It was a slow and rainy Sunday.  We got up late and headed out to breakfast.  Rich was planning on eating chicken at Stroud’s so breakfast was supposed to be light.  We tried to find Daylight Donuts, but apparently they had closed up shop for good.  We settled for breakfast sandwiches at Hardee’s.

From there, we headed to downtown Independence to find some of the local museums.  This is Harry Truman country and the signs all around town show it.  At first, I thought they were Charlie Chaplin.  I didn’t know that Harry carried a cane.  We decided on the National Trails Museum.  All of the major trails leading out west had their beginning points in this area.  Where they started depended upon where the riverboats set the travelers off.

I knew the Santa Fe trail started here.  I was surprised to find out that all of the other did as well.  So in the 1800s and you were traveling west, you got your supplies in the Kansas City area and began your journey.  This includes the California trails, Oregon trail, and Mormon trail.  Even Lewis and Clark came this way on their way out west to explore.

But first, the museum didn’t open until 12:30.  It was 10:45 at the moment.  We decided to look up where Stroud’s Restaurant was located.  They actually opened at 11:00 for Sunday dinner.  Even though we had just had breakfast an hour ago, we decided to go there and see if we could get in and have an early lunch.

We headed out following the directions on the GPS.  We arrived at this place that sat on a small side road to the highway.  Pretty tight getting in with the truck.  People were already standing all over the yard.  How good was this place?  Rich dropped me off and went to park. I figured I could get our names on the list for a table.

I walked in behind someone with a crowd of 10.  I was pretty sure it was going to be a while to get a table.  The lady informed me that she just had a table for 2 open up and to let her know when Rich came in.  It took him a few minutes, but we were seated right away.

We got seated and drinks were served.  We chose our chicken meals from the menu.  Now to wait.  Steve Stuart at work had told Rich about this place.  He said it was not to be missed.  The chicken was awesome.  Pretty quickly, the chicken came out.  Everything is served family style so there were bowls and platters all over the place.  Now being the Southern I like to claim, I got chicken livers.  Rich went for dark meat chicken.  We ate until it came out our ears.  Then the waitress brought out the most awesome cinnamon rolls.  There were actually like cinnamon cakes rolled in brown sugar.  I couldn’t stop.

With dinner over, we wondered the grounds a little bit looking at the gardens, the lake, and some the cute buildings.  Now it was really time to get back to our day as tourists.

The National Trails Museum was open.  It was small, but contains a lot of information.  We watched a video on the trails and their orgins.  The first exhibit covered Lewis and Clark in the area.  Then it went on to the major trails.  There were diary comments, items from each trail, and stories.  I learned a few more things I didn’t know.  We walked around looking at exhibits, reading diary entries, and just learning more about the push west.

After the museum, we talked about our next move.  There was the Harry Truman home and library in town.  Rich decided he just wasn’t a Presidential type of guy.  I remembered that one of the neighboring towns had a Civil War battlefield.  We decided to check this out.  So we drove out to Lexington.  The town was tiny.  I just didn’t see what there was to fight over.  But it was the gateway to Kansas City and the way west.

We stopped at the Anderson House site first.  No much to see.  Then we drove up to the top of the hill to the battlefield itself.  This is called the Battlefield of the Hemp Bale.  The Confederate guard of the town had the task of keeping the Union forces out of Lexington and to keep them from moving further west.  Unfortunately, it was a small garrison.  They stacked hemp bales at the bottom of the hill overlooking the river.  Once they ran out of ammunition, they resorted to setting the hemp bales on fire.

Even this didn’t help them.  They ended up surrending to the Union.  Five soldiers were buried at the top of the hill.  There is a marker there commerorating the event and their loss.  We walked around the path that takes you through the field and around the top of the hill.  You can still see the outline of the fortications at the top of the hill.  The view to the Missouri River is pretty much obscured by trees.  At that time, they could see the river from this location.

By this time, it was warm and steamy.  The rains as held off and the temperature was getting up into the mid 80s.  We headed back into town.  As I drove the country road, a police officer fell in behind me from one of the roads.  I was nervous, even though I hadn’t done anything to make him think I needed to be pulled over.  It’s just that you never drive quite normal on an unfamiliar road.

As I went through a set of curves, we went by a car down in the ditch.  The driver’s door was open and the airbags were blown.  Yep, I bet someone didn’t make it through that curve last night.  The officer stopped to investigate.  That left me free to get back to town.

So being in the Kansas City area, Rich just had to try the BBQ.  There was a local place just down from the hotel.  I had seen pretty good reviews, but Rich saw one bad one.  He just wasn’t sure about trying it.  It was getting late, so he decided it was the place.  We walked in and it smelled wonderful.  He ordered pulled pork and a rib sampler.  It was good.  I like KC BBQ and they did a nice job.

Now it was time to go back and get ready for the evening.  We were headed to The Trouser Mouse Bar and Grill for the Trampled Under Foot listening party.  Doors opened at 6:00 and the listening was scheduled for 7:00 with the band taking the stage at 8:30.  We got their about quarter after 6:00.  A few cars were already there.  There was a car from Ohio and even another car from Illinois.  So we weren’t going to take the prize for furthest drive.

At the door, we gave them Rich’s name and luckily, we were on the list.  I told the guy at the door where we had come from.  He smiled and said there were people from all over coming in for the party today.  It looked like maybe 100 people on the list.

We found a table and ordered up drinks.  I saw Nick, Kris and Danielle circulating through the crowd.  We had eaten so much over the course of the day, there was no way I had room to eat here.  Pretty soon, a guy named Ryan introduced himself, the bar, and started the CD.  We all sat and listened.  It was very cool to be among the first to hear it.  And the music was awesome.  Rich felt vindicated.  He had written to tell them to put, “It’s a Man’s World” on their next CD and they did.  Danielle was in wonderful voice for that track.

After listening to the CD, Trampled Under Foot (TuF to their fans) took the stage.  Danielle explained that they would’t be playing from the CD, but wanted to cover other things they had done.  They played songs their long-time fans in the area knew.  At one point, Danielle came back to the stage with a lighter and announced that it was the owner’s birthday and they even had a cake for her.  We sang “Happy Birthday” to Angel.

At the end of the set, the crowd was calling for one last song. And the band came back to do a Led Zeppelin song.  TuF started out as a Led Zeppelin cover band as they were getting started on their way to blues.  It paid the bills.  However, they do such a great job with the covers, I can see why they were so popular.

Then the night was over.  We made our way back to the hotel to crash for the night.  It was definitely worth the drive to see my favorite blues band in their hometown atmosphere.  The venue was small as was the crowd.  What a great way to see a great band.  Long live TuF.  Get out there and buy a CD after July 9.  You’ll love it.

Pictures to follow.  Tired tonight.