Trip 10, Part 4, The Last Two Weeks in St. Joseph, Missouri

This post covers our last two weeks in St. Joseph before returning to California.

Week 1

We returned from our Kentucky trip and spent the morning and afternoon with Corrianne, who had watched the dog for us while we were gone. We had lunch at our favorite pizza place, Il Lazzarone. It is near the downtown area, and they bake their pizzas in a brick oven. If you love pizza, this is the place for you. There is a link at the end of this post. After dropping Corrianne off at the airport, we returned home for the night.

A few days later, we drove to Skidmore, Missouri with the Culvers. Why Skidmore you ask? It is the place where in 1981, a town bully was gunned down in broad daylight and the case has gone unsolved to this day. Here is a brief snippet from Inside Editions website. Ken Rex McElroy was gunned down in broad daylight, allegedly by townsfolk who were just plain fed up. McElroy was indicted 21 times but convicted only once. He was accused of child molestation, arson, statutory rape, cattle rustling, burglary and shooting two people. He got away with nearly all of it. You can read the whole story at the link in the end of this post. The town of Skidmore is the shell of a town now, with a population of less than 300. Here is a town sign.

Ken McElroy was killed in his truck that was parked in front of the white building with the blue trim. The building was a bar at the time, but is a vacant building now.

There was a book written about the incident called, “Broad Daylight.” Cindy read the book after we went there and found it very inciteful about the incident.

Our next stop was the nearby town of Marysville. Marysville was founded in 1845 and was named after the first white woman settler in the area, Mary House Graham. It is also home of Northwest Missouri State University, home of the Bearcats. NMSU was founded in 1905. So this is a pretty old town with an oldish university. Here are a few pictures from the downtown area.

We returned home and freshened up for a Taco Tuesday dinner at the San Jose Steak House and Mexican Food. It was average as usual, but we got a chance to visit with Scott’s Uncle Jewel, who is there every Tuesday. The next night was cornhole at Prestyn’s Wine Bar. Always a fun evening. There is a link to Prestyn’s at the end of this post.

The next day I drove four hours down to Lake Oologah (common spelling) in Oklahoma and met Dan B for a quick fishing trip. Our first stop was the Redbud Marina. Nothing was open and it was a little creepy. It felt like the Redrum Marina, if you know what I mean.

We went over to the east end of the lake and fished there. Of course, I didn’t catch anything and Dan caught a bass. For the record, I have known Dan for about 14 years and he has only seen me catch a fish one time. He must truly believe that I am the worst fisherman in the world. The reality is I’m the 102 worst fisherman in the world. So at least 101 people are worse than I am.

Before we left, a couple drove up and blew up a small plastic pool. They then launched it and floated out into the lake. Only in Oklahoma.

We had dinner at Sims BBQ. It was good, but good BBQ in the Midwest is easy to find. Your goal in the Midwest is to find the outstanding BBQ, which can be found. It turns out Sims BBQ is Billy Sims, the famous running back from the University of Oklahoma.

Then next day we fished near the Spencer Creek area and I finally broke the streak of rarely catching a fish when with Dan. I caught about 8 fish and Dan caught 6. That moved me up to the 546 worst fisherman in the world.

Earlier in this post, I mentioned how Dan and I have known each other for at least the last 14 years. We met at a Sheriff’s Department training at Pitchess Detention Center. During a break, I notice several deer had come out of the mountains and were feeding near a road by our classroom. I have hand fed the local deer apples in the past and decided to try it again. I asked my classmates if anyone wanted to “Feed the deer” with me. Several people jumped at the opportunity, including Dan. We went outside and literally hand fed apples to several deer. Dan told me he thought I was kidding and how much fun it was. A few months later, I needed to hire a Senior Deputy and Dan was on the list to get promoted, so I hired him. That turned into a lifelong friendship. Back to this trip. After lunch, Dan and I returned to our respective abodes.

The next day, Cindy, Heather and I went to a Farmer’s Market in nearby Leavenworth, Kansas. From there, we went to Weston, Missouri for lunch. Weston is always a fun place to visit. We returned home and that ended week 1.

Week 2

During our final week in St. Joseph, we met our friends Machelle and Bobby, along with Scott and Heather, at a historic restaurant named “First Ward House.” It Was established in 1878 and is said to be the oldest salon west of the Mississippi River.

The food was average, but eating or drinking in the oldest salon west of the Mississippi is still worth at least trying once. There is a link at the end of this post.

Later in the week, Scott, Bobby, Ricky, and I golfed at the Paradise Point Golf Course. There are two 18-hole courses there, the Posse and the Outlaw. Both courses have numerous holes that border Smithville Lake and have amazing views. We golfed the Posse course that was well maintained, challenging without being impossible, and an overall pleasure to golf. I will definitely be returning. There is a link to the courses at the end of this post.

Here are some pictures form our golf outing.

On our final day on St. Joseph, Cindy and I decided to have an ice cream cone at Cabana. They claim to have the tallest cones in town. We would be the judge of that.