After Terry’s appointment at St. Luke’s Hospital, he spent an hour or so in my office while I wrapped work up. We debated the merits of a couple of barbecue places he wanted to try on the way home from the Country Club Plaza. If I’d known how much ‘fun’ it was going to be getting home from North Kansas City, Missouri (to Lansing, Kansas), I might have voiced a louder opinion about his other suggestion.
Taking the scenic construction route east from the Plaza Library along Volker to US-71 North, and a second more leisurely scenic byway through the construction zone along the I-29/I-35 bridge across the Missouri River, we found ourselves exiting onto Bedford Avenue which deposited us in a railroad track infested industrial area. We gingerly navigated the railroad crossings and arrived to front row street parking before the Smokin’ Guns BBQ establishment.
Terry ordered the burnt ends platter (reasonably priced at just a bit over ten bucks) and I wanted to order a quarter of chicken, but was informed they were out of chicken for today. So, I had to quickly review the menu and settle for a regular sized turkey sandwich with a side of green beans. Terry’s sides included baked beans and potato salad.
We seated our selves in the very clean but still slightly small eating area with the cliche’d red and white checked plastic table clothes. We were served within a couple of minutes of getting our drinks. My turkey was flavorful and moist. The green beans disappointingly bland but very hot (temperature wise, not spice-wise). They could have used some pepper and some ham or bacon as the white onions were more garnishment than flavor.
I tried a bit of Terry’s burnt ends and found them acceptable but not as sweet as I had expected. The baked beans had a slightly smokey flavor, but nothing that exploded or excited my taste buds. I’ll pass on the potato salad as I’m not sure it was made in house.
Neither one of us could finish our portions (nothing unusual there, I’m on a diet and Terry’s medicines often cause his digestive system to suffer). Our return trip was an adventure, since Smokin’ Guns was located in a ‘peninsula’ of the Missouri River (almost surrounded on three sides by the river) and I needed to go almost due west to get to Lansing, which is impossible if you look at a map and where the roads lead from that area.
So we took another scenic route north using 9 highway up through Parkville. I only made one wrong turn (left on Main Street in Parkville) and dead-ended to a railroad crossing (with a train racing me to the road) near the Farmer’s Market pavilion. I turned around and headed up the hill on Main Street, eventually reuniting with 9 highway, which I somehow left in one of the construction zones.
From there, it was a quick jaunt through more police directed traffic constructions zone on 45 highway west. We finally spied I-435 and zipped back over the Missouri River to the Land of Ahs (aka Kansas) and enjoyed K-5, the sunset and the autumn foliage. I retrieved the Firebird from the Hallmark parking lot and still managed to make it back home as Terry was pulling into the garage.
Construction zone headaches aside, Smokin’ Guns BBQ will not be on our return list in the near future. It’s Kansas City … so many barbecue joints, so little time.
