Trip to Kansas City, MO and Leavenworth, KS

 Ok people, here we go!

This really can't be happening!  We flew to St. Louis, picked up the rental car (ok, very large SUV) and drove to my cousin Ann's house where her husband Mark greeted us with THE greatest send off lunch in the history of send off lunches. Of course, I didn't even take ONE photo when I was there. Mark made a SERIOUS spread. Burgers. Dogs. Sausage (the good stuff!). Potato salad. Coleslaw. Watermelon. Ice cream. Cold Drinks. Mark EVEN bought a bunch of snacks for us and a cooler that he filled with drinks to take on our journey westward to Columbia. I cannot even express how amazing our time was with him! He's the MOST gracious host. And this is all after Mark and Ann allowed us to mail all of Natalie's dorm stuff to their house for storage in their basement until we could come pick it up!

We weren't sure it was going to all fit, but in the end, it did! And we're off!

Friday evening before move in on Saturday, we had dinner with Natalie's roommate Lillie and her family. SO FUN! Emily went to Ole Miss, and Bart went to LSU... so with me going to Auburn (and Mississippi State) and our daughters going to Mizzou... well, that's like a quarter of the SEC, right?

Driving to drop Natalie's refrigerator off we saw someone with this IRB sticker on the back of their car! WHAT? And they were from Nebraska! Good ol' Indian Rocks Beach!

I'm Just. Not. Ready. She, of course, was totally ready. She had been waiting YEARS for this moment. This is the kid who marched up to another little girl on the first day of kindergarten, asked, "My name is Natalie, what's your name?", grabbed the little girl's hand and marched right into the school, never looking back. I'm so, so proud of her. I've also cried more times in the weeks after this moment than I have in YEARS. 

Daddy and his Squiggles von Squiggletron.

We weren't 2 seconds out of her room and we declared ourselves THE NEW BIG THREE!

The story behind this is that in the beginning, Todd, Natalie and I were "The Big Three."  When I was in labor with Grant, I was so sad that the big three was becoming the big four that I CRIED, because I knew our little dynamic would change and the little world as we knew it would never be the same. Of course, Grant was the easiest baby and teenager EVER, and Natalie adored her little brother (still does!) so it was a very easy transition... but it made me sad at the time. 

But we have to let her go, as hard as that is. And there's no better way to make ourselves feel better than to visit a new city! So we went to Kansas City for a few days after we dropped Nat off at school. I had been to KC before for work, but Todd and Grant had not!

First up, we walked around the Power and Light District and we had some dinner. Todd had gotten up early that morning to drive from Columbia BACK to St. Louis to drop off the big van and pick up a smaller car. He then drove BACK to CoMo, picked us up and then drove us to Kansas City. That's a lot of driving for one day!

There isn't a hurricane in Kansas City, but this is my family's hurricane pose. Hopefully this will ward off any storms this season. Some really drunk, hilarious guy took this picture.

Love Kansas City, but I love being here with my boys even more. And that's a new thing I've had to start saying: Just me and my boys.

Speaking of Kansas, that's another state that Todd and Grant had not been to yet, so we decided to take a day trip to Fort Leavenworth. Welcome to Kansas!

We were able to get on the base because Todd had his work ID, and there is a fantastic self-guided waymarking tour of the base that gives you some great history of the oldest continuously active military post west of the Mississippi River! It's the second oldest in all of the United States after West Point. Here, you can visit the Buffalo Soldier monument. 

The Buffalo Soldiers were a team of black soldiers tasked with defending (!?) the western front from the Native Americans. The National Museum of African American History and Culture says, "According to popular lore, Native Americans coined the term “Buffalo Soldiers” either because the soldiers’ dark curly hair resembled a buffalo mane or because the soldiers fought like the fierce Great Plains buffalo. Its origin notwithstanding, African American soldiers embraced the moniker by World War I when the 92nd Infantry Division adopted the buffalo as the symbol for its unit patch."

Well, they may not be as brave as the Buffalo Soldiers but they're certainly more goofy!

