Kansas City

Hi Everyone. I'm in the Kansas City airport right now waiting to board my flight home to Cleveland for Thanksgiving. I'll be home from tonight through Monday and then will be flying to Portland for the next week for an all-team meeting. Should be good times through then.

On our way to KC, we stopped in Columbia, MO, which is where the University of Missouri main campus is located. It was a recommendation by our innkeeper in St. Louis and Google boy. We had a nice lunch in a quaint tea house and then went hiking in Rock Bridge Memorial State Park, which had some caves we were able to explore. Cute little town and nice hiking.



So, Kansas City was good. I really had no idea what to expect in almost the exact middle of the country. My favorite area is Westport, which is the "entertainment" district. Basically just a lot of bars and cute shops and restaurants. There's also an art school near by and the University of Missouri-Kansas City, so there are lots of different types of people there as well. Westport is just north of Country Club Plaza, which was built as a shopping district almost 100 years ago using Moorish-type architecture. Nowadays, there are lots of shops you'd see in Beechwood Place, so I was turned off by it at first, thinking it was recently built to look like an older establishment, but now I have much more respect knowing it was built that way a while ago. Also, I'm excited to go back there at night after I get back to KC after our 11-day break because they decorate the whole plaza with over 80 miles of lights. They light them up on Thanksgiving night.

We were able to go to a few museums - the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Toy and Miniature Museum of Kansas City. The actual art museum (Nelson-Atkins) was enjoyable. They have a huge sculpture park with huge birdie statues (as in badminton). We really only strolled through one wing because it was pretty big and getting late. There was also a huge reflecting pond outside, which I really liked. The contemporary museum was very manageable in size, which made it very enjoyable. There was an exhibit on display of Michael Vasquez's work. You should really check out his work if you have time. We saw a sign for the Toy and Miniature museum one day and figured we had to go there. It was actually pretty cool. We really dig the miniatures (which are exact replicas of real-life things - different than a toy) and the doll houses they had on display. Oh, and we went to the National Heritage Museum to learn about the Santa Fe and Oregon Trails. I was really just hoping to find copies of the Oregon Trail computer game, but had no such luck.





We've also experienced the two things Kansas City is most known for (at least from what I've picked up on) - BBQ and Jazz. We ate at 2 BBQ restaurants and Gates BBQ is my favorite. You can buy the BBQ sauce at any grocery store. We also now know the difference between a short end and long end of ribs. We went to the Historic 18th and Vine Jazz district and checked out the Jazz Museum there, saw some live Jazz, and ate at the Peachtree, which is an upscale soul food restaurant - delicious is all I have to say!



Emily celebrated her 24th birthday here. We went to breakfast at Waffle House (something she's wanted to do for quite some time) and went out to a nice dinner (thanks to her momma) at Figlio Italian Restaurant on the Plaza. We then saw some live reggae. We also went to Lawrence, KS (recommended by Pam and Katie O.) to see Old Crow Medicine Show. Another good show and a very cute little college town.



Alright, well I think that sums up most of what we did here in KC. I hope to see a lot of people while I'm home for Thanksgiving. But if I don't - hope you have a wonderful holiday! Oh, and I'll have to keep you posted on where I'm going next. Right now I don't know, but should find out when I go to Portland. And below you will find a pic I like to call "Another day on the job".

Leaving St. Louis

Hi all - hope this all finds you doing well. First, I want to say Congratulations to Sheila and Matt on the new addition to their family, Jameson. He was born October 3o. Can't wait to meet him!

The weather is cooling down here as I'm sure it is there as well. We're in Kansas City now, which has proven to be super nice so far. We still haven't settled in to a permanent home (we hope to do that today) but we really like the areas we've been to so far, which have included Country Club Plaza, Westport, and Mission Hills. We're hoping to live in Westport, which is a historical part of town that has turned into the city's main entertainment district.

