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| Watching Hippos eat is AMAZING! |
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| Enjoying some Gate's BBQ |
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| Out at BWW for the UFC fights |
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| Jake at the WWI Museum in KC, MO |
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| Posting with his 2ID patch from WWI |
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| Jake's Division Patch |
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| Heidi's Corps Patch |
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| Waiting outside Arthur Bryant's BBQ (best BBQ we had had - to date) |
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| My amazing pulled pork sammy -YUM |
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| Full rack of DELICIOUS ribs!! |
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| Poseidon Fountain |
Jake and I spent the Memorial Day weekend on a little trip through the midwest. My parent's kept the kids from Friday night through Monday so we could go on a romantic holiday weekend. We headed out for Kansas City on Friday after Jake got off work. We made it to KC by midnight and crashed at our hotel. In the morning we hit the ground running with a trip to the KC Zoo.
I give this zoo a big thumbs up for an adult trip but if you are taking kids, be warned that it is a HUGE zoo and could easily take all day to see everything. The best part was getting to experience informational talks by the zoo keepers while they interacted with the animals in various ways. We were able to watch hippos being hand fed as well as watching the orangutans paint pictures (we bought one for Thor as a surprise).
After the zoo we headed out to take in some local cuisine at Gate's BBQ. The food was delicious but their baked beans are really what made the experience awesome! All the little bits of meat that fell off when being cooked are added to their beans and it is pretty delicious. I would give this place a 4 out of 5 stars. The location is nothing to write home about and I felt very rushed when ordering but the food was delicious and plentiful, while not overly expensive.
We then made our way to the Crown Center. This is a HUGE mall like complex. It is the home of Hallmark and boasts a Crayola store (kind of lame in my opinion). We spent about 4 hours just walking around there and took a tour of Halmark while we were there. Jake found a new fancy hat and I snagged a few gourmet chocolates to keep my blood sugar up. : ) That night we went out for dinner at a sports bar so we could watch the UFC fights. This was a rare treat, since we rarely get to see the fights together (because they are on too late).
The next day we toured the WWI Museum and Monument and spent the entire morning there. It was a beautiful day and we were able to take our time soaking in all the information at this wonderful monument. During one of the films that was running a quote came up on the screen that rang true with me. It read, "Hell is not fire, it is mud." because quite literally the men in WWI were drowning in mud. They were being sucked down and it sucked the spirit out of them. Jake and I both had experiences in the Army with mud (not even close to what these men saw) and we agreed with the statement.
We took in some more local flavor in the afternoon at Arthur Bryant's BBQ on the recommendation of a friend from the Army. It did not disappoint.Jake got the ribs and I ordered the pulled pork. You get in line cafeteria style and you take the food to your table yourself. The place is obviously its original location as it is very dated and simple. That did not detract from the deliciousness of the food in any way. This place comes highly recommended and as a bonus, when you are standing in line (because there will be one) you get to see pics of all the famous people (presidents, governors, celebrities etc) who have stopped in and enjoyed some amazing KC BBQ.
On Sunday afternoon we went to the Plaza ( an upscale outdoor "mall") downtown. It was fun to walk around and we took in a movie while we were kid free as well. Iron Man 3 was an excellent flick and I think I liked it better than the first two - which is really saying something since I enjoyed both of those immensely.
We got up Monday morning to a torrential downpour and loaded up the car and headed back to reality. The whole weekend was amazing and we are so grateful to my parents for watching the kids. ITs not something that will happen often because we love hanging out with our kids, but maybe once a year we will plan on taking a long weekend away from them. : )
