Kansas City, MO -- Brew and BBQ

We spent merely a couple of hours in Kansas City, but it was time really, really well spent!

We left St. Louis on Saturday afternoon, hoping to put a dent in our 2-day drive to Denver, CO. At the very least, we planned to make it to Kansas City, and with a bit of ambition, we'd make it a bit further, too.

Kansas City is somewhat well known for drive-in movie theaters. Along the highway, Kim found a couple of theaters on her phone -- the I-70 Drive In, and the Boulevard Drive In. We stopped by both of them around 4pm. Both had shows, but wouldn't start until 8:30 or 9pm, which we probably wouldn't make on this trip.

So we headed over to the Boulevard Brewery, where we hoped we might find a brew pub.

Stepping back to Austin, for a minute, Kim always calls me from the grocery store, and asks, "What kind of beer do you want?" I almost always answer, "Just find me something that looks interesting." Shortly after we bought our classic Airstream (1968 Globetrotter) in February, Kim found an "interesting" beer at HEB with a little Airstream-looking trailer on the label. This is Boulevard's Single Wide IPA, and I loved it! I've had pretty much all of the Boulevard beers available in Texas since then.

The Brewery is in a hansome red brick building, on "the boulevard".

The parking lot was mostly empty, and as we walked toward the front, we saw two signs, one for a wedding reception, and the other for a bachelorette party -- neither of which Kim or I had received an invitation to :-(

So we entered through the gift shop, and made our way to a completely empty tasting room. We'd learn later that this is where tours end -- tours that we actually weren't a part of.

Nevertheless, we bellied up to the bar, introduced ourselves to Joe-the-bartender, and we asked if we might have a couple of tasters. Joe wanted to see our IDs, and as he handed Kim back her license, Joe said, "Well, I have to pour beer for anyone who has a chicken purse!" Kim has a little coin purse in the shape of an owl (that she got from Hanna's store, Sanctuary). We had a good laugh and Joe graciously pour Kim and I each two tasters. I had a coffee-and-cedar doppelbock and a smooth golden ale, and Kim had the unfiltered wheat (their best seller) and "Two Jacks" -- another more citrusy Belgian-style wit.

As we finished our first two, we met another friendly patron named Pat, a volunteer tour guide at Boulevard for 20 of its last 21 years! Pat asked the fun questions, where we were from, and what we were doing so far from home. We gave him a brief synopsis of our journeys. Ironically enough, Pat himself had just undergone open heart surgery about the same time Kim had her gall bladder removed. Looks like both of them were doing fine to me, happy and healthy and having a beer!

By this time, Joe noticed our glasses were empty and poured us each a few more (a pale ale and a stout for me), and Kim wanted the unfiltered wheat again :-) Joe went so far as to call me a "beer geek", and poured a taster of an interesting short run, non-production creamy stout, which I found quite special and enjoyed very much.

Now these are the perfect guys to ask for food recommendations, let me tell you. Pat, a Kansas City native, rattled off a half dozen barbecue joints and tex-mex restaurants. We easily settled on his top recommendation -- Oklahoma Joe's, a bbq joint just across the border in Kansas in a gas station (Rudy's style). That sounded like a perfect plan ;-)

So we thanked Joe and Pat, and made our way be to the gift shop to pick up a few little things to give away to our next hosts, wherever they might be. By the time we left there, we actually walked out the door with Pat, who was leaving too. He told us that if we walked with him, we'd collect a "prize", which we did -- a six-pack of a short-run cream stout. Outstanding :-)

We left Boulevard for Okey Joes, the bbq joint Pat recommended, and true to his recommendation, it was in a shamrock gas station, and their was a 30+ minute long line all the way out of the building.

But, (ask Kim if you don't believe me), it was well worth it :-) I had a tasty pulled pork sandwhich and Kim had sliced, smoked turkey. Kim's favorite part was a huge roller that automated the soaking of the Texas toast in butter. Yeah, she's fully recovered now :-)

And that was Kansas City. Barely 2 hours, but 2 hours very well spent. Free, tasty beer, and perhaps the best barbecue I've had since leaving Texas over two months ago.

We drove a few more hours, finishing our night at a Days Inn in Hays, KS.

:-Dustin