This post covers the highlights of the second half of our return to our house in St. Joseph, Missouri.
This segment of our trip starts with a visit from our great friends, the Webers. This time, instead of driving, they flew into Kansas City International Airport. We picked them up and took them to dinner at Q39 near downtown Kansas City. Todd is an incredible BBQ chef, so I enjoy having him try KC BBQ for his opinion of it. He liked Q39 and it earned a link. The next day, Todd, Scott, Bobby, and I golfed at the Plattsburg Country Club. This is one of my favorite courses and we all had a great time. Here is the course layout and the view from the 9th tee.
If you want to golf there, use the link at the end of this post. The next day, Todd, Edie, Cindy, and I headed down to the city of Parkview. It claimed to have a nice older downtown area, and it did.
We started with lunch at a French bistro named Cafe Des Amis. The food was outstanding. They had quiches, crepes, and the like. I had the Beef Bourguignon, a type of beef stew. It was amazing. Everyone else really enjoyed their meals as well and they clearly earned a link. After some shopping, we returned to St. Joseph and had dinner at Felix. Then it was off to meet Scott, Heather, Machelle, and Bobby at the Wyeth Tootle Mansion for the Voices of the Past tour.
We did this tour last year and had a really good time. The tour starts at the mansion with one of the character speakers. This year’s theme was Unsolved Mysteries. Each speaker was dressed as a person from the past who was involved in an unsolved mystery. After our first speaker, we took a bus to the Mt. Mora Cemetary where the rest of the speakers were waiting to tell us their stories.
Once again, Bobby was part of the entertainment while we waited for our return bus.
We ended the evening with a nightcap at The Den. They had it decorated for Halloween.
The next day we visited Schweizer Orchards, right down the road from us. It is an orchard that has some pick your own fruits, that we did not do, and a fruit and vegetable store, which we did visit.
They even used some interesting units of measurement, like a bushel and a peck.
We made a few purchases and had lunch downtown at the 7th Street Cafe. It was link worthy as usual. Dinner was at Willie’s Bar and Grill in Atchison, Kansas with Todd, Edie, Cindy, Don, and Marie. Bobby and Machele could not make this event. Why Atchison, Kansas you ask. Because we were taking the haunted houses of Atchison trolly tour. Atchison has more haunted houses per capita than most other cities. Unfortunately, we only drove by the houses and heard stories about the houses from our tour guide. I think it would be fun to go on a tour where you get to go inside some of the houses. Maybe next time. We still had a very good time.
After an enjoyable tour where we may or may not have seen some actual ghosts, it all depended on your own perspective, we ended at the Visitor Center than happens to have a bar in it. Lucky us. The city of Atchinson, Kansas is worth a visit, so use the link at the end of this post to check out their visitor center and events around town.
The next day, Todd, Edie, Cindy, and I went to the Amish town of Jamesport. Of course, we had to have the delicious chicken and homemade baked goods at Gingerich Dutch Pantry. After some sightseeing, we returned to St. Joseph and freshened up for the evening’s outing. We met Scott, Heather, Bobby, and Machelle and our first stop was the newly opened Parkway Distillery.
One of the owners gave us a tour and pointed out all of the rescued antiques they had in the place. The main bar is from the Goetz Brewery Stein Room, there are historical pieces from the Stockyards Exchange Building, and some doors and pieces from the old courthouse are among the items. It is very well done, and the drinks are delicious. They distill their own vodka, gin and whiskey, but of course the whiskey will not be ready for several years. This is a must visit, so use the link in the usual place. Our second stop was at Coleman Hawkins Park, a park in the main square downtown, to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Days.
We ate some tacos, enjoyed some music, then headed to the roof of Felix’s Room 108 to watch the celebration from above.
Overall, it was a very enjoyable day. The next morning, we took Todd and Edie to the Historic City Market in Kansas City. It has a farmer’s market, restaurants, shops, outdoor vendors, and the Steamboat Arabia Museum. This is another must visit. The link is in the usual place.
We returned to St. Joseph and toured the St. Joseph Museums. The museums are comprised of the Glore Psychiatric Museum, the Black Archives, the Archaeology and Native American Galleries, and the Doll Museum. Cindy and I have visited these exhibits before, but it was the first time for Todd and Edie. We toured all five of the exhibits.
Here are a few pictures from the Glore Psychiatric Museum.
We saw some dueling pistols and bug jewelry from the Archaeology and Native American Galleries.
And some unusual dolls from the Doll Museum.
The St. Joseph Museums are another must visit. You know where to find the link. This was our last outing with the Webers before they flew back to CA. Several days later, we joined Bobby and Machelle at Scott and Heather’s house for a Halloween craft night of decorating cookies sent to us from Heather’s mom (Pat) in CA. Here is some of our handiwork.
A few days later, we all went to the Missouri Theater for the Taste of Ireland dance and music show. They did not allow any pictures or recordings during the show, so here are two pictures of the stage before the show started.
The dancing and music were amazing. I would see this show again if it ever returns. The following week we finally had our new carpet installed in our bedroom and on the stairs. The St. Joseph house has mostly wood floor and tile floors, with the exception of our bedroom and the stairs to the second floor. I thought the old carpet was fine, but was outvoted 1-0. Here is the old bedroom carpet.
And this is the new bedroom carpet.
The colors are close, with the new carpet being slightly lighter. Here is the before and after of the stairs.
Since we had redone the carpet, I decided to replace the two blinds in our bedroom window with a single blind. If you look at the picture of the old blinds, the circled item is a piece of paper that was clipped to the blinds. This was necessary because the streetlight in front of our house would shine in the gap between the blinds and hit me right in the eyes every night. The paper was not needed with the single blind and it just looked better. Judge for yourself.
The installation process caused a day of havoc as we had to move all of our bedroom furniture into the living room first thing in the morning, then return it to the bedroom that night.
All of the effort was worth it and now everything is back to normal. On the night of the carpet installation, Bobby, Machelle, Heather, Cindy and I went to the Trail Theater to see The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Scott was unavailable as he had basketball practice.
We had a great time and even danced the Time Warp in the aisles. If you have the chance to see this movie, do it and dance the Time Warp. It is so much fun. The next day we participated in the zombie crawl to benefit the Friends of the St. Joseph Animal Shelter. The crawl starts at D & G Bar and Grill and they encourage dressing up as zombies. So of course we did.
In this picture of us inside D & G, I love how the picture somehow was distorted and Bobby’s body as abnormally larger than his head!
He is the crowd walking down Fredrick Avenue.
And a great time was had by all and the animal shelter benefitted as well. Cindy and I spent the following weekend in Kansas City for her birthday. On the way to our hotel, we stopped at the Overland Park Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. This is an amazing place with tranquil gardens, beautiful nature scenery, and fantastic bird watching opportunities.
The Overland Park Arboretum and Botanical Gardens is a truly amazing place and is more than link worthy. Visit it yourself using the link at the end of this post. We spent the weekend at the Intercontinental Kansas City, overlooking the country club plaza.
There was nightly entertainment in the lobby/bar area.
The next day was walked to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. It is known for its giant shuttlecocks on the grounds, among other things.
There was also some interesting art on the outside of the museum.
Near the entrance, was a Dia de los Muertos exhibit where you could write a message to one of your departed relatives and it would be “delivered” during a ceremony later on. Yes, we each sent a message to the beyond.
Here are some paintings from a few famous artists with a description of their art.
And some paintings from some less famous artists.
Here are some interesting non-painting art pieces.
And here is a piece I posed for. It was difficult, but I did it for the art!
If you like art museums, this is one not to miss. Use the link at the end of this post to get your KC art fix. For dinner, we walked to Capital Grill in the Country Club Plaza. We had a special tasting menu called the Wagyu and Wine. I had the Wagyu Cheeseburger that came with grilled onions, steak sauce and Vermont white cheddar cheese. It was paired with a Duckhorn Vineyards merlot. Cindy had the Wagyu Mushroom and Swiss Burger that had roasted shiitake mushrooms, Jarlsberg cheese and Truffle Aioli. It was paired with a Migration Pinot Noir. The meal ended with a special birthday dessert for Cindy. As usual, the meal was outstanding.
Capital Grill is more than link worthy so use the one at the end of this post to have a culinary treat. When we returned to St. Joseph, our first group outing was to have some fried chicken at Gina’s Cafe and Catering. We had eaten there before and love the fried chicken. This time they had a special mascot there.
Great food and good fun. Want to try it for yourself, use the link at the end of this post. A few days later was Halloween and this is Scott in his costume.
We did a craft where we were supposed to make bath bombs. Something went terribly wrong, and this is what we ended up with.
Needless to say, they ended up in the trash and not in anyone’s bath. A few days later, we went to the Den to see their Christmas decorations. It was amazing as usual.
And of course there was someone there with a small dog. It is either a small dog or small child.
Our last meal for this visit was at our house where we celebrated Bobby and Machelle’s birthdays.
And so our St. Joseph stay came to an end. The next post will cover our drive home via Texas, where we visited Dan and his wife Chris, Corrianne and Alex, and Big Bend National Park. Make sure you only use good bath bombs until then.
LINKS
Plattsburg Country Club Golf Course
