Kansas City Chiefs. Is that a Kansas football team… or a Missouri team?

I thought Nurse Karen was going to call a Code as a result of too much BBQ in Kansas City.  Yes, we may have pushed the limits on BBQ in this town, but oh so good!  Tomorrow it’s vegan for me.  That’s a lie.

We stayed at Blue Springs Campground, actually in Lee’s Summit, MO, which was a nice campground and convenient enough for our purposes.

We did not end up visiting any museums or memorials this trip, but my understanding is there are some great exhibits here – including President Harry Truman’s home in Independence, MO.

Here’s a rundown of a few of our highlights:

Joe’s KC Bar-B-Que.  This is my second favorite restaurant in a gas station (https://travelwiththeslowskys.com/2015/06/28/standing-indian-nc-april-2014/), second only to Caffe Rel in Franklin, NC. But this place is cool, and oh so good! Apparently it was formerly known as Oklahoma Joe’s (like there aren’t enough confusing state things here in Kansas City).  I mean, is Oklahoma even close?

The brisket and ribs were excellent, and the beans were fabulous.  Plus, who doesn’t love eating in a gas station?  The beans, by the way, are just a delivery system for getting more brisket and BBQ sauce into your system.

Q39.  Now we had been to Q39 on a previous trip – and while it wasn’t bad, it wasn’t good, and it certainly didn’t measure up to the hype.  Karen convinced me to go again on this trip, since the reviews were so outstanding.  This time, I have to say, this might be my favorite BBQ place in Kansas City (of the places we have been).  Nice job!

The ribs were to die for, the sausage was excellent, the brisket was really flavorful, as were the beans.  It seems that brisket in KC is typically shaved thin and served with BBQ sauce, although at the Q it was served in what I would consider a more traditional cut.  What a great meal with a nice offering of craft beers!

B.B.’s Lawn Side Bar-B-Q.  You have to love the name, right?  Well, you’d love the place even more.  We saved this place for a little later than normal meal so we could listen to some blues from a live band.  This place is a hoot!

And the food did not suck. In fact, it was pretty damn good! The sausage, smoked turkey, brisket and ribs were all very good!  But the character of the place, a cold Boulevard IPA, and a live band put this place over the top.  I would go back here in a heartbeat.

Union Station.  In between seating’s for BBQ (and feeling a need to walk off the meals)  we toured Union Station, a gorgeous train station that back in its day served 14 different railroad lines.  The trains would roll right under the station and passengers would descend the stairs to get onto their respective trains.

Today Union Station is primarily an exhibit, although a grand one at that.  Housed in the building is a large model train exhibit that has been built and is maintained by volunteers.  The attention to detail is absolutely amazing!

Part of the allure for visiting Union Station was to visit the exhibit, The Art of the Brick. Hailed by CNN as a “Global Must See Exhibition”.   Sadly, the exhibit packed up on Monday.  Waah waah.

We will move on shortly, heading west, and work towards getting BBQ out of our systems – at least temporarily.

 

Oh yes, and it is a Missouri team!