather/flash flood warnings.  Those flying to/from Texas had it way worse than us and our flights were packed to the gills to get everybody where they needed to go. 

And with that, we are home until late July.

To read about our St. Louis Adventures click here <-

To read about our Lebanon Adventures click here <-

Missouri Vacation: Lebanon

The second leg of our trip took us to Lebanon, MO.  This is where both my Grandma and Grandpa Amos grew up.  I really enjoyed seeing all my Amos family and was left wishing I had more days and more time.  I can’t wait until our next trip.

The drive from St. Louis to Lebanon was much calmer than the drive from Kansas City to St. Louis.  That drive along I-70 is flat out scary.  So we enjoyed our Sunday drive south on I-44.  On my last visit, my Mom and I drove to Rolla and had spotted Uranus Fudge Factory alongside the interstate.  It seemed like a great stopping place to use the bathroom and snap some photos.  There is so much to see that we will have to schedule a return visit with more time.  This was a hilarious place.

Our time in Lebanon was mainly schedule for family.  We rolled into town just in time for Sunday lunch/dinner at Glenda and Steve’s house.  My cousin Glenda and her brother’s father, Wilbert, was a brother to my Grandpa Amos.  We were able to visit with Glenda and Steve, their son Joseph, his wife Laura, and three of their adorable children.  We missed seeing Jane Ann, who lives in Springfield, because she wasn’t feeling well.  My cousin Gary and his wife Diana was also there along with their son Josh and grandkids Hannah and Isaac.  We missed Joh’s wife Stephanie as she was at work but I did get to say hello to her.  I just love my time spent with family and eating delicious home cooking.  I also love my cousin’s wives and so wish we lived closer.

The only full day devoted to Lebanon started out by taking advantage of the laundry facilities at the hotel.  By lunchtime, my cousin Delilah picked us up and meet with her husband Bob for a bite to eat.  Since we typically look forward to home cooked meals, it was a nice treat to eat at Elm Street Eatery in town.  The food was so good that we went back for breakfast the next day.  After lunch, we stopped by the Route 66 Museum and learned all about Lebanon.  Having my cousin Delilah there was really neat because she share so many of her memories with us.  Delilah also drove us through town to look at a few of the landmarks we learned about.

By evening time, we headed out to my cousin Delilah’s house where she rounded up all her siblings for more home cooking.  Delilah and her sibling’s father, Ralph, was also a brother to my Grandpa Amos.  It was really great to visit both sets of cousins.  We saw Delilah and her husband Bob, Don and his wife Susie, David and his wife Velta, and Mike and his wife Jan.  We had so much fun visiting it was hard to leave. 

No visit to Lebanon is complete without a stop in at T’s Redneck Steakhouse.  I don’t really like the food per se but I do love the homemade moonshine!  I brought home three bottles to hold me over until our next trip.  The strawberry mixed with light lemonade is the best combination.

Our final stop is Kansas City, to include both Missouri and Kansas.

To read about our St. Louis Adventures click here <-----

Missouri Vacation: St. Louis

We had the best time visiting family and friends in Missouri. 

Our first major destination was St. Louis, which was the first time for both Kenyon and I.  I was super stoked to meet up with Nichole, my WW buddy that I met IRL “In Real Life” on our last visit.  Dinner evening one was at an iconic restaurant called Blueberry Hill.  The owner if this restaurant has so much memorabilia, collectables, and photos of celebrities.  There was so much to see everywhere you turned.

Nichole drove us around town so we could see a few other sights.  She was the best tour guide.

We started our first full day in downtown St. Louis.  I was like a kid in a candy store when I saw The Arch.  Oh my it was beautiful and I didn’t want to stop taking photos of it.

We walked around the Riverfront area, which was under water due to some major flooding.  Nichole also took us to see the marker for the big flood of 1993, which thankfully the current flooding isn’t that high.  Flooding was an issue during our entire trip and we had just missed the tornados.  

Kenyon and I rode up to the top of The Arch while Nichole waited for us in the museum.  You have to board these tiny pods to take the ride, which doesn’t leave you much space.  It was nice that you get a pod for your whole party so you are’t forced to be sardines along side strangers.  The view from the top is amazing.

Upon our return to the ground, we walked around the museum a bit before heading out on foot to eat some St. Louis BBQ.  Nichole knew of this place with rave reviews called Sugarfire Smokehouse and it did not disappoint.  Well, I never had fall-off-the-bone ribs our entire trip but other than that, it was good.  The brisket was delicious.

