MISSOURI

After a good night’s sleep in Columbus, Nebraska and a hearty breakfast with the American Legion conventioneers, we hit the road to Weston, Missouri. It was a four drive to Weston so we took our time and enjoyed the scenery. Weston, 30 miles northwest of Kansas City, only has a population of about 1,900 people spread about its 3.8 square miles. Downtown Weston, though, is basically just one street that’s three blocks long. However, there are lots of history and interesting things packed into it. We stayed the night at The Saint George Hotel right on Main Street. The stately historic hotel dates back to 1845 and is the place to stay if you are visiting town! Just down the street from The Saint George is the Renditions Polish Pottery shop. Yolie and I appreciate polish pottery and this shop is THE PLACE to find it. What a collection they had! If you fancy polish pottery you must check them out.

After some browsing and window shopping down Main Street we turned the corner and headed to O’Malley’s Pub which dates back to 1842. The pub is located 60 feet underground inside the hand-dug limestone cellars of the historic Weston Brewing Company. They have regular live music and on the Sunday we visited it was no exception. Bob Reeder was playing the guitar and regaling the customers with Irish ballads and drinking songs. He even let Yolie get into the act by allowing her to perform a couple of her favorites, The Wild Rover and La Bamba. The entertainment was great and it fit the setting perfectly.

Since we were so close to Kansas City, we were joined by our friends, Nicole, James, and Jamie, who we’ve met on our previous travels to Jamaica and Greece. Everyone at O’Malley’s was in a grand mood, and we even got a lesson on corn harvesting from a friendly family of farmers at the next table. Yolie REALLY enjoyed O’Malley’s, even putting it in the top tier of her favorite oldest taverns. She can’t wait to go back and get an even bigger crowd of our Missouri friends to join us. After a fun time we all left O’Malley’s and headed back down Main Street where we slipped into the Beers To You Saloon. This local spot had a great vibe, super service, and friendly locals. We happily spent the time drinking, reminiscing, and swapping stories of our adventures. At closing time we bid our friends adieu and crashed at The Saint George, as we had a long drive back to Des Moines in the morning. After the weekend ended we had visited our 43rd, 44th, and 45th states’ oldest taverns…only 5 more to go. Keep an eye out as we head down the home stretch to 50!

P.S. On the drive back to Des Moines we needed a pit stop and stumbled upon the Madison County Winery. Yes, that Madison County! We didn’t have much time to linger but we did have some mighty fine wine and got to explore one of their famous covered bridges.