A few years ago my long-time high school friend, Pam, moved back to St. Louis after living in the small town of Richmond, MO.
It's great having her in town so we can get together more often but I have to admit that I truly enjoyed crossing the state to spend a weekend with her about twice a year while she was living there.
Below is the view from her screened in back porch - I probably could have just sat out there all weekend and been happy but she had a lot of great places to show me in that area.
To get to her home I spent about an hour on a little 2-lane country road which took you through some quaint little towns, most of which were loaded with Civil War history. Higginsville was one of the towns but I never did stop there - however, Lexington was closer to her and we visited there a few times.
Below is the 'Lexington Bridge" - it is rated one of the worse in Missouri. It is a very narrow 2-lane bridge and you can see the river through holes in the bridge. I always prayed to get over the bridge without having to give way to one of the 18 wheelers that were often crossing there. I always asked her before I left St. Louis if the bridge was still standing or not - I'm not sure how far out of the way you have to go if it ever falls down.
But Lexington itself was adorable. We once went on a house tour to see houses like the one below that were from the Civil War era.
And below is the Town Hall where, if you look closely, you can see the cannon ball still in the column of the porch.
Most often we would go to Kansas City on Saturday where she could do any major shopping she needed done but she usually had some 'sight seeing' for us to do along the way. We would just hit the highlights but I know for someone with free time there are a lot of little museums, etc to be explored.
We went to Liberty (Jesse James), Fort Osage, Watkins Woolen Mill State Historical Site, St. Joseph (Pony Express), Arrow Rock, Jamesport (Amish), Independence, and several other places I can't even remember.
We often went through Excelsior Springs and we had breakfast once at The Elms (below) where Al Capone, Truman, and FDR would come to stay sometimes.
One of my favorite little towns was Weston. Although there was a lot of history we usually just hit the little shops.
Below is one of my favorite settings of the church which overlooks the town.
Strangely enough, we never did any sight seeing in Kansas City - just shopping or a movie.
This past weekend her youngest son got married in KC so Steve and I went and did some sight seeing. If you've ever been on a trip with Steve - it's go-go- and go! We saw 5 museums in 3 1/2 hours!
On Thursday we saw a Royals game but Friday we went to the WWI museum, Federal Reserve museum, Hallmark tour, Black Negro baseball league museum, and the Jazz Museum.
That night was the wedding and Saturday we headed home but stopped in Independence to see the Truman home and the 30-room mansion below which was built for the sole reason to show off the man's wealth - it had a very interesting history. As Steve says, it kinda reminds you of the Munster's house.
The Vaile Mansion
Truman Home
Me, Pam, and her sister Dana at the wedding reception which was in a 3-story mansion - very nice!
Steve agreed to play music for the guests as they arrived from the wedding to fill in the time while they were taking pictures.
WWI Museum
The Royals Stadium - Steve was very impressed with their scoreboard so I thought I'd throw in a shot for any one interested.
Well, I enjoy traveling but I'm happy to be home on busy holiday weekends.
I hope everyone has a fun and safe Memorial Day!