Also on the Fort Leavenworth base is a piece of the Berlin Wall.

These three concrete sections were given to President Ronald Reagan by the U.S. Commander of the Berlin Brigade and donated here to Fort Leavenworth.

Fort Leavenworth sits on the Missouri River and was a jumping off point for many traveling westward via the Santa Fe or Oregon Trails after the base was founded in 1827. Kansas didn't become a state until 1861.

The cicadas were INSANELY loud here. We found this guy on the ground while we were looking out over the Missouri River. He's HUGE!

The homes and architecture on Fort Leavenworth are incredible. We were like, what kind of base housing is THIS???

There is a big statue of Grant (um, the President, not the youngest member of our family) near Zais Park on post.

Memorial Chapel was built in 1878 and was built by prisoners from the military prison.

Like, what ranking officer gets to live in THIS beautiful house?? And you should have seen the view behind it of the Missouri River! Just incredible.

Zais Park is the spot where Fort Leavenworth has it's Christmas tree lighting every December (What, you don't have it in the Commissary parking lot like we did in Germany??) The guy it was named after, General Melvin Zais, was a graduate of the University of New Hampshire! Go Wildcats!

One of the COOLEST things to see here at Fort Leavenworth is this part of the Santa Fe Trail! The cut part of this field is where wagons rolled on the Santa Fe trail - the river used to come up this high (so likely the land was very soft) and the divots are still there. People on the Oregon Trail also used this section of the trail to get to Gardner, Kansas where the Oregon Trail split off to the northwest.

The Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery was established by President Lincoln in 1862 and currently, 23,000 veterans from all of the wars since the War of 1812 lie in rest here.

Fort Leavenworth is definitely worth a visit if you're in the area - although it made us a little sad since we miss being on our base in Germany. After our visit to the base, we went to grab some lunch in downtown Leavenworth at the Tenpenny. I really love the architecture here!

Last but not least, we decided to head over to the Leavenworth Penitentiary, a prison in the Bureau of Prisons system that is nearby to the Army base. We passed this "US Army Fort Leavenworth Active since 1827" sign - pretty cool!

You really aren't supposed to take pictures of the Leavenworth prison but the building itself is just so beautiful. And it's HUGE. It used to be a federal penitentiary but is now just a medium security federal correctional institution. But many people still call it the "Leavenworth Penitentiary." Even though it's not anymore!

At one point, Leavenworth housed some of America's worst criminals, such as Whitey Bulger (Boston's most famous!), "Machine Gun" Kelly (the gangster, not the rapper), Michael Vick (yes, that one), and numerous gangsters and other members of the Mafia.

After our trip to Leavenworth, we went back to the hotel to rest for a bit before we went out to see the Kansas City Royals play the Texas Rangers at Kauffman Stadium!

I've been here before (last August) but Kauffman Stadium - although one of the older American baseball stadiums - is still one of the coolest to me. The fountains are really the star attraction. At 322 feet long, this fountain is the largest privately funded fountain in the world! Superlative, check!

It's so cute that Kansas City has only won two World Series! Well, better than none, I suppose!

Royals fans are very proud of these two trophies, as they should be. 

Let's Go, Royals!

The new Big Three at Kauffman Stadium, hoping for a good game!

I don't know how we didn't know this, but Yaz's grandson plays for the Royals!  Carl Yastrezemski was one of the all time Red Sox greats. His grandson Mike plays for the Royals and he hit a home run for us!

The Condiment Derby is one of the funniest things ever. Ketchup and Mustard fell down and Relish moved on to a sweeping victory over the other two beloved condiments.

Poor mustard. Guy got screwed when he got tripped up.

It's fun when one of the Royals hits a home run and they shoot off fireworks.

Hail State! Adam Frazier went to Mississippi State!

They shut all of the lights off when the middle reliever Lucas Erceg came out onto the field. In the end, the Royals beat the Rangers, 4-3!

