[See accompanying gallery]
We awoke early in Kansas City to ensure that we could score ourselves a helping of Maria’s infamously delicious Bready Magic, after which she accompanied us to KC’s historic & beautifully restored Union Station.
Much to everyone’s delight, the station is packed not just with historical artifacts, but with enormous model train displays—some of them Lego!
When we’d finally gotten our fill (okay, most like a taste—but time was a factor), we headed to an early lunch. As you’d imagine, Henry enjoyed the one-of-a-kind burger-delivery system at Fritz’s Kansas City! Check it out:
After hugging it out with Maria, we hit the road for Tulsa, eager to arrive in time to check out Buck Atom’s—a “Cosmic Curio” shop right on Route 66 run by Margot’s high school classmate. Loaded with ironic midcentury ephemera & guarded by the enormous Buck, it did not disappoint:
Here’s a draggable 360º view:
Having scored a couple of “Oklahoma Route 66 Passports,” gotten them stamped, and loaded up on fun gifts, we rolled back up 66 for a real treat—getting to see our dear friends the Swiney’s for the first time in 20+ years!
It was amazing to catch up with Mr. & Mrs. Swiney, Quin, Mick, and Mick’s wife Veronika (with whom I swapped tales of being pleasantly traumatized on our first meetings with the full Swiney brood 😛). Afterwards Mrs. S. pronounced Hen “hilarious.”
Our two hours together felt like 20 minutes, but we had to press on in order to maintain our pace. Thus we closed out the day an hour’s drive later in Chandler, OK—setting the stage of the next morning’s exploration.
Check out our full gallery of photos & videos from the day.