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Kansas City in Instagrams

Today I'm back in Chicago after spending a long weekend with my husband and our families in Kansas City. We both needed a trip out of town that wasn't for business (or a family emergency). This mini-vacation was laid-back, filled with food, family, friends, knitting, and most importantly....BEER!

Early on in the trip, I finished my Indigo Swan Cowl. It proved to be the perfect train knitting project - an easy-to-memorize pattern that I could absentmindedly knit no matter how tired I got. I used up pretty much all of the skein, too - after binding off, there were only a few yards left.

the first day we were in town was my Dad's sixtieth birthday, so my mom and I treated him to lunch at Beer Kitchen. Our server brought him some drunken donuts for dessert and he was a pretty happy guy!

We stayed with Tyler's parents downtown and took some time one morning to explore the historic graveyard that their balcony overlooks. I lived in Kansas City til I was 23 and never went there - nor have we checked it out in the five or so years the Ritters have lived nearby. It was established in 1852 (or so) and apparently there are some confederate soldiers buried there. Yikes! If the historical society had been open that morning, I would probably have more interesting stories to share, but instead I walked around looking for the most interesting names and headstones:
We've always wanted to take a brewery tour of Boulevard Brewing when we were visiting, but they sell out in the blink of an eye. Tyler's dad had a hot tip that they take walk-ins for no-shows - and you'd be surprised how many people didn't show up on Friday afternoon!The tour is FREE, and at the end you get to taste four beers on tap...who doesn't want to see the inside of a brewery AND drink free beer?!
We learned a lot about the brewing process, got to stand in the barrel aging room and inhale the angel's share (which is what they call the wonderful smell of beer aging in repurposed whiskey barrels), and sample a test brew that we hope will become a for-sale beer someday (it was ginger and lemongrass - very crisp and refreshing)!
I'm glad I decided to pack my Color Affection at the last minute since the weather ended up being much cooler than I was expecting! This awesome PBR Sock Monkey Mural is outside of The Velvet Dog, which is walking distance from where we were staying. Love it!



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Comments

  1. LaurenSSeptember 19, 2012 at 7:29 AM

    knitting, beer and sock monkeys ... life is good!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Doodlebug YarnSeptember 19, 2012 at 9:27 PM

    Have always wanted to go to Boulevard. Looks like a fun trip!

    ReplyDelete

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