Ft. Scott Ks...again

If you have never been to the Ft. Scott, KS citywide garage sale then you are missing a fun day.  Barbara, sister, Kathy, sil, and I spent 4 hrs. following the city map/listing for a morning of laughter, shopping, looking around, and, most of all, finding a treasure or two.

We played cards, the 'boys' fished, Charlie cooked us all some french toast, we gabbed and laughed, and we went out to eat.  One night we ate at the Nu-Grille at 24 N. National.  This place has the absolute best broasted chicken I have ever eaten!!!!!!!!!  We all shared an order of onion rings and it is large enough to give us all a generous sampling, as well as being just plain delicious.  We all recommend it with many, many stars.  We also ate at the Sugarfoot & Peaches BBQ, which was good (the beans are excellent!) but not close to Oklahoma Joe's in Olathe.  The ribs were tough and the air was so heavy with 'smoke' that it was bothering the eyes of a few.

Hunt for a town within two hours of where you live and go explore, try new local restaurants and find out about it's history.  If you're in Kansas join the Kansas Explorers!

24 Hrs. With the Siblings!

What a great time!  I, and hubby Don, spent 24 hrs. at Ft. Scott Lake near Ft. Scott, Kansas which is about 11/2 hrs. from Olathe.  Brother Richard and his wife, Kathy, bought this house with their daughter, Amy, and Amy's husband Jay.  So...we were there with Richard, Kathy, sister Barbara and her husband Charles; six in all. (Plus Richard and Kathy were dogsitting Matilda, a sweet little dog even though I am not a dog person.)  Anyway, the house has three bedrooms all with their own bathroom, it's comfortable and oh so easy to make ourselves at home.

Barbara on the dock taking pictures.  She doesn't know I have this one. haha.  In the foreground is sweet little Matilda.

A closer view of the lake side of the house with Barbara making a big entrance.  As you can see the previous owners did a lot of landscaping with huge slabs of what I guess is limestone.

A long view from the dock and that's Kathy sitting on the rocks.
It's really a shame I didn't get photos of the inside.  We had a good time; we played cards, watched a little TV, ate tacos and snacks and cake and snacks and snacks and in the morning we had sausage, gravy and biscuits.  I'm sure we all gained a pound or two in 24 hrs.  We're going to visit again very soon.

Barbara, Charles, hubby Don and I left around 1:30 to go have lunch in Ft Scott before heading home.
If any of you have the chance to visit Ft. Scott just know that it is a nice town with many interesting things to do and see, especially Historic Ft. Scott, the several antique stores, and the very old military cemetery.

This was a perfect example of sharing good times with siblings and enjoying each other now that our kids are all grown and out on their own.  Children, God Bless them, do tend to add an element to an outing that can be a bit of a strain regardless how active, well-behaved, or engaging the children.  Being empty-nesters and senior citizens does have it's perks and I think it can be summed up as just plain freedom!

The Stonewall Inn, Lenexa

Due to all sorts of conflicting plans and timeframes, my birthday dinner was a week early.  I'm glad about that because now I get to stretch this whole celebration out for a week or more!  In my family the birthday person gets to pick the restaurant and I try to pick someplace new.  I had seen ads, in the JoCo Gazzette, for the Stonewall Inn in Lenexa, Ks and I've always wondered about it so that's the restaurant I picked.

The Stonewall Inn reminded me of some of the neighborhood gasthauses that are everywhere in Germany.  It was bustling with people, the food was delicious and plentiful, the setting was vintage and warm and comforting.  Everyone enjoyed their choices for dinner; smoked apple pork chops, chicken livers, medium rare plank steak with mashed potatoes or fries and green beans or corn.  There is a variety of items on the menu, most of which is $8.95.  A very fresh and delicious dinner salad is $2.50.

The Stonewall Inn has a pizza place on the property and it was equally busy.  I think I might like to try their pizza sometime.  The patrons of both establishments seemed to be open and friendly to everyone else.
I recommend the Stonewall Inn for whenever you feel like relaxing, talking and eating comfort food.

Just as a side note:  My birthday presents included an indoor/outdoor push broom so I can get rid of snow as it falls, and a pair of safety glasses for working in the yard.  Practical!  I love it!

Today was a busy day. It started with a meeting of the Olathe Med Center Ambassadors which was followed up with the Ambassadors luncheon. It's always good to attend these volunteer functions and talk with some of the other volunteers, learn what's going on, and just enjoy the time. Along with my regular times I'm going to help with the jewelry sale in Feb. This will be my first time with that function and I just may get myself something while I'm there. Also, I signed up to help with the blood bank blood drive. I've done this before and it's one of those endeavors that gives a lot of interaction and satisfaction. Volunteering is good for everyone and I especially enjoy helping at the hospital.

This evening we met my sister, Barbara, and her husband, Charlie, along with my brother, Richard, and his wife, Kathy, for some supper at a new Chinese buffet here in Olathe. The new place is called Wei Chinese Buffet and they specialize in Chinese/Japanese fare as well as Mongolian BBQ. Everything was quite fresh and everyone enjoyed what they had chosen. I had 3 types of sushi - all quite good, egg drop soup - it was okay, a variety of chick/veg dishes - all quite good, the Asian green beans - a constant favorite, poached salmon - very good and moist. We decided we will definitely go back to try some more items.

Spending time with sister and brother and spouses is always a lot of fun. We end up laughing about all sorts of stuff and teasing each other mercilessly. We learn things from each other, which is a definite bonus with aging. As we get older we tend to search out 'deals', offerings, bargains, ideas, tweaks, etc. and then share them with others of the same generation. Younger folks just don't seem quite so interested in learning all these mundane things. I'll bet we spent 30 minutes discussing the pros and cons of airport parking vs hotel parking vs super shuttle.
Ahhhhh...see what all there is to look forward to...