1.5

As I sit here in our amazing Arts and Crafts style house- sipping my freshly made Aviation cocktail, my Yorkie resting at my feet, and Cristin napping on the couch- I think of the amazing day we had cycling and eating/drinking in Smithville, Missouri. We spent the morning apart: Cristin, working on her Owl + Mouse stylings; me, studying diligently for the NCLEX. We rejoined somewhere in between, packed up our bikes, and headed North to Smithville Lake.






The map ETA reads 40 minutes. I, of course, made our destination in sub 30. Winding through rural two lane roads with sails on the roof of my '07 made for a technical drive…

We arrived at our destination, and it was gorgeous.



Cristin and I dismounted our bikes and hit the trails…




[Warby Parkers keeping my eyes shaded]











We worked up quite the appetite and decided to head to our favorite- and only- haunt in Smithville, Justus Drugstore. Justus is known for keeping loyal to the local/natural/organic ethos of real cooking, so much so that they obtain all their goods within a several mile radius. Local legends such as Shatto supply all their dairy, and a variety of nearby farms stock the remaining goods. Furthermore, their resident bartender has won the Kansas City bartending championship several times over. To be honest, he's actually a botanist by trade and keeps an incredible garden on the restaurant's property. He can be seen picking herbs and flowers for cocktails all throughout the evening. I digress… all you need to know about Justus Drugstore, is that whenever we are fixing to have a really nice night out, this is place with which we turn.

Once we took our seats outside, naturally, we started with a couple cocktails. Cristin ordered the Contessa:

[Grape blossom-infused Cognac, house-made dry vermouth, Aperol; stirred, and served on the rocks with a juniper sprig]

I sided with the St. George:



[House-infused berry vodka, house rose petal liquor, Ceylon cinnamon tincture, stirred and served with a burnt orange twist]

The hunger brought on by our 5+ miles of winding trails prompted us to order a starter of fried zucchini with house-made soy sauce…



After engulfing said starter and basking in the ridiculously pompous conversations from the adjacent table (50-60 somethings, "The Foo Fighters are so popular right now… did you hear…?" as they sipped their wine and spoke about how they befriend the KC elite) we received our entrees! Cristin ordered the pulled pork special with fig jam and slaw…


I chose the ever so delectable Kobe beef burger…


Apparently, the ride from earlier manifested in our appetites because these monstrous plates were downed in no time. When in Rome… we ordered more cocktails:

[Left: (Me) Sage Advice- Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy, Scarlet sumac-infused bourbon, house-smoked sage and honey liquor; stirred, and served up with fresh sage…
Right: (Cristin) So Help Me- Corrido Reposado tequila, house-Thai basil liquor, Fence Stile "French Enchantment" Concord wine; stirred, and served up and rimmed with Thai-basil pepper salt]

As if a starter, hearty entrees, and two rounds of cocktails wasn't enough, we decided to go with their desert du jour…

[Some amazing apple crisp with butterscotch syrup and ice cream and crumbles and caramel and cream... oh my gosh..]

We cleaned the remainder of our dessert and said goodbye to Justus and Smithville for the evening...


We decided to make a pass by the new Kauffman Center For The Performing Arts on our way home:

[Yeah, it's pretty amazing!]

I couldn't have thought of a more enjoyable way to spend the celebration of 1.5 years together. Here's to many, many more!