Kansas Road Trip 2013: Lewis and Clark at Kaw Point

This year during our annual Kansas Road Trip we finally made it to Kansas City, Kansas.  Since Kansas City straddles the state line, we actually spend most of our time in Kansas City, MO, and when we are on the Kansas side we tend to be in suburban areas like Overland Park and Johnson County.  This year we signed up for a haunted history tour in downtown Kansas City, KS, which meant we got to do some exploring in a new area of town.  If you've been following Josh and Joe Travels, you'll know that we do our fair share of ghost tours, so we'll be eager to show you some pictures from the tour in another post.  We even took some pictures in a haunted cemetery, so stay tuned to find out if Joe got a picture of a real ghost, or if Josh is right about it being dust or some kind of techie camera nonsense.

But before we got on the ghost tour bus, spooky as that seems, we drove around and finally made our way to Kaw Point, which is a spot on the river overlooking the Kansas City, MO, skyline.  This is really one of the prettiest views of the skyline we've found, but we still love the view from the war memorial near Crown Center.  Kaw Point is home to the Lewis and Clark memorial, and it is worth a look even if you are not going to the river to launch a boat or have picnic.  Native American history is very important in Kansas, and you can see it everywhere, so its worth stopping here to learn a little more about Kansas and Lewis and Clark.

We still have more to show you from our Kansas Road Trip, plus we're looking forward to January when Miss Georgetown Fair 2013 Danielle Brown heads to the state pageant in Springfield.  As Queen Danielle's official photographers we'll be posting lots of pictures of state week, so keep following your friends at Josh and Joe Travels!

Kansas Road Trip 2013: Moon Marble in Bonner Springs

Every year we visit Kansas City, and making a stop at Moon Marble in Bonner Springs has become a tradition.  Joe buys a handmade glass marble when we visit, and his collection is impressive!  If you are going to be near Bonner Springs during the holiday season, or if you are savvy enough to shop early, Moon Marble has a great selection of unique toys and gifts, sure to please any child or anyone on your list who is a child at heart.

Nearby Moon Marble is Bob's BBQ, where we had Friday night dinner during our 2013 trip.  Lately we've been staying at Legends where they have a lot of nice places to eat, but if you crave something local, Bonner Springs and Bob's BBQ can't be more than about 20 minutes from Legends, and the smoked corned beef is insanely good.  If you go to Bob's go put a pin on the map, and when you see a pin on the southern most point, you'll know you are on the same path as Josh and Joe Travels!

Kansas Road Trip 2013: Pirates at Union Station Kansas City

We've had lots of great adventures this year, but we always look forward to our annual road trip to Kansas.  This year we had a long list of places we wanted to hit during the trip, and we can't wait to show you some of the pictures from our newest explorations around KC.  And speaking of exploring, we couldn't resist another stop at the historic Union Station in Kansas City when we saw a gigantic pirate ship out front.

The Real Pirates exhibit by National Geographic at Union Station is billed as the world's first exhibition of authentic pirate treasure, and it sure did look cool.  We love Union Station and it is a definite must-see if you are visiting Kansas City. We talked a lot about Union Station in our blog post from last year, so you'll recognize Crown Center in the background and the skyline shot of the station taken from the war memorial.

We've got lots more to show you from our 2013 Kansas Road Trip, so keep reading to find out how to get the best out of a few days in Kansas City, just like Josh and Joe Travels!

Georgetown Fair Queen: Saturday Activities with Queen Danielle and her Court

Saturday at the Georgetown fair is always one of our busiest days, not just because of the number of activities, but because the entire court is with 2013 Georgetown Fair Queen Danielle Brown from early in the morning until late at night.  We got to the grounds before 9am just in time for the court to head off to hand out ribbons at a few last shows in the barns.  Queen Danielle got her start at the baby contest which is one of the biggest events at the fair.  We had a lot of fun this year at the Georgetown Fair and we can't wait to deliver albums to Queen Danielle and her court.  And we still have more pictures to show you right here at Josh and Joe Travels!

Georgetown Fair Queen: 2013 Pageant Evening Gown

This year twelve of the most beautiful and talented young women in the community competed in the 2013 Miss Georgetown Fair Queen Pageant.  On her way to being crowned the 2013 Georgetown Fair Queen, Danielle Brown competed with the other contestants in private interview, speech, on stage question, swimsuit, and evening gown.  Evening gown is one of our favorite parts of competition, and we were thrilled to see Cami Draper win the evening gown award at the 2013 Georgetown Fair Queen Pageant.  Keep watching for more pictures of the 2013 Georgetown Queen Pageant, plus pictures of 2013 Miss Georgetown Fair Danielle Brown and her court during fair week right here at Josh and Joe Travels!

Georgetown Fair Queen: Danielle Brown and Her Court at Ping Pong Drop

Ping pong drop at the Georgetown Fair has got to be one of the coolest things we've ever seen at a fair.  They get a helicopter to fly over the fairgrounds and drop ping pong balls, then kids scramble to collect enough to get a prize.  And then they do a series of drawings where kids can win a bike.  This is a pretty big deal based on the reactions of the winning kids, but don't take their word for it.  2013 Miss Georgetown 2nd Runner Up Jessica Meuhlher actually won a bike at the fair when she was a kid, and she talked about it this year when she was on hand to help draw the winners.

2013 Miss Georgetown Queen Danielle Brown's stop at Ping Pong Drop is just part of her week at the Georgetown Fair, and it's part of a really big day where the Georgetown Queen starts at the state fair for county fair day, then rushes home for Ping Pong Drop and Motocross at the Georgetown Fair.  We were lucky to spend a lot of time with Queen Danielle and her court this year, and even though the fair is now over we still have lots of pictures to share with you, so keep following the 2013 Georgetown Fair Queen right here at Josh and Joe Travels!

Georgetown Fair Queen: 2013 Queen Danielle Brown at the Illinois State Fair

On Friday, August 9th we traveled with 2013 Georgetown Fair Queen Danielle Brown to Springfield for county fair day at the Illinois State Fair. Queen Danielle got an early start because she had a television segment in Champaign before 6:00am.  Since we were traveling from Indianapolis we didn't make it to Illinois in time for the television segment, but once we got to the state fair and heard people talking about it, we knew our new queen must have looked great on TV.

The state county fair queen pageant director said there were over 70 queens this year and most of them were at county fair day.  We can believe that because Queen Danielle waited in a long line to get measured for her state opening number dress, and the line of queens, junior misses and little misses to introduce themselves on stage was even longer.  2013 Georgetown Fair Queen Danielle Brown got her picture taken with Illinois Agriculture Director Robert Flider and the state fair queen, and spent time chatting with the other fair queens she will see at the state pageant in January.

After the county fair day program Queen Danielle went to see the butter cow and make a few other stops on the state fair grounds.  Getting Miss Georgetown's picture is a tradition we've been thrilled to capture for the past few years, and this year the butter cow is a work in progress during the state fair.  Visitors told the state fair they wanted to see the butter cow being sculpted, so this year it is being crafted while the state fair is open.  We made a lot of stops on the state fair grounds, and it seemed like Queen Danielle knew just about everyone from her work in agriculture, either with FFA, at college or on the radio.  But when we asked Queen Danielle about her favorite moment at the state fair she didn't hesitate: while we didn't ride the sky ride, the Segway totally made her day.

Friday was a big day for 2013 Georgetown Fair Queen Danielle Brown, and she had a full night back at the Georgetown Fair with motocross and ping pong drop, so keep watching for more pictures right here at Josh and Joe Travels!