I don't think Grant ever had what we call an ice cream bowl (I mean, yes... technically it's a little hat) so he finally had one at Kauffman Stadium! Only... Todd wouldn't let him bring THAT home. Not in this Red Sox household! So we took a pic with it and tossed it!  (Ok ok... the real reason we didn't bring it home was because we don't have space in our kitchen or use for such an item!)

Thanks for having us, Kansas City Royals! We had a super fun time!

The next day we got up early and went down to the National World War I Museum which was FANTASTIC!

We started the day off with a visit to Liberty Memorial Tower, which they told us we should visit early because it would likely be closed later in the day due to the high temperatures. In 1926, 150,000 people came here to watch Calvin Coolidge dedicate the Liberty Memorial. The Museum itself only opened in 2006!

Even if you don't go up to the top of the tower, the views of Kansas City from the base are really cool

But the views from up high are even better!

Even looking south is really cool. That tall-ish building on the left is actually the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City where they have a cool Money Museum. Next time!

One out of three Bailey family members forgot their sunglasses.

In the foreground, you can see Kansas City's Union Station. This train station opened in 1914 and is where they have all of their sports rallies.

Back down inside the museum, you walk over a glass plated field of poppies. The poppy is a symbol of the casualties of war, most notably World War I due to the popularity of the poem "In Flanders Fields" by Canadian Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae.

Y'all. This museum is SO good. There is a big life-like example of the trenches that were used in World War I. 

No one loves a good map more than this kid. He could literally tell us more facts and details than even the museum provided.

Grant loves playing war role playing games - not necessarily the ones with guns and fighting, but the ones that require strategy. One he plays involves submarines so he really liked this Whitehead Torpedo, Mark I - which carried 300 pounds of TNT.

This is the other side of the mock trench representation. Prior to this, they had played a short video about what trench warfare was like. It was very moving.

Near the end of the museum, there was a very visually interesting almost diorama-like presentation of what life was like AFTER the war for people. Soldiers (and even everyday citizens) suffered from the effects of mustard gas, PTSD and physical trauma. This was a really moving display of how that looked. I really can't even imagine what it must have been like for people. I definitely recommend this museum if you're in Kansas City. It's truly one of the best museums I've ever been to - and I've been to quite a few around the world!

After our tour, we were hungry, so we went over to Union Station for some quick sandwiches while we sat under this beautiful ceiling!

And after lunch, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to hit up the Science of Guinness World Records which had a temporary exhibit set up right there in Union Station. Ugh, Grant with the 6-7!

This exhibit was VERY interactive!  One of our favorite games was the "how many baskets can you get in XYZ seconds!" 

For a while, I held the record, but Todd wound up beating me!

Ok this was all about how long your hang time was... but this was NOT a CFNE rig where I could do 20 pull ups in a row, even after a bunch of sets of hang power cleans. There was no way a world record could be set on this bar because your grip was lost in about 10 seconds.

Heyyyyy look who I found in the Guinness Book of World Records book!

Even if I can't beat Todd, I can still beat Grant! (That's the time at the top - not our scores. He did score!)

The only place I made the leaderboard was a game called Best Guess. This game had you guess which item had the most objects on the board, based on a very quick visual look at the items on that board. For example, let's say there were 50 items on the board. Maybe there were 30 apples and 20 bananas. You had to tap on the object which had the higher number. At first, the game is pretty easy. There's 10 items on the board, 8 are apples and 2 are bananas. Well, there's more apples than bananas, so you click on that. Easy. But the game gets progressively harder, and it's all about hoping your eyes don't deceive you!

Well, I mean, I AM the most awesome parent. Even this kid would agree!

My word... Todd really IS the most efficient procrastinator! It's amazing! He procrastinates, but he always gets it done! Meanwhile, Grant thinks he's super funny...

We really had a fun time at the Science of Guinness World Records! When we had gone through the entire exhibit, we exited back into Union Station only to find a random Taylor Swift display. Well, I guess she IS getting married to Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs so this makes sense!

