Goin' to Kansas City
Our Route 66 road trip took us through Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri. But we took a little detour toward Kansas City, MO for a couple of days, so Kansas kind of gets its own post.
Miami, Oklahoma
We had heard about The Coleman Theatre in Miami, OK and looked forward to that being out first stop of the day on the way out of Oklahoma. We were married in a 1920s theatre, with Wurlitzer accompaniment, so we were particularly anxious to see another.
Cue the Trombone
Unfortunately, we read the website wrong and it was a day that the theatre is not open. Whaa whaa whaa… Add this to our list of places we need to visit again!
There were also some other really beautiful buildings. We’ll have to camp nearby on our return trip, and explore the architecture in more depth.
Commerce, MO
We saw the Mickey Mantle statue in Commerce, where he grew up playing baseball and football in high school before his career began with the New York Yankees.
See? Saw!
We had a picnic in a nice park alongside the highway in Baxter Springs. We wanted to play on the see-saw but we didn’t want to break anything!!
Oh, the Places You Can Go in Missouri!
Driving north, we were amused by the town names. We drove through Nevada, Horton, and Peculiar.
Going to Kansas City
Even though off “the route,” we want to report that Kansas City MO is quite lovely. They are quite enthusiastic about their sports, being the home of the Chiefs, Royals, and the Sporting KC soccer team. The city’s architecture is a combination of old brick buildings and really unique shapes. We visited the beautiful WW1 memorial, and took in the view of the city skyline.
We ate lunch at Fritz’s, where a train delivers your meal. So much fun! We also toured Union Station, which is a strikingly beautiful building and has a bunch of model railroad layouts.
A Little BBQ Joint
Later, we had BBQ at A Little BBQ Joint (no, really, that is the name!) in Independence. It really wasn’t that little, but it sure was tasty! We had ribs, brisket, and house-made sausage with fantastic side dishes. We couldn’t finish, so the ribs came home for breakfast.
Getting our Bearings - Greased
We are really grateful to my cousin Julie and her family. They allowed us to moochdock, they showed us around town, and hubby Shaun and son Collin did some mechanical work on our truck and trailer.
Return to the Route
Before our detour, we had stayed on Route 66 until Joplin, then headed north. So we will return to Joplin in the next post.
Future Plans
And of course, we haven’t yet slept in Kansas, so we will make a point of that on our way west when we head toward home.