We met up for dinner with Nichole and her husband, Shasha, in the town of St. Charles.  We had a lovely dinner and then took a quick walk near the river front, which was cut short due to darkness and rain.  You could see the river in St. Charles was flooding as well.

On our second full day in St. Louis, Kenyon woke up with a pretty bad headache so we hung around the hotel to relax.  I went in search for some fresh fruit and had to go to three different grocery stores.  The first was blocked by a local parade, the second closed for renovations, and finally I found a Walmart.  Talk about some bad luck.  We missed our opportunity to visit Illinois and the Greater St. Louis Air Museum so we will do that on another trip.

By evening, Kenyon was feeling better so we met up with Nichole and Sasha again for some Mexican food and one last iconic St. Louis stop, Ted Drewes.  This is a popular spot in town located off historic Route 66 that many celebrities have visited.  It also did not disappoint and we both enjoyed the ice cream/custard selection.

And with that, our time in St. Louis came to and end.  I can’t wait to go back and visit.

Lee's Summit & Lebanon, Missouri

Last week, my Mom, Sister Jennifer, and I boarded a plane to Kansas City, Missouri.  We met up with my Aunt Barb at the airport and rented a car for the week.  My grandmother’s family is in the area of Lee’s Summit and my grandfather’s family is in the area of Lebanon.  We had plans to see both sets of family and my aunt did a great job of rounded up the maximum amount of people.  It was a pretty big deal with my Mom traveling all the way to MO.  She has not been back there in many years.  The highlight of the trip was to see my Great Uncle Wilbert, who will be 95 next year.

On Wednesday evening, we met up with my Cousin Lindsay (sort of named after me but my name is a family name) and her mother, Delilah.  Lindsay has the cutest two boys and we were able to meet her husband.  It was a very nice visit.

We were super tired after our long day of travel and finally made it to our hotel room late that evening.  The first two nights we stayed at the Hampton Inn in Lee’s Summit.  The breakfast was really good.

On Thursday, we visited with our Lee’s Summit cousins.  Sadly, my cousin’s wife Mary Sue had fallen and broke her arm the day before so our visit with her was in the hospital.  It was a fairly minor break that needed surgery and she came through with flying colors.  Our Cousin Floyd gave us a driving tour of Kansas City and afterward, we had a get-together with all the other cousins.  My cousin, Dot, got an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen.  It was delicious.  I had so much fun meeting the next generation of cousins.

Friday, we headed towards Lebanon.  Along the route we saw a cheese store so we had to stop and sample some cheese.  I miss our cheese factory in Nampa.  We didn’t stop at the Amish Trading Post but on the drive between the cheese shop and Lebanon, we spotted a horse drawn carriage with a driver.  It was really neat.  We also spotted a deal armadillo on the side of the road!

Friday through Monday was spent visiting the Lebanon cousins.  We mostly gathered at Cousin Glenda’s house but also visited the old homestead in Ola as well as had a picnic at the riverbank.  All of the cousin’s on my Mom’s generation came together for a noon lunch at T’s Saloon in Lebanon.  The food was served cold but still tasty.  My Mom’s cousins came into town from Minnesota and Oklahoma as well as a few that drove over an hour to be there for our visit.

I made a special trip to Rolla to meet/visit with my Weight Watcher Buddy Nichole.  We’ve been friends for a few years after “meeting” on the WW message boards and finally met “IRL” (in-real life), which is what they say in the WW circuit.  I’ve already starting thinking about our next trip to MO, which will start in St. Louis so I can have extra time to visit with her again (and her cute daughter).

We thoroughly enjoyed our time with family and I always wish they lived closer.  Many times I found myself tearing up realizing that this could be the last time I see Uncle Wilbert.  My Great Aunt Pauline passed away a few months ago.  We had our trip planned, flights booked, and the hotels reserved when we heard that she was no longer with us.  Life is too short to put off spending time with those you love.  Make the time to do so before it is too late.

Our final night was spent back in Kansas City where my aunt rented a room at the Ameristar Casino.  I had some gambling money with me and we learned there was $6 pitchers of beer during the Kansas City Chief’s football game.  We staked out a spot in the bar and had a great time drinking, laughing, more drinking, and more laughing.  I didn’t have much time to gamble so I ended up breaking even.

We had a very short layover in Las Vegas on our way back to Boise.  I put a little money into the slot machines and ended up coming out $52 ahead.  Not a bad way to end a really great week.