Happy Birthday Nathan

Today was Nathan's 31st birthday - and it was also the start of his holidays! Nathan has a whole week off to spend with us!

I asked Nathan what he wanted to do and he said he didn't care as long as he could get BBQ from his favorite joint, Danny Edwards, for lunch.

I found a few places I wanted to explore around the BBQ place (since it's about 25 minutes from our house) and we set out by 8:15am.

Our first stop was at the home of our friends Danny and Katie. They were having a big garage sale and we wanted to stop by. They had people from the church bring stuff so it was a really big sale!

 Even though I only went to show support, we ended up finding some things to bring home. I got a Mr. Potato Head, cowboy boots, a brand new winter coat (for next year), two tins full of buttons and....and APPLE PEELER. This is the best find of the entire garage sale season. My friend, Kristin, donated it and I am so glad I got there early to snap it up! I am so pumped to make a pie!

After the sale we headed to Cliff Drive. This is an old part of town that overlooks the rail yard. The houses on the road are insane! They look like old castles. Unfortunately the neighborhood isn't as glamorous as I'm sure it once was, and now most houses are in disrepair or have bars on the windows.

 

 The best house of the street is the Kansas City Museum. The house was built in 1909 (for 1 million dollars) and has 19 rooms (35, 000 square feet). The Museum is free to tour but there was no way we were taking Allison inside. There were plenty of plaques to read around the building so we spent our time walking around the perimeter.

 Parallel to the main road is a narrow two lane (paved) road that is closed on the weekends for cyclists, runners, etc. We parked at the entrance and walked the 3 mile loop. There wasn't much to see- we did enjoy the peaks of railway cars and the large waterfall, but it was wonderful to be outside on a cool morning and have few distractions while we chatted. Allison wanted to be carried (unusual for her) and Nathan spent the entire walk with her in his arms (or on his shoulders).

 

 

 

 

 When we emerged from our long walk we were at a garage sale. We looked around and I found a napkin holder that I really liked - the woman told me I had to take the salt and pepper shakers that went with it, and for $2 (and Nathan found a KC mug he liked) it was a great deal.

Just down the street from Cliff Drive was a JFK memorial. I had no idea this was here! It was a big space and there wasn't anyone around - it seemed like it should be busting with brides getting their photos done!

 Our last stop of the morning was a place called "Super Flea". It was in an old warehouse and it was a flea market. It was $1/person to get in and it. was. insane.

I honestly don't know where to start. Nathan said it was the kind of place where "things fall off the back of a truck." It was really strange and it felt like we weren't supposed to be there. People were even eyeing us like we didn't belong and I wouldn't feel safe being there by myself. There were many booths and tables selling clothes, groceries, dry goods, cologne, electronics, weapons (some of the most insane knives I've ever seen), and bootlegged movies and music. We weren't allowed to take photos and no wonder - I'm sure there was some illegal stuff going on.

We had a great lunch outdoors at Danny Edwards. Our food was perfect and Allison had space to run around while we ate. After lunch we headed home for naps.

While Allison and Nathan napped, I made a cake for Nathan's birthday. After dinner we went back to Danny and Katie's and met with our friends Kyle and Lisa (and some other friends who were finishing up with the garage sale) and sang Happy Birthday and ate chocolate cake with ice cream.

We had a very busy day, but Nathan said it was one of his best birthday's ever.