Beer and Barbecue in Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City, here we come – let the cross country, road trip begin! We have been looking forward to this trip all year!

We hit the road Friday at 11 am, getting an earlier start than planned for the first leg of our trip. Google Maps told us it would be just under 6 ½ hours of drive time until we would arrive at the campground in Independence, MO, just outside of Kansas City.

We drove straight into 20 mph headwinds almost the entire way and our gas mileage was just awful; we averaged about 6 miles / gallon and had to stop nearly every 2 hours to refuel. Thank goodness for the Pilot Flying J app to show us where the nearest RV friendly gas stations are, and for the Good Sam discount on gas. I guess it was still cheaper than flying.

Sketchy Campground

We got to Stadium RV Park and Campground around 8:00 pm and were immediately … concerned … about the place. The campground was very run down and sketchy – it was more like a terrible trailer court (having spent my early childhood in a trailer court, I can absolutely say not all trailer courts are terrible, but this place was). The promised concrete pad was busted concrete, there was no picnic table, no fire ring. They had no website, but it is in the Good Sam network and the Google reviews were decent. It was the only campground in the area that allowed reservations over Memorial weekend without requiring a 3-night stay. The people working there were all so nice and helpful, I feel bad saying anything bad, but it was the worst place I’ve ever seen. We never felt unsafe and it was fine for 2 nights of sleeping, but I would not recommend anyone make a point of staying there.

Kansas City – Tornado Alley

It was raining pretty hard when we arrived, and while we were about halfway through our set up when I realized there was a siren blaring. You guessed it, it was a tornado warning. We ran back to the truck where the dogs were waiting, soaking wet and tried to track the storm via the weather channel on our phones. Of course, cell service was terrible so that wasn’t helpful. The local radio station was covering the warning in real time and it sounded very bad – the reports were naming local places and landmarks where the storm was the worst, but since we were from out of town, none of that meant much to us. Long story short, the worst of it was only about 5 miles south east of us, we had a green sky and downpour, but we dodged any damage. I tried Googling any dog-friendly inside places in the area, but even the dog-friendly patios were a 15 minute drive away, so we just waited the storm out inside the truck. IT WAS TERRIFYING.

I often say the best part of camping is taking home with me – but that means pretty much everything I care about is in this tiny, vulnerable trailer. Of course, I understand that shelters aren’t dog-friendly — obviously a storm can make even the best dog anxious and could easily lead to a dog fight. But I wasn’t about to leave the dogs alone in trailer left to fend for themselves, they’re my family.

The Danger has Passed, Someone Tell My Anxiety

Eventually the tornado warning ended, and we finished getting set up in the pouring rain. Dry clothes and beer in hand, we watched the local news for a while as the rain still came down in buckets. Even though we were dry, inside and safe, I just couldn’t relax, my anxiety was through the roof that night.

And, of course, after a storm comes the crushing humidity. When Jamey tried to turn the A/C on, it didn’t work. So, we spent the night with the windows open hoping the high winds stayed away.

A/C Repair

The next morning we tried all the suggestions from the owner’s manual to get the air conditioning working with no luck. And the forecast for our time in Texas was upper 90s, so living with out A/C wasn’t really an option but finding anyone available over the long holiday was virtually impossible. Since the camper is brand new, the first step was trying to find a Grand Design dealer for the work, but of course their service employees were on vacation. Thankfully, the woman who owns the campground had the name of a mobile RV repair guy who was able to come over and get us up and running. Grand Design will be getting an invoice.

Now Vacation Can Begin

Tornado’s passed, A/C working again, it was time to play tourist in Kansas City! The original plan was to take the dogs to Bar K and let Buddy run and play with the other dogs while we had a snack and a drink. But Buddy’s anxiety was still racing and just driving near the place he lost his darn mind. Unfortunately, we had to scrap that plan and instead took the dogs for a walk along the riverfront.

• 

• 

Once the dogs had burned off some energy, we took them to KC Bier Co and had a beer and pretzel on their patio (or biergarten). The beers here were pretty great, and the biergarten was a fun place to hangout. It was popular destination that day!

Big Rip Brewing Company, North Kansas City

Snack and one beer down, we headed over to Big Rip Brewing Company and had the chance to talk with Tabri, the taproom manager. This place also has a kiosk for Hawg Jaw Que & Brew so we could eat some of the best BBQ in Kansas City while sitting on the patio with the dogs and having a friendly chat. Does it get any better than that?

In addition to the great beers, they also offer liquor (um, catch up Minnesota!) so we had to try their vanilla infused vodka with root beer. MMMM, MMMM, MMMM, all the taste of childhood with the fun of adulthood!

View this post on Instagram

We had a great time visiting with @bigripbrewingco taproom manager, Tabri and her boyfriend Andy, and learning more about the brewery. 🍻 Big Rip is owned by Josh and Kipp (2 P’s!) and run by awesome women. In fact Tabri told us they only have one guy bartender, and he’s super, Uber, feminist! They’ve been brewing great beers here for six years. They’re getting ready for their anniversary party and are making a Cinnamon Roll Porter for the occasion. I wish we could have tried it, it sounds amazing! . The brewery also has a @hawgjawkcbbq kiosk so you can get tasty Kansas City barbecue while you’re there. Their patio is dog-friendly and is a great place to hangout and soak up some sun! . We got recommendations for a bunch more breweries we didn’t have time to visit, so I guess we’ll have to plan a longer trip back to the KC area! . . #drinklocal #craftbeer #getripped #beer #beerstagram #dogs #dogsofinstagram #brewdog #kansascity #womenincraft #womendrinkingbeer

A post shared by Sam & Jamey 🐶 Toby & Buddy (@wanderingweirdos_mn) on May 26, 2019 at 8:36am PDT

After a great chat with Tabri, we took the boys back to the camper and planned to bike on over to the brewery in Independence. Unfortunately, more storms were on the horizon, and to be honest, neither of us felt super safe biking through the part of town the campground was, so we called a Lyft (because we’re responsible!)

Apex Aleworks

Apex Aleworks brewery was not too far from the campground in Independence and has only been open for about a year. We got to talk with Jeremy, Josh and Ben here and got the lowdown on their goals. As Jeremy mentioned, they focus on brewing beer the way it’s meant to taste. If you try their Kolsch, it’ll taste like a classic Kolsch, not like something experimental. That’s not to say they don’t also have some of the more fun types of beers as well, I enjoyed the With Passion fruit beer!

We spent a happy couple of pints here before heading back and calling it a night before the long long road trip ahead of us.

View this post on Instagram

The craft beer scene can get pretty wild and experimental. Good, classic beer, like beer is supposed to taste is what @apex_aleworks specializes in. They still have some new, fun brews, too. This place has something for everyone. We really enjoyed visiting this brewery and chatting with the team and the customers. Unfortunately we ate before we visited because their paninis looked pretty tasty! Jamey made himself right at home here and had way too much fun posing with the logo sign. 🤣 We left with a long list of other breweries we should visit next time, because the craft beer industry is so supportive of each other. If you find yourself in Independence, MO you have to visit Apex Aleworks! 🍻 . . . #drinklocal #craftbeer #beer #beerstagram

A post shared by Sam & Jamey 🐶 Toby & Buddy (@wanderingweirdos_mn) on May 28, 2019 at 6:45am PDT

It was a very brief stay in Kansas City, and we obviously have to return to check out all the breweries were missed! It started off a with a rough night, but we had a lot of fun. Make sure you visit Big Rip or Apex Aleworks if you head that way!

But for now, we were on our way for the next stop: Arlington Texas. Spoiler alert: LONG DRIVE.