How come people don't visit Missouri?

Gordon and I went to visit Katie this weekend! We had a TON of fun (of course... there's only fun times with Katie!). We went all over Missouri and even ventured into Kansas for a little bit (but we hurried back out as soon as we could).

Katie says there's not much to do in Missouri, but Gordon and I (and I'm pretty sure, Katie, too) were exhausted after our trip! Kansas City is the city of fountains and my first trip to the city I saw only 1 fountain. This time, I may actually believe that it IS the city of fountains as I saw definitely over 10. Some observations about Missouri's fountains/statues:

- they like horses. I asked Katie what the horses were about, but she didn't know. I don't know either. UNLESS... it's going back to the whole homesteading/western expansion era. hmm. possibly.

- they really honor their firefighters. Seriously. Every fire department I saw had statues of firefighters. Katie says that firefighters are heroes and should be honored. I agree, but just pointing it out.

- Kansas City and its fountains are like Philadelphia and its art. Everywhere you turn, around every corner, there's a fountain. However, I found KC to be quite cleaner than Philly (but I hate Philly).

We went to the Great American Barbeque Festival. We got there before the midwest crowds descended upon the place, so it's like we had the whole place to ourselves. The barbeque was GREAT... and American. haha. It was a lot of fun even if there was a crappy 80s cover band.

Katie took us to the Nelsons-Atkins Art Museum, a surprisingly good museum. I say surprisingly good, just because would you have expected it? It had some good works by Calder, Renoir, Monet, Manet, etc. A lot of good sculptures, too. The Asian art was also a good collection. Apparently, the Kansas City must-see art are these giant shuttlecocks (haha) in the sculpture garden of the museum. Very whimsical and interesting. I recommend taking pictures of yourself like your holding a shuttlecock in your hand. We did.

We went to the Liberty Memorial which offers a great view of the city. I enjoy any skyline view - it gives a better sense as to how big the city is and help put it in perspective and shows you landmarks so you can't get lost (scratch that, easier to get un-lost). :) We walked around the Plaza (the high end shopping area. Think Rodeo Drive but in middle America). I bought the Paul Shirley book, but missed his book signing. If you don't know who Paul Shirley is, you can check him out here (he's funny and cute - of course, I like him!).

Katie drove us across the whole state (past many many many porn stores and billboards) to St. Louis to see the sights and go to the Cardinals game. Katie got to catch up with her friends from school and I got to FINALLY see a Cardinals home game - and in the new Busch stadium! The stadium is awesome, the Cardinals are great (even if they aren't playing consistently well this season), and we all had a lot of fun. Even when they had a rain delay with 1 (ONE!) out to go. The Nats decided to play some baseball and try to rally in the 9th inning, but with the heavy rain not letting up, they covered the field. Then they uncovered the field. Then they covered the field. Then they uncovered it again and started throwing fresh dirt between the bases. And it kept on raining. So we left and stayed at Katie's friends' AWESOME victorian house which made me consider settling somewhere and buying a house. But then I re-thought that and decided no. The Cards finished playing the game sometime later. They won. YAY! :)

We saw the Arch with all the rest of the Memorial Day tourists and then headed back to Kansas City (with a stop at Mizzou and Shakespeare's Pizza - yum). Completely pooped (yes, pooped) we baked cookies and stayed in (my perfect night in) and watched movies. Yesterday we went to see Katie's family for lunch before heading out. I love Katie's family. If I were living in the midwest, I'd want them to hang out with. Her family is SO much fun!!

I had such a fun time hanging out with Katie!!! I wish we lived closer together. Maybe after grad school we'll move to Seattle and have more Julie and Katie fun times. Besides, she likes Gordon too... so he can come along if he wants. :)

When we got home... we thought (silly us) it'd be a good idea to watch Pirates of the Carribean 3 at the Uptown. A good movie. Long, but good.