Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Missouri - Part 1
Two for the price of one!! Bob and I both had meetings in Missouri for our last trip. Since I was going there with him, I volunteered to attend the Missouri Leadership Conference in Warrensburg, MO on Fri, Sat, Sun. Bob had meetings in Springfield, MO Tues, Wed, Thurs, and we decided to see some shows in Branson Thurs, Fri., Sat & come home on Sunday. It made for 10 days away from home, but we had a good time.
We flew in to Springfield—which is a pretty small airport, so it didn’t take any time at all to get our luggage and pick up our car—we had a Pontiac G6—which is a pretty neat car. That night we drove to Clinton (birthplace of Harry S. Truman). Clinton has a beautiful historic downtown area. The county court house is in the middle of the square and there are lots of neat restored buildings all around the square. After supper we walked around the square. It was a beautiful evening.
In Warrensburg, we stayed in a dorm at the University there. It was a dorm—what more can I say? There were plastic mattresses that were too short for the bed, the drain in the shower didn’t work very well, so we had a foot of water to stand in by the end of the shower, and the food was college cafeteria food. One of the people commented that the bacon tasted like a greasy piece of paper.
After the retreat, we wandered back to Springfield and then went to a minor league baseball game. Take me out to the ball game! It was lots of fun—although the home team (Springfield Cardinals) got slaughtered 8-1. Everyone from the opposing team was hitting home runs off the pitcher. The John Q. Hammond Stadium is beautiful and was walking distance from our hotel. Again it was a beautiful night and we ate popcorn, hot dogs, and ice cream—really healthy eating.
The next day we went to a restaurant in their historic downtown area called Trolleys. It had some really unique things on the menu. I had a grilled portabella mushroom sandwich and sweet potato fries, but the fries had cinnamon and brown sugar on them rather than salt. They were really good! That area has a fountain and lots of neat old buildings, but a lot of them are in the renovation process.
Several people told us that we could have to visit Lambert’s Restaurant, so that evening we found the directions and drove out to it. First we had quite a wait—and it was on a Monday evening. Then our drinks came in these insulated 36 oz mugs. I ordered a ham steak and Bob ordered catfish. I had a 14-15” skillet that had this huge slab of ham on it. I’d ordered fried apples and beets as the sides—Bob had baked beans and cucumbers and onions. Then they have waiters come by with ‘pass arounds’—fried potatoes, fried okra, black-eyed peas, and macaroni and tomatoes. And then some guy comes out with a huge tray of rolls, fresh out of the oven, and starts throwing them to people. Well, we had to eat some bread—just because it was too much fun not to catch them. Way too much food—if we ever go back, I’ll order the veggie plate and Bob and I will share a meal. After we were about through—they came by and asked if we wanted any more fish or ham—I guess it’s all you can eat—although how anyone could eat any more than that is beyond me!
On Tuesday, Bob went to his meetings, which were all day and into the evening, and I meet with the local chapter. I got a tour of the college and met the college president and academic Vice President. Then I met with the two advisors and six officers. They had lots of questions and ideas. I think their chapter is really going to take off this year. I went over there at 1 pm and we met until almost 5 pm, so they asked if I wanted to go to dinner with them. Since Bob was at meetings, I was thrilled to have some people to eat with. A few said they would have to bring their children or spouses, so we ended up with almost 20 people who went out. We went to a neat restaurant in the historic downtown area (right across from Trolleys) called Riad’s. We had a room to ourselves and had a wonderful meal—I had a tuna steak and asparagus.
On Wed, Bob had more meetings all day and evening, but did get from 5-6 pm off, so we dashed to a Steak and Shake and ate supper. A couple of his colleagues came into the restaurant, so we visited with them. I bought the last Harry Potter book and ended up reading until midnight a couple nights.
We flew in to Springfield—which is a pretty small airport, so it didn’t take any time at all to get our luggage and pick up our car—we had a Pontiac G6—which is a pretty neat car. That night we drove to Clinton (birthplace of Harry S. Truman). Clinton has a beautiful historic downtown area. The county court house is in the middle of the square and there are lots of neat restored buildings all around the square. After supper we walked around the square. It was a beautiful evening.
In Warrensburg, we stayed in a dorm at the University there. It was a dorm—what more can I say? There were plastic mattresses that were too short for the bed, the drain in the shower didn’t work very well, so we had a foot of water to stand in by the end of the shower, and the food was college cafeteria food. One of the people commented that the bacon tasted like a greasy piece of paper.
After the retreat, we wandered back to Springfield and then went to a minor league baseball game. Take me out to the ball game! It was lots of fun—although the home team (Springfield Cardinals) got slaughtered 8-1. Everyone from the opposing team was hitting home runs off the pitcher. The John Q. Hammond Stadium is beautiful and was walking distance from our hotel. Again it was a beautiful night and we ate popcorn, hot dogs, and ice cream—really healthy eating. The next day we went to a restaurant in their historic downtown area called Trolleys. It had some really unique things on the menu. I had a grilled portabella mushroom sandwich and sweet potato fries, but the fries had cinnamon and brown sugar on them rather than salt. They were really good! That area has a fountain and lots of neat old buildings, but a lot of them are in the renovation process.
Several people told us that we could have to visit Lambert’s Restaurant, so that evening we found the directions and drove out to it. First we had quite a wait—and it was on a Monday evening. Then our drinks came in these insulated 36 oz mugs. I ordered a ham steak and Bob ordered catfish. I had a 14-15” skillet that had this huge slab of ham on it. I’d ordered fried apples and beets as the sides—Bob had baked beans and cucumbers and onions. Then they have waiters come by with ‘pass arounds’—fried potatoes, fried okra, black-eyed peas, and macaroni and tomatoes. And then some guy comes out with a huge tray of rolls, fresh out of the oven, and starts throwing them to people. Well, we had to eat some bread—just because it was too much fun not to catch them. Way too much food—if we ever go back, I’ll order the veggie plate and Bob and I will share a meal. After we were about through—they came by and asked if we wanted any more fish or ham—I guess it’s all you can eat—although how anyone could eat any more than that is beyond me! On Tuesday, Bob went to his meetings, which were all day and into the evening, and I meet with the local chapter. I got a tour of the college and met the college president and academic Vice President. Then I met with the two advisors and six officers. They had lots of questions and ideas. I think their chapter is really going to take off this year. I went over there at 1 pm and we met until almost 5 pm, so they asked if I wanted to go to dinner with them. Since Bob was at meetings, I was thrilled to have some people to eat with. A few said they would have to bring their children or spouses, so we ended up with almost 20 people who went out. We went to a neat restaurant in the historic downtown area (right across from Trolleys) called Riad’s. We had a room to ourselves and had a wonderful meal—I had a tuna steak and asparagus.
On Wed, Bob had more meetings all day and evening, but did get from 5-6 pm off, so we dashed to a Steak and Shake and ate supper. A couple of his colleagues came into the restaurant, so we visited with them. I bought the last Harry Potter book and ended up reading until midnight a couple nights.# posted by bjm @ 9:24 PM 
