Originally published: 2/4/2018 | 11:02pm
A place that I did not see myself taking multiple trips to in the same year is the "Show Me" state. That's right; I went to Missouri twice in 2017! I visited two different cities for two completely different events and had great experiences both times. My first trip to Missouri was for my cousin's wedding, and the second was for a conference at Missouri State University. This will be a two-part post and will include some pictures along the way.
The first of my two trips to Missouri happened in May. I had just finished my second year of college and went home for a few days to take care of my mom before flying to Kansas City, Missouri with my sister, grandmother, great uncle and aunt, and cousin. Due to the short period of stay for this trip, we flew Southwest Airlines. Once we landed in Kansas City, we took a Super Shuttle to the Sleep Inn (which had a waterpark) in Liberty, MO. All of the wedding attendees stayed at the hotel, which allowed people to get to know each other. There was a dinner party in Historic Downtown Liberty at a brewpub called Rock & Run Brewery. The service was great and the food was very tasty. I would love to go back again and explore their menu some more.
After going to Rock & Run Brewery, my sister and I joined our cousin to help her purchase the last few items she needed to get from Target before her wedding the next day. There was a strong storm system moving into the area, and a siren went off just as we got to the checkout line. The cashier calmly told us to follow her to the back wall of the store. We joined a the rest of the employees and the seven other customers in the store to wait for an all clear signal. I was experiencing my first tornado warning in the heart of Tornado Alley. I did not have an umbrella, so I bought one once we could finally leave the store because the rain was coming down extremely hard and the wind was very strong. We took a short drive up the road to the hotel and immediately went to sleep after a long day.
The next day was the wedding! With the exception of the people featured in the wedding, everyone took the morning and afternoon to rest before the event that evening. We took a combination of Ubers and rides with other wedding attendees to make it to the wedding. The wedding and reception were held in the same, easily convertible space at Restoration 1894 in Historic Downtown Liberty. The large window with a gorgeous scenery served as beautiful background for the main stage. There was a side room that hosted the open bar and buffet. The food was catered and absolutely delicious! The bride and groom were toasted as we ate dinner, and then the cake was cut and served. For the cake, there were several bundt cakes from Nothing Bundt Cakes of various flavors. After everyone enjoyed some cake, it was time to party! The newlyweds hired a great DJ that played all of the right music to keep everyone of all ages dancing through the night. When we had our fill of fun, we returned to the hotel to rest before catching our flight back to Texas the next day.
We all got some much needed rest and took two separate Ubers to the airport after saying goodbye to the married couple. Just as we had flown to Missouri, we flew back to Texas on a Southwest flight. I had to go to work at my college for the summer, so I flew with my family to our local airport and caught the connecting flight to my college town. I took a Super Shuttle back to my apartment once my delayed flight landed and relaxed before having to go to work a couple of days later. This was the end of my first trip of the two that I would take to Missouri in 2017. At the time, I did not expect to go back to that state anytime soon. Little did I know that I would be going back to Missouri about 5 months later. More to come about the second trip in my post. Until then, Happy Travels!
Feel free to leave comments below, tweet (@KimiThoughts), or leave a post/message on Facebook (@KimisTravelThoughts) and share about your wedding memories or trips you have taken to Missouri!