Tag Archives: travel

Missouri Town 1855

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Down the road from my house, there is something called Missouri Town 1855.  Now, for those of you who don’t know me, I am obsessed with the pioneer era so visiting a site like this is right up my alley.  The technical term for this kind of site is a living history museum.  It has all the buildings you would expect to see in a town in 1855; blacksmith, mercantile, church, bank, etc.  The site also has volunteers that dress in period clothing  and talk to visitors about what a typical day would be like if you lived during that time.

Another thing that I like about this site is that they offer workshops.  They teach everything from how to make a toothbrush rug to blacksmithing.  You can go to the blacksmith shop and actually use the tools to make something period appropriate. Overall, I loved the whole visit.  It wasn’t too big but it wasn’t too small.  You could spend a couple of hours walking around and peeking in all the buildings.  The grounds were absolutely beautiful and I will definitely be going back to visit again.

Look at that garden!  In the spring, the volunteers plant heirloom plants that would have grown in the area.  They spend all season looking after the garden like the real pioneers would have.  I was amazed by this garden and I would love to have something like this in my backyard.  My husband disagrees, as you can imagine.

Another view of this awesome garden.

The sheep were having lunch in their pen, but I was told that they normally roam around the grounds, wandering wherever they please.

This is Dusty.  He is the sweetest horse I’ve ever met.  As soon as he heard our feet walking towards the barn, he left the pasture where he was eating and poked his head through the stable door.  He graciously accepted our pets and even stood still long enough for me to get this picture!

Do you enjoy visting sites like this?  Do you have any living history museums in your area?

RT

Brewery Tour (Yay Beer!)

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My husband and I toured the Boulevard Brewing Company in Kansas City this past weekend.  It was soo much fun and it was free AND we got free samples!  Here are some pictures.

He was very excited to take the tour!

4 bottle caps=4 samples.

They store some of their beer in wine barrels.  They do this because it gives the beer some of the barrel taste which makes it more yummy!

This is an ode to Iowa.  Templeton Rye is only made in Iowa and it only comes out a couple of times a year.  It makes me homesick :(

This was one of the huge vats that they let the beer steep in.  They are built into the ceiling of an almost completely cement building.  One fact that I remember about the strength of the building is that it can withstand and magnitude 7.0 earthquake and an F3 tornado at the same time.  Holy cow that’s strong!

This was in their new brewhouse that we also toured.

A view of downtown KC.

2 of my 4 samples.  On the left we have their wheat beer and on the left we have their pilsner.  They were both fantastic but I have to say I enjoyed the wheat a little bit more than the pilsner.

He likes his bock sample.  Maybe a little too much?  You decide.

As with the art museum, this was a great way to spend a couple of hours.  It was interesting to see how a brewery works and the samples were also nice.  I would definitely visit again!  Go and check it out if you’re in the area, I’d love to know what you think of it!

RT

A Trip To The Art Museum

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This past Saturday, my husband and I had our first outing in KC since we moved here.  When he interned down here last summer, he went to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and said it wasn’t too bad.  Well since we had nothing else to do, and it’s free to tour, we decided to go have a look.  I was pleasantly surprised at what I found.

The museum grounds are gorgeous!  We walked around outside for a while because they have sculptures scattered about the property.

Here are some shots of the famous birdies.

The above picture was taking directly following a scolding through a microphone placed just out of frame.  It went something like “DO NOT TOUCH our outside sculptures!” Not even kidding, I got yelled out for ever so lightly placing my hands on the birdie.  I was a little upset as you can see.

It was just a beautiful building.

This guy looked pretty cool.  I wanted his outfit :)

Probably one of the prettiest crosses I’ve seen.  It was a ceremonial cross carried by a priest during special occasions that took place inside of a Catholic church in Spain.

This is a close up of a slab of some sort of rock carved by the Egyptians.  I loved the detail!  I can only imagine how long it took to carve this.

A real live mummy.  Kind of?  That phrase doesn’t seem to work in this situation LOL.

This.  This is Monet’s Waterlillies.  I am absolutely in love with the impressionist period and this is probably my favorite.  I know it’s probably cliché to have this as my favorite but I truly love this painting.

Here is a close up.

My husband and I, well I, had a great time at the museum.  If you ever get to visit KC I suggest going to the museum.  It was a great way to spend a couple of hours on the weekend!

After we were done there, we decided to tour a brewery so my husband could “reclaim his manliness” as he put it.  But that is a post for another day.

Happy Monday!

RT