A mini-vacation in KC

Jeremy and I really felt the need for a vacation this spring break, but since we're saving up for England and we have my foot surgery later this week, funds and time were limited. We thought we'd take a page out of the recession playbook and had a "staycation" right here in our own area.

We spent today in the famous 18th and Vine district in KCMO. Here's Jeremy at that very intersection.

Our first stop was the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. Jeremy has been wanting to go here forever. I was really pleasantly surprised at how well this museum is put together. I learned a little about baseball and a lot about baseball's leadership in desegregating our nation. It's pretty crazy to think that it hasn't been all that long since our nation has had this experience - Jackie Robinson started playing in the major leagues in just 1947. We've also learned about a couple of neat connections we have to the league - my Papa remembers seeing Satchel Paige pitch, and Jeremy's mom's boyfriend's dad actually played in the Negro Leagues.

Here are some pictures from the museum. Sorry about the darkness in some of them - I wasn't really supposed to take any so I wasn't using a flash. :)

We took a break for lunch at Arthur Bryant's BBQ. Arthur Bryant's is one of those places that people say you HAVE to go to in KC, but we'd never been. The barbecue here is WONDERFUL and the sauce was absolutely HEAVENLY. We will definitely be making a repeat trip (not too often though - not sure my arteries could handle it!). You'll see Jeremy pictured here with the meat plate which we thankfully decided to share. We could have easily shared with another couple!

The final trip of the day was to the American Jazz Museum. We had a great time in here as well, but neglected to take any pictures inside. Here's a picture of me with the Charlie Parker memorial outside - conveniently holding my cup from Arthur Bryant's to summarize the day.

We're now back home and watching the Baylor Bears play in their first ever Big 12 Tournament Championship game. Hopefully they'll take their cue from the girls who won earlier today!