Classy Roadtrippin' with DohGyoung

This past week has been spring break. It's been a lovely much-needed break. I had a couple of plans to travel out of state, but they fell through. Having lived in a big city most of my life, albeit in a third-world country in Africa, I sometimes find myself feeling restless living in small-town Emporia, KS. Thankfully, one of my roommates and dear friends DohGyoung Ahn (Doh) has similar feelings as she grew up just outside of Seoul, South Korea. We both love Emporia, but we concluded we needed to get out of town for the day in order to appease our inner restlessness. We decided to spend the day in Kansas City, doing "classy cultural things"! 

We turned on some great tunes and "went to Kansas City on a Friday Wednesday." (Sorry, couldn't help the song reference.) 

First stop: Target! Of course! Melissa, I thought of you so much as I walked around.

Second stop: 1/2 Price Books! I warned Doh before we went inside that I could spend hours in a bookstore, but we managed to make it a relatively short stop and both left with books.

Third stop, after a couple of unforeseen