After surviving our first night of scary ladders and full bladders, we recovered our sensibilities over coffee. I will say, the shack was well-stocked with Keurig K-pods, so points there!
We hadn't stopped for groceries last night, so our options for breakfast in the shack was Twizzlers, oatmeal raisin cookies, or chocolate chip cookies. While all of those are tasty options, they weren't what we wanted for the most important meal of the day.
Out come four smart phones to see who can come up with a nearby dining facility the fastest. Pretty sure it was a tie for JJ's Family Diner in Odessa. Since we were more hungry than stinky, we decided breakfast first, then hygiene.
Given our present surroundings, I cannot be blamed for assuming that Odessa was going to be a podunk backwater unincorporated collection of ramshackle buildings with one gas station (think Gomer Pyle in Mayberry), one church, and 14 bars.
You all know what happens when you assume, so you can pin the tail on this donkey becuase Odessa was actually a thriving, affluent-appearing town that sort of put Pine Island to shame. Color me corrected.
We found JJ's Diner on Main Street and of the two entrance doors, chose the non-smoking one. It's easy to forget that not all states have no-smoking laws! If any of you happen to find yourself in Odessa, Missouri, I highly recommend JJ's Family Diner. They had excellent food, friendly service, and reasonable prices.
As I always do when we are traveling, I asked our waitress where she would take out-of-town guests for good BBQ. I had a place in mind where Carol and I had eaten at during the dragon boat festival in September, but I am always open to suggestions. Our waitress suggested Gates BBQ in Independence rather than Q39 in Midtown that I had penciled in. Sounded good to us, so we added that to the list of things for the day.
Back at the Shack on the Puddle Pond, we agree that none of us are amazingly stupid, so showering in the death-sentence shower was not an option, but neither was being sttinky for the next three days. It was too cold to go rinse off in the puddle-pond, and even if it wasn't, I'm pretty sure there were radioactive sea monsters in there that I didn't want to deal with.
Keep in mind that we are used to Minnesota state parks that have wonderful shower facilities, so this was a new dilemma for us. However, since there was a Love's track stop just off the interstate 10 miles away that had shower facilities, we opted to go there.
I have never experienced a truck stop showering facility so I have nothing to compare to, but I will give high marks to Love's for theirs. Granted, paying $17 for the use of their space was a little hard to swallow, but since we were in sort of a bind, we paid it.
I don't know about you, but I tend to have great philosophical epiphanies in the shower because I'm (1) alone and (2) relaxed under the hot water. While the Love's enclosed shower/bathroom unit was clean and neat, it was a little too wide open for my comlete comfort. Thus, I skip the philosophizing and just got down to bathing because it was just a little disconcerting to have Captain standing there tapping his toe waiting for his turn.
At any rate, a short while later we emerged from the showers all shiny and clean. We poked around the store for a little bit waiting for Kevin and Carol. Man, if Love's doesn't have something, you just don't need it! They had everything from Skittles to the long stick things that I think were for checking the fuel level in the semi fuel tanks, but maybe they were just industrial-level wienie roasting sticks...not sure. Again, I am not a truck stop regular.
The only thing set in stone on our itinerary for the day was a tour of Tom's Town Distillery at 4:30 so we had plenty of time to sightsee. AFter robust discussion of the merits between the American Jazz Museum, the National Negro League Museum, and the World War I Museum, we opted for the World War I Museum.
Our three main goals when we vacation are to relax, experience local cuisine, and learn something new. We were ticking off the local cuisine box nicely, and we were as relaxed as we could be with lodging in Banjoland, so it was time to learn something new.
We consider ourselves fairly history literate as we watch a fair number of documentaries and such. Nope. We were blown away by the amount of information we did not know about World War I. This museum was huge! The artifact displays were organized and well documented with footnotes. There were short films to watch for context, and replications of the trenches that soldiers lived in and fought from. For any history buff, this is a must-see attraction!
Once we were done at that museum, we didn't have enough time to do the jazz museum before it would be time for our distillery tour. Instead we opted for a late lunch stop at a bar and grill we stumbled across called Cliff's Tavern. If you ever get there, I highly recommend the macaroni and cheese!
From there we made our way a few blocks down the street to Tom's Town Distillery. We were pretty early, but there was ample seating in the cocktail lounge area to wait. Might as well have a drink while we're there, right? Captain had an Old Fashioned, Kevin had beer, Carol had what amounted to a White Russian, and I had something that was supposed to have citrusy notes under the gin. Apparently I forgot I don't care for gin.
Friends, when your really expensive fancy drink comes with a pine tree twig in it, you know you are in trouble. I sheet you knot, it was like drinking pine tree sap. Blech! But hey...I wasn't going to waste the money I spent on it, so over the course of the 45 minutes we had to wait, I choked it down. Note to self: you don't like gin!!
Then it was time for the tour. This particular establishment was founded by a guy named Tom Pendergast. He was Kansas City's version of Chicago's Al Capone. He sort of controlled the town, particularly during prohibition. Let the record showe that Kansas City did not have one single citation from law enforcement during Prohibition but there were hundreds of speakeasys in town.
After the tour of the distilling room where they make bourbon, gin, and vodka, we ascended to the third floor for a short video message from the two co-owners and a tasting of spirits. Interestingly, each had blood ties to players in the hey-dey of Tom's hold on Kansas City. The tasting was enjoyable, but I still favour bourbon over the other two. After a quick stop in the gift shop for a T-shirt, we set off to find Gates BBQ on our way back to the shack.
Gates BBQ reminded me a lot of the steak place that used to be where Olive Garden is now north of Miracle Mile. Ponderosa Steak House...is that right? Anyway, doesn't matter. Our server at JJ's had recommended getting the sampler platter, and it was a hit!
By the time we headed back to the shack, it was full dark. Let me tell you, if those roads were sketchy during full daylight, they were downright terrifying in full dark! So much so that the sight of the VRBO was a truly welcome sight when we got there!
It was too cold to sit outside that night, so we hauled the patio chairs into the kitchen area and kicked back with adult beverages to unwind, but not so many that I wouldn't be able to get up the ladder and into the loft. Then again, if I was three sheets to the wind and fell off the ladder, I probably wouldn't feel it. Still, bad idea.
We did make it up the ladder and into the loft safely once again to rest up for Day 3!
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