Over Memorial Day weekend, Loren and I took a trip to Kansas City. We normally travel over Memorial Day weekend but this year decided that we wanted to go somewhere within driving distance so we could take Ruby with us. After checking into Nashville, which was uber expensive, we landed on Kansas City. And as a super fun bonus, my sister and her boyfriend met us there! We did encounter an interesting stop along the way...the World's Largest Truck Stop!

In Kansas City, we stayed near in the plaza area and it was so awesome! I found a great deal at the Intercontinental at The Plaza. The hotel was beautiful! Our room was HUGE! Honestly, there was a walk-in closet that I swear was bigger than some of the hotel rooms we've had in the past. The pool was nice too even though all I did was dip my toes. If you're in the area and need a place to stay, definitely check it out. The Plaza area in general was pretty cool. Lots of cute shops and places to grab a bite to eat.

I'm pretty sure we ate BBQ everyday we were in Kansas City. Loren was in heaven. We ate at Q39, Jack Stack, and Gates BBQ. Q39 was by far the best BBQ we had. I had brisket there that was some of the best meat I've ever had...and I'm not even a huge brisket fan. Jack Stack was pretty good. I have BBQ grilled shrimp there and there were pretty tasty but I'm not sure they were worth the price. Loren tried the lamb ribs and while he wasn't overly impressed, I think he'd say they're worth giving a try. Gates BBQ was recommended to us and I didn't like anything about it. By the time in our trip we went to Gates I was over BBQ so I ordered sliced meat on a bun. It was smoked turkey on white bread. We went to Taco Bell on the way back to the hotel. :)

One of the things we had been looking forward to visiting was Boulevard Brewing Company. I'm not a beer drinker but I feel like breweries generally have a fun vibe to them. Boulevard was such a cool location. We sat outside on the balcony to enjoy the great weather and take in the city views. Loren really enjoyed the beers, as evidenced by the amount of beer we brought home! They also had the CUTEST photo booth! A little camper setup inside the building so you could cram in a bunch of people.

My favorite of the weekend was City Market. It was so fun to check out all the booths and the goodies people were selling. There was a lot of antiques and the usual food and plants for sale. We scored a bunch of cool stuff, my favorite item was a Life magazine from when the Space Needle opened for the World's Fair in Seattle.

On our last day in town, we headed to The National World War I Museum and Memorial. The building and grounds were beautiful. There's great views of the city when you go to the roof of the building to wait in line to go up the tower. I'm not sure if it's always the case, but while we were waiting in line, there were volunteers dressed up as World War I soldiers talking about how things would have been for them. They were very knowledgeable and kind to all the people asking questions and taking photos. I thought that was a really nice touch. The museum was set up nicely inside and had great displays. Loren loved it...and loved reading all the information plaques. :)

We had stayed an extra night to be able to catch a Kansas City Royals baseball game at Kauffman Stadium. The stadium was really nice! There's an area called Royals Hall of Fame that showcases some of the history of the team, but mostly the awards and HOF players for their team. There were fountains in the outfield! That was my favorite part.

Other areas of interest that checked out were Power & Light district, where we had lunch at Leinenkugel's, Union Station, and some of the cool wall murals around town. We didn't have time to go into The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art so we did a little drive-by. We walked around the grounds a bit to see the shuttlecocks and glass maze.

Overall, we were super impressed with Kansas City! It's a really cute city, and I'd be totally happy to visit again (maybe with a little less BBQ). Hope you enjoyed our trip recap, let me know if you have any questions in the comment section!

Love,
K

A Date at Pike Place Market

During our recent visit to Washington, Loren and I actually had a few opportunities to spend some time just the two of us. Normally when we visit our schedule is so packed with meeting up with people (which we love!) that we don't do much on our own so this was a fun little bonus.

The day we got into town we decided to head to Pike Place Market and explore for a few hours before heading to Everett. I love going to the market just to take in the sights. This is my favorite corner. I have a thing for clocks, I'm always googly eyed over clocks when we visit places and this one is no exception. You can see it was a weird cloudy/bright day so some of these pictures aren't the best.

My favorite thing to look at will always be all the flowers. They're just so beautiful. And affordable! Obviously the fish is interesting to look at, and if you're lucky enough to catch the fish being thrown that's really fun but the flowers just have a special spot in my heart.

This jeweler had bracelets with quotes stamped onto them, and one said "I kiss my dog on the lips". It took a lot of self control to not buy it. But I thought it was super cute and quirky for a dog lover. :)

After walking around the market for a bit we strolled over to a new (to us) brewery, Old Stone Brewing Co. They had some snacks and sandwiches that you could order, and obviously beer. I liked that they served hard cider and wine as well since some breweries aren't so accommodating to us non-brew drinkers.

What a cutie. After leaving the city we went to our favorite sushi place for a quick lunch, it was the nicest day to spend with my favorite guy.

It's so fun to be a tourist in your own (old) city.  Thanks so much for reading, I truly appreciate it!

Love,
K

Diablo Lake

Loren and I just got back from a long weekend visit to Washington and while we were there we decided to take a day trip to Diablo Lake. I'd actually never even heard of Diablo Lake until we moved away, turns out it was only two hours away from our old house! Anyway, after breakfast Loren, my sister, and I headed out.

We took Hwy 20 to get there and it was a beautiful drive. I can only imagine how gorgeous it'll be in a few weeks when the leaves change colors.

Once we arrived at the lake it was even more pretty than I anticipated. The water is the prettiest turquoise color and surrounded by the mountains. The overlook had some picnic spots and we regretted not thinking to bring a lunch or snack with us.

Laura's colorful braid was such a hit that a lady visiting from Italy asked (through an interpreter) if she could take a picture. We proceeded to call Laura an international supermodel. :)

After we left the overlook we found a spot along the highway where you could go for a hike, we decided against a hike since we were all wearing sandals (and lazy) but it was nice to see the water up close. Loren and I dipped our toes in and holy smokes was the water cold!

After that we decided to head back since we all had plans that evening. It was a fun little day trip and I'd totally recommend it if you're in the Seattle area. It's a quick and easy drive and pretty almost the entire way. I enjoyed having a couple of my favorite people stuck in the car with me all day! :)

Love,
K