894. Merit

894. Merit
Definition: (n) a feature or fact that deserves praise or reward
Location Placed: Tom's Town Distillery, Kansas City, Missouri
Date Placed: 12/21/18 at 6:22pm





By far this was one of the coolest things we did on the trip! It was part historical tour of the Kansas City area, particularly around the time of prohibition, part tasting, which is the right mixture of things for all people. Tom Pendergast, who the distillery was named after, was a political (see: mafia) boss who basically ran the town. He paid off law enforcement during prohibition, so Kansas City basically didn't go dry during that time. Additionally, Tom paid off political individual's so his other ventures, namely the concrete business, could make Kansas City into a more booming city with concrete structures.  Plus their vodka is, if I am recalling correctly, 17 times distilled! I absolutely recommend going here if you're in the Kansas City area.

893. Kudos

893. Kudos
Definition: (n) praise and honor received for an achievement
Location Placed: Parisi Artisan Coffee, Kansas City, Missouri
Date Placed: 12/21/18 at 5:06pm





We decided to kill a little time before our next activity of the evening exploring Union Station a bit more and getting a warm beverage while we waited. I had a delicious hot chocolate as it was a bit cooler than we had anticipated it being after the sun had set on our walk back from the WWI Museum across the street. But we warmed up real quick and checked out the gift shop for the science center type thing they had.

892. Glossy

892. Glossy
Definition: (adj) shiny and smooth
Location Placed: National WWI Museum and Memorial, Kansas City, Missouri
Date Placed: 12/21/18 at 4:30pm





As we got into Kansas City a bit on the later side, we had to limit what we could do and see. So we opted to stick close to the train terminal and visit the WWI Memorial and Museum, which is conveniently right across the street from the station. We saw a lot of really neat memorabilia, artwork, and short video clips. They also had a really nice vantage point of the city from on top of the memorial. We even watched a couple get engaged!

891. Hot

891. Hot
Definition: (adj) passionately enthusiastic, eager, or excited
Location Placed: Union Station, Kansas City, Missouri
Date Placed: 12/21/18 at 2:56pm





Union Station in Kansas City is absolutely gorgeous and had a ton of different things to do and see. I was most impressed by all the holiday decorations and the piano that self-played holiday music throughout the main hall. There were several museums, eateries, and activity areas, including a really neat back room with a number of model train villages several made of Lego! It was definitely the nicest place I've been while waiting for a form of public transportation, that's for sure.

890. First

890. First
Definition: (adj) coming before all others
Location Placed: Hyatt Regency, St. Louis, Missouri
Date Placed: 12/20/18 at 6:12pm





After a busy first day of the trip, we opted to go to Pappy's as I had heard it was one of the better places in St. Louis to go if you were looking for some good bar-b-que. And it did not disappoint! Delicious pulled pork and ribs were consumed along with some really yummy sides. We decided to call it an earlier night due to being travel exhausted and having to get up early for the next leg of the journey!

889. Venerable

889. Venerable
Definition: (adj) accorded a great deal of respect
Location Left: City Museum, St. Louis, Missouri
Date Placed: 12/20/18 at 3:35pm





The City Museum is probably one of the weirdest and wildest places I've ever gone. I know I absolutely would've adored this place as a kid, as there are multiple areas to explore and get lost in. And there is a 10 story slide! As an adult, I appreciated the little chunk of history I received from one of the employees offhandedly. He told me that prior to being a museum, the building was used as a shoe factory. The slide, although slightly reconfigured, was an old shoe chute used to get the shoes to the ground floor quickly. I thought that was neat the way they turned this old factory into quite the wonder of a place. It looked like there was some construction going on a couple of the floors, and the weather was too poor to explore the outside maze, but this place did not disappoint!

888. Rapture

888. Rapture
Definition: (n) feeling intense pleasure or joy
Location Placed: Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
Date Placed: 12/20/18 at 2:32pm





The Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis is probably one of the most beautiful churches I've ever stepped foot in. The entire ceiling is covered with gorgeous mosaics of the grandest proportions. It's hard to describe the immensity of it. Larry, one of the fellows who works there, gave us a plethora of information about the number of tiles, immensity, level of work that went into it, and length of time it took. It was a definite labor of love, that is for sure! There were a number of different shades of gold tiles individually places to give the church a shimmery look, even when it was dark outside. Definitely an impressive sight to see!

887. Endless

887. Endless
Definition: (adj) countless, innumerable
Location Placed: Anheuser-Busch Brewery, St. Louis, Missouri
Date Placed: 12/20/18 at 12:54pm





This tour is definitely one of the trip highlights. We got to see the gigantic Clydesdale horses, which are a trademark item of the Budweiser beer commercials in recent years. The tour also covered the ginormous containers that housed the beers during the fermentation process, along with some information about the Anheuser and Busch families behind the iconic brewing company. They also decorate it really nice for the holidays, and I'd recommend checking it out then!

886. Edify

886. Edify
Definition: (v) educate, instruct, teach
Location Placed: Old Courthouse, St. Louis, Missouri
Date Placed: 12/20/18 at 11:09am





The Old Courthouse is a really neat building right across from the Arch in St. Louis that was the location where Dred Scott, a slave, sued for freedom of him and his wife. It's a really neat older building with a wonderfully ornate ceiling. The park ranger who greeted us gave a lot of really great information about the site itself, as well as things to do in the St. Louis area. A real gem!

885. Apricity

885. Apricity
Definition: (n) the warmth of the sun in winter
Location Placed: The Arch Museum, St. Louis, Missouri
Date Placed: 12/20/18 at 9:45am





A much awaited vacation took us to St. Louis, where we stayed directly across the street from the Arch! It was a really neat museum that included a ride up to the top. You could see the windows from our hotel room, and I commented that I bet they weren't that small when you were there. But they were! The ride up to the top was really interesting as you were able to see the inner workings of the Arch and the mechanics on getting up to the top. You wouldn't necessarily know it from looking at it, but it's triangularly shaped! Definitely a must visit if you're visiting St. Louis.