We woke up late today but managed to get packed in record time. After our standard breakfast of pancakes, french toast, bacon, biscuits, eggs, chocolate milk, and coffee, we started looking at the map. Aaron immediately seized on Ottawa as a likely candidate to offer more than a gas station. He consulted with Google and realized that although it isn't in Canada, it is a large town relative to its neighbors, so at around 1:30 we were on our way. So, despite waking up late, we were on the road at the usual time.
About an hour in to our riding we made it to the Kansas border and we stopped for a photo op (posting later). At this point the GPS had an arrival time of 5:50 so Aaron was sent ahead to procure a hotel room for the night, and more importantly, get ready to take advantage of Super 8 Motel's Olympics promotion - it required signing up at 7:00, so no time to waste! Aaron made it to Ottawa a few minutes early and called back to check on everyone's progress. Alas, it was not to be. Guillermo broke his rear wheel (one of the nipples snapped and popped out!), and decided that this was our last excuse to visit Kansas City - location of the nearest bike shop (and delicious barbecue). Off to Enterprise and Kansas City!
We drove to KC and immediately began our search for barbecue. The GPS led us to Arnold Bryant's, one of the original barbecue joints in Kansas City. When we arrived, however, we found ourselves staring at a giant casino instead of a dirty barbecue joint. It turns out that Arnold Bryant's is a chain, and one of the spin-off's is located inside this casino. Did we drive all the way to KC to eat at a second rate spin-off location? Hell no. HELL NO. We do have standards (although somehow we were suckered in to eating at KC Masterpiece's restaurant in St. Louis, and it certainly is a piece). We consulted over the telephone with our friend Jim who informed us that Oklahoma Joe's was the most highly regarded barbecue in KC. We drove across town and walked in the door at 9:26pm, just in time to be the last customers of the day and were rewarded with the best ribs, fries, and pork of the trip. Much better than last night's in Harrisonville - that brisket was an insult to barbecue everywhere. To anyone traveling to Kansas City, try Oklahoma Joe's!
4 comments:
Sounds like your BBQ was better than my Golden Corral that we ate at in KC... But I did have fantastic ribs in downtown St. Louis...
WOW!!! You guys are really far! I haven't checked a map in a while (Lebanon did not ring a bell,) but when you mentioned Kansas City I did, and you guys have covered a very significant part of the US! Congratulations! So, when are you coming back--I miss hanging out! [Exclamation point to sentence ratio = 1.4]
Fun Fact:
As nerds, you may have heard of the Biot number that is used in heat transfer calculations. I learned today that it is not pronounced "bye-ought" but rather "bee-oh." As in, "When I transfer heat, I get Biot."
Guillermo, are you suuuure you don't want to come home with Anna and Tony????
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