Until now, we'd been enjoying our last 2 weeks in St. Louis. So far, St. Louis has been my favorite city - Emily's too. We just loved that we were able to get around the majority of the time on our bicycles. We also took a long ride on the Mississippi Riverfront Trail, which was interesting. On one side of the trail is the river and on the other side is heavy industry like car compounds. Lots of weird smells there, but a very nice trail. Our innkeeper, Karen, is huge in the bicycle world in St. Louis, so it was nice to have her around as well. We were able to have her and her husband over for dinner one night - we made tofu and brown rice stuffed peppers and they were delicious. They are just great people and if anyone is ever planning a trip to St. Louis, let me know because their carriage house is great. Oh, and we carved some pretty sweet pumpkins for Halloween.







Halloween weekend was nice. As I'm sure most of you know, I dressed up as a ladybug and Emily was a honey bee (in honor of Sudden Bee Death Syndrome - if you don't know what it is, find out because it's important to be informed!). So, we were 2 bugs in a bug. We volunteered at a Halloween party for autistic children Friday night, which was a lot of fun. I watched over the bouncy house and Emily walked around and filled up candy and mingled with the kids. It was great that we were able to do that. We then went downtown to the Scottrade Center for a show - SYTYCD. We really can't believe we went to that, but it was a lot of fun and the people are really talented! Afterwards, we went down to Laclede's Landing for some dancing ourselves. The next day, we celebrated Halloween in the Central West End (where we live). They have a huge block party and everyone is in costume. It was pretty fun and there were a lot of interesting costumes, but they served Miller Beer, so we weren't too happy about that being in a Budweiser town.





That Sunday, the Browns were in town playing the Rams. I met some Clevelanders the night before and they offered me a ticket for $15, so I took it. I then found out some other friends were in town for the game, so I got to meet up with them as well. We won (after a scary first quarter) and left the Rams at 0-8. Quite a few beers later, I took the Metrolink back home where I met up with Emily and Jacqui and Maureen from Team 2! They were on their way from Boston to Las Vegas and stopped in St. Louis for two nights. We went out to dinner on The Hill one night and met up with some of Maureen's friends the next night. It was great to see them again and nice to know we'll be able to see them again soon in Portland for the All-Team meeting.

On one of our last days in St. Louis, we hit up the City Museum. It is one of the coolest places I have ever been. The founder and designer wanted to make a museum in which people were able to interact with the various elements he used to create an architectural marvel. I really can't even explain it. There are just tons of things to climb on and slides to slide on and caves to explore. It is crazy. There's also a huge outdoor section. We learned that the museum was only opened to adults for the first year and then welcomed kids after that. They celebrated their 10-year anniversary this year. Every Friday and Saturday, they're open until 1am, so it also caters to the late-night bar crowd. It was really hard to capture the size of some of the elements in the museum, but I tried. That night, we went out in Soulard to an Irish bar, McGurk's. I still have to say, if there's anywhere in St. Louis to go meet drunk people (some very obnoxious), it's Soulard.



Our last day in St. Louis was sad. We had to pack and we also went and to check out the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis. It is located in our neighborhood and contains the largest collection of mosaics in the world. The cathedral is huge and just so beautiful. I don't have much to compare it to (because I have to admit, I haven't been in many churches), but I can't imagine many places that are as grand. We then stopped for one more bubble tea before heading home. We went to Delmar Loop that night to the Pageant to see Old Crow Medicine Show, a new favorite band of mine. The Pageant is a great venue with lots of places to go. There is an open floor, lower level tiers with tables and bar stools, open space in the back by the long bar, an upstairs balcony with seats and then another open space by the bar there. The show was great too and we're hoping to see them again in Lawrence, Kansas for Emily's birthday weekend!

Alright, sorry these are so long, but by the time I get around to writing, I'm 2 weeks deep with lots of information. Hope you don't mind. I'll let you know how Kansas City pans out soon. Then, I'll be home for a few days for Thanksgiving. Until then, stay warm!