Union Station is just really neat. I'm glad the locals agreed to pay a temporary increase in sales tax back in 1996 to renovate this place because it's really beautiful!

After our fun day in Kansas City, we went back to the hotel. Grant was ready for some time to himself, so Todd and I walked to the Power and Light district for a pre-dinner drink at the Country Road Ice House.

They had a VERY cool Maker's Mark lighted sign there! Someone buy me this! 

Our happy hour was short lived because we had dinner reservation's at Jack Stack BBQ. It was warm but the evening sky was beautiful.

You know I love a good manhole cover of Kansas City!

I have been to Jack Stack before but I really wanted Todd and Grant to go as well, so that was our dinner plan. (Don't worry, I have about 4 other BBQ places bookmarked for our next visit!)

Todd and I had THE BIG PIG which was once again, very good! Look at that thing! The Big Pig is "pulled pork, smoked ham, bacon, smoked provolone, onion ring, maple mustard sauce." YUM.

Ya gotta take a pic after you've stuffed yourself with BBQ!

We were up pretty early the next day to fly back to Massachusetts, which I wasn't ready for. At least if we were in Kansas City, I wasn't too far from Natalie. Now it was REAL. Time to go home to a much quieter house. Thanks for having us, Holiday Inn Express!

We were able to get into the Escape Lounge at the airport before we flew home and of course, I had the breakfast of champions. Fruit Loops and a Maker's and Diet!

Until next time, Kansas City!

I'm gonna miss you, Baby Girl...

Trip to Kentucky - The Bourbon Trail - Churchill Downs

 We flew back on a Saturday, but since our flight wasn't until the afternoon (and it was delayed!), we were able to hit up Churchill Downs for a tour of the famed horse racing facility!

But first... food. We had a great breakfast at Wild Eggs, and even saw some people who had been on our Angel's Envy tour having breakfast there as well!

And then we made the very short trip to the very famous Churchill Downs. You might remember the story of Barbaro, the horse who won the Kentucky Derby, but shattered his leg during the Preakness. He lived a few months after the break, but eventually they had to put him to sleep. He's buried right here.

The home of the most exciting two minutes in sports, aka The Run for the Roses! It's also America’s longest continually running sporting event! Superlative, check!

Poor Barbaro. This was such a sad story.

Inside of the Kentucky Derby Museum, we picked up our tickets and went to check out the museum before our tour.

Right out of the museum gate (!!), you see an example of the electric starting gate, which really changed the world of horse racing when it was implemented here at Churchill Downs back in 1940. There are lots of autographs on this one from Derby winning jockeys!

I love a good wall of numbers and facts! I think my favorite stat is that in 1989, there was sleet and snow on the day of the Derby!

They had the 1984 race airing on this old TV and of COURSE, that year's Derby was won by my favorite horse, Swale! 

They even had a little info about the roses that the horse wears after they win. Did you know they just order these rose garlands from Kroger? HA!

I think my favorite exhibit was a fake window that you would walk up to so that you could place your bet on the next race that was going to air on the nearby TV in the room. Much like a real race, I just picked my horses based on odds and cool names. I really just wanted to yell, "COME ON NICKLE PICKLE!"

Todd sits among the crowd, ready for the race to start to see if his horses have won.

And look! Nickle Pickle won! I got win and place! How come I don't have this luck in real life?

You're my boy, Swale! Actually, Swale was 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew's boy... literally. Swale not only won the Kentucky Derby, but also won the Belmont Stakes that same year. He missed the Triple Crown by coming in 7th at the Preakness. Sadly, 8 days after the Belmont Stakes, Swale collapsed and died. They later found he had a fibrosis near his aorta which caused an arrythmia that led to a cardiac arrest. Probably not too unlike what Natalie had with SVT in that it interrupts the hearts normal electrical pathway. 

Although Todd and I have never been to the Kentucky Derby, we have been to the Belmont Stakes a couple of times. We always had a blast at the races (despite the fact that I think it rained EVERY year we went!). It's not quite as formal as the Derby, but it's fun to see the third race in the Triple Crown. Todd has been to the Preakness, too!

Finally, we were called to start our tour! The first stop on the tour is the Post Position Winners grid. No horse has ever won from position 17 - but the most horses have won from position 5. Place your bets accordingly!

We walked through the starting gate courtyard (wishing they had some mint juleps for sale!) and out to the seats right along the track.

One day, we will probably have to go to the Kentucky Derby! That's an outfit that needs to be planned well in advance though!

From our seats, our guide told us all about the twin spires (on the far right) and the winner's circle (out to the left near the flagpole). 

The Twin Spires (being the original part of the grandstand) were built here between 1894-1895 for a total cost of $42,000. 

Todd took a nice panorama of the grandstands.

I think one of the most interesting things we heard (and saw!) was that they water this sand every day. It's mostly made of actual river sand (about 75% - the rest is silt and clay). They even drove by and watered it while we were sitting there!

Well, we found the Mint Julep stand, why isn't anyone here to take our order!? Hilariously, as Todd stood here, the lights inside the stand turned on!

I hope this isn't as close as we get to the real Kentucky Derby!

We didn't get to see the whole museum before our tour, so we went back inside to check out the rest of it. They have a really cute display all about Secretariat, who won the Derby (and eventually the Triple Crown) in 1973 at a time of 1:59:40 - which is still the track record! There's a sign in here that says after Secretariat passed away in 1989, they found out his heart weighed 22 pounds - which is about 2.5 times the size of an average thoroughbred horse. They think this contributed to a more advanced cardiovascular system! Of course, that's never been proven, but it's a fun idea anyway!

Todd thinks he could beat a thoroughbred out of the gate. That's my stallion! (Oh man, that was really bad.... LOL!)

On display at the Churchill Downs Museum was a whole history on the fashion of the Kentucky Derby that spanned the entire 1.3 centuries of the Derby's existence. 

Many of these amazing outfits used the theme of the Derby, or at least of Kentucky (see the Maker's Mark and Wild Turkey nips stickers!) People get creative - and it often doesn't require a lot of money. This one features the Twin Spires, some horses, some horseshoes and of course, those bourbon stickers.

This display even showed how people were able to incorporate matching masks into their outfits for the 2021 Kentucky Derby.  The 2020 Kentucky Derby was not run in May of that year, but rather in September, and it was closed to spectators (although everyone was able to watch Authentic win on TV). The 2021 Derby allowed spectators, but social distancing and masks were required.

I'm so glad we were able to fit in a visit to Churchill Downs - but ultimately, we had to get back to the airport to catch our flight home. I mean, not without having another drink at Book and Bourbon in the Louisville Airport!  This place is actually the FIRST stop on the Urban Bourbon Trail (which has kind of jumped up in place of the original Bourbon Trail). COOL!  We met a nice guy who had a Bourbon Trail passport book who was trying to get a stamp here. We had a nice chat about our visit!

After our drink at Book and Bourbon, we had some time to kill because our flight was delayed. So we stopped at the Bourbon Academy Tasting Room and they had Weller 90 for only $12! Yes, and please! This isn't a very expensive bottle of Weller, it's just VERY hard to find.

What OTHER airport as bourbon barrels as a decoration in it!? Louisville, you rule.

I was FINALLY on the correct side of the plane to see my grandparents farm from the sky.  There's no way any of you will know where this is, so I put a little blue circle around it! Truth be told, I took a ton of pictures and then checked it up against Google Maps to find the exact location. I know where some landmarks are (Perfect North Slopes, the big power station along the Ohio River near the 275 bridge, etc.) so it made it much easier to find the farm.

And of course, Boston greeted us with a spectacular sunset. As much as I love to travel, it's always good to be home.

I'll leave you with a perfect picture of our two bottles that we got to hand dip at Maker's Mark. It still feels like a dream that I got to visit my very favorite distillery, and I can't wait to go back!

Until next time, Bourbon Trail!