Indiana to Kansas City, trip day 2

We started out by journeying a half hour south of our hotel in Dale, Indiana to a historic site.  We were among the first visitors of the day at Abraham Lincoln's boyhood home, where he lived during his childhood after moving with his family, his father Thomas, mother Nancy, and older sister Sarah, from Kentucky.  The site was very nice, informative, and also very peaceful.  The NPS has done a great job to enlighten visitors about the formative years Lincoln spent in Indiana that made him the man he would later become.  The educational video shown in the visitors center was even narrated by Leonard Nimoy!  I would strongly encourage any interested in our 16th Presidents life to someday add this site to their "places to see" list.  It is less than a half hour from the interstate and took me and Sam just over an hour to experience everything they had to offer.  Sidenote:  It is also National Parks week, so we have been attending all the parks this week for free! (More to come)

We continued our journey along the Interstate to St. Louis, cruising at 60 MPH past the St. Louis arch, Mississippi River, Cardinals stadium, and the Rams stadium in quick succession.  We missed the exit to tour the arch because it came up so fast...we were a little disappointed but decided to just keep traveling forward.  Personally, crossing the Miss. River was a big one for me, and I felt as if now I had truly entered the west and left the east!  A few hours later we approached our destination:  the Oak Grove KOA Kampground.  Everyone at the campground was very friendly and our cabin was (as Sam says) "quaint and cute."  Once settling Herb and Charlie in their home for the night, we struck out toward Kansas City for a genuine KC BBQ meal.  Finding L.C's BBQ on a Google search of places visited by Man Vs. Food, we decided to head there based on a gut feeling that our bellies were about to be filled with a hearty, delicious, cholesterol filled meal.  The restaurant wasn't much to look at, but the smell inside was enough to make your mouth water.  The air was thick with smoke from the grill right behind the counter, and a line was quickly forming.  Sam ordered a pork sandwich, I ordered a beef sandwich, burnt ends (everyone in front of me did so I decided to go with the locals), and fried green beans.  Needless to say our eyes were bigger than our stomachs.

Leaving Kansas City very satisfied we returned to our cabin outside the city to rest up for the night.  After building a small campfire and sipping from a bottle of Missouri wine bought earlier that day, we turned in for the night ready for another adventure.