Kansas and Missouri - Reaching the Double Century Club!

I know that some of you are thinking, why is he blogging now?  Isn't he going to get to his 200th in December in Hawaii.  Well, that was the plan after my adventures in the San Francisco area in September.  I am still planning to make a DDD trip to Honolulu in December and my friend Karin is hosting a party for me on December 11th at Murphy's Pub to celebrate my DDD accomplishments, but my wanderlust got the best of me and as September moved into October I wanted to get back on the DDD hunt, so I thought after seeing a rerun of the DDD episode "The KC Barbecue Tour" that maybe a quick trip out there might just be the thing!

RJ's in Mission, Kansas

Denver Cut Ribs (Lamb Ribs)

One of my best friend's, Barry, is from Kansas and as I was calling him to get some area info, I decided to see if he was interested in coming with me on my passes and he agreed.  We left on a Sunday morning and planned a 2 night trip and planing to get to 8 places and also visit with his family that live in bot the Kansas City and Topeka, KS areas.  After a 2 hour flight delay we arrived around noon on a Sunday and headed out to our first stop.  "RJ's Bob-be-cue Shack" in Mission, Kansas.  This place is pretty nice, the classic type of building that you might see as a Barbecue joint.  As we arrived the TVs in side were blasting the Kansas City Chiefs game as they were getting whipped by Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos.  I knew what I wanted well before arriving, one of RJ's specials is called Denver cut ribs, which are actually a rack of Lamb Ribs.  Barry decided upon the Burnt Ends platter.  I have had a bad time with Burnt Ends in my DDD travels and RJ's changed my mind on themas the Burnt Ends were great, no sauce (you sauce them yourself) and very tasty.  The Lamb Ribs were great, meaty and very tasty.  I got a side of a corn based concoction that would best be described as Mac and Cheese with corn instead of mac.  I really enjoyed it and as it turns out, this was our favorite place of all the places we visited, so much for saving the best for last!

Bobo's in Topeka

We headed off about an hour west to the Capital of Kansas, Topeka.  The rest of our day was spent visiting with Barry's cousin.  On Monday it was off to more DDD locations.  Our first stop was a classic drive-in called "Bobo's Drive-in".  This 50 year old joint was featured in the second season and has a small inside seating area and a large drive in area with car hop service.  We got a small table and tried the daily special, the Double Cheeseburger Combo.  It was not fancy in the least just good and tasty, what a drive-in should be.  From there it was back to the Kansas City area with some stops along the way.  First we stopped at Washburn University (home of the Fightin' Ichibods) and check out their bookstore and Barry had me try a chocolate treat that isn't readily available on the east coast, Cherry Smash.  This chocolate and cherry candy is very rich and tasty.  From Washburn it was into Lawrence and the University of Kansas.  we stopped at their sports shop which is in the Allen Fieldhouse (also known as "The Phog", named for Phog Allen, where the KU fans say "Caution All who Enter - Beware of the Phog!" 

YJ's Snack Bar

We arrived in Kansas City and headed to the next place, a small artsy and eclectic placed called "YJ's Snack Bar".  It really was more of a coffee shop and we both tried the Egg Salad Sandwich, it was ok but nothing that I would go out of my way for in the future.

Just outside YJ's I saw this red and white rocket on the top of a nearby building and it looked so familiar.  It was the rocket from Disneyland's original Tomorrowland attraction called "Rocket ship to the Moon".  The ride has long been gone from Disneyland and I am thinking that since it was sponsored by TWA and Kansas City was a huge TWA city, that's why it's there, a very cool aside from our culinary travels.

Kansas City's cool nite spot!

Country Fried Steak Special at The Brick

The next stop was to one of the coolest places that I have been to on my DDD travels, "The Brick".  This place is a Bar, restaurant and Nightclub all in one.  Along with the Monday Night Special , "Country Fried Steak and all the sides came a great open mike music show.  One of the musicians, old timer with a huge gray beard and overalls sang and played from home made instruments made from pots, pans and tennis rackets!  This is a very cool place and very much worth a visit.

Grinders - My 200th DDD visit

From there it was a short walk to what would be my 200th DDD location visit, a place that is very special to Guy and one I was really looking forward to, "Grinder's".  We met with Barry's cousin, Fred and his partner and had a nice time.  Monday night at Grinders is called "Hungarian Night with George".  George is a retired restaurateur that every Monday goes to Grinders to cook Hungarian meals and I was hoping to get some, but they had run out about 45 minutes before we arrived.  I got the Calzone and it was very good, but it seemed so quiet inside compared to the Brick that this was a bit of a let down.  I had my 200 but I had a few more stops before heading home.

39th Street Mama's in Kansas City

Half of the Huge Sweet Roll

Half Portion of Biscuits and Gravy (with one egg???!)

Tuesday morning came and we had a couple more places to try before going back to the airport and heading back to DC.  We had breakfast at "39th Street Mama's".  This restaurant was fantastic, small portions here are huge everywhere else!  The prices are low, too!  Barry and I shared a huge Sweet Roll and then I got a "Half Portion" of Biscuit and Gravy, this portion filled the large plate that it was served on and included one egg (must have been from a very big chicken!) and hash browns.  Needless to say this meal was really filling!

After driving around the KC area and visiting the Truman Sports Complex, home to Royals and Kauffman Stadium and Arrowhead Stadium, home to the Chiefs we headed to our last stop, "Smokin' Guns Barbecue".  This place is in an industrial park and has some of the best barbecue that there is.  The owners have won hundreds of awards in barbecue competitions and their ribbons are displayed through this small restaurant.  Their awards include the 1999 Grand Champions award at the Jack Daniels competition!  I got the smoked turkey sandwich and it was great very tasty, I can see why they wind so much!

It was back to the airport and a flight home after a fun few days in the middle of the country.  Hawaii is next (and all the DDD stops along the way).   My count is 203 and by the time I get to Hawaii, I hope it will be 225!