Cinci to St. Louis, KC and Beyond

The plan was for Mark to drive from our place in Cincinnati to St. Louis. After visiting the Arch and the Anhauser Busch Brewery, I would drive to Hays, in middle Kansas, for the first overnight of our 19-day trip through the American West.

We left at 6 a.m. and made it to the arch by 12:30 p.m., thanks to the time change. Before we crammed into the little car to the top, we toured the Lewis and Clark museum below the arch. Journal entries from their expeditions are posted—complete with misspellings, which adds to the authenticity.

The trip to the top of the arch takes four minutes in a small car of about 30 cubic feet at my best estimate, for five people. The fit was tight for Mark at 6’ 4”, me at 5’ 11”, two large, athletic-looking young men and their petite female companion.

The day was beautiful and so was the view from the top, but we were on a schedule, and there’s only so much to see, so we snapped some pictures and headed to the Anhauser Busch Brewery for a free tour.

The tour lasted an hour and began in the gift shop. We passed a Clydesdale colt grazing in the entrance yard on our way to the stable. The Clydesdales’ have an air-conditioned stable cleaner than most college dorm rooms. We were greeted by a Dalmatian taking it easy in the cool barn. After the stable we saw a short film concerning production and distribution of final goods. The next part of the tour was up a couple flights of steps to overlook the production area. The guide said it would be several degrees hotter than at ground level. Already too sweaty, I passed.

The day was hot, and we were eager for the product tasting at the end of the tour. Finally we entered an open area with tables with pretzels, an unmanned soda fountain, and an area with alcoholic drinks and bartenders. Mark got a small cup of Bud Lite, and I got some hard lemonade. Mark’s next taste was of Killarny’s, and I got a cup of Sprite to dilute that lemonade since I was driving next. Then I decided to try 180, the new drink that’s high in caffeine. Being wide-awake while I am driving in St. Louis traffic is a good thing. I got only half way through the 180 and got a terrible pain under my breastbone. Mark and I left right away.

I was in too much pain to drive so Mark stayed behind the wheel all the way to Kansas City at the western Missouri border. (My pain was long gone by then. It must have been the carbonation or caffeine.)

Kansas City’s Arthur Bryant’s was our aim for dinner. We saw Arthur Bryant’s featured on the Travel Channel months earlier and thought this the perfect opportunity to try it.

We got to KC right at dinner time, and the signs on Interstate 70 directed us to take exit 3C to get to Arthur Bryant’s. We found it on the corner of 18th and Brooklyn. It didn’t look like much and was in a poorer area of town, but as expected, the food was great.

I got Bar-B-Q chicken and Mark got a thick Bar-B-Q pork sandwich. Complete with fries and sodas, it cost just over $20. On the wall was an old, signed picture of Steven Spielberg, Cate Kapshaw and Sally Field eating there. There was one of President and Mrs. Carter too, and most recently, Emeril Legassi.

That night we stopped at a Motel 6 just east of Hays, Kansas, the halfway point between Cincinnati and Colorado Springs, where we had reservations for the next night. Thus the end to day one of our western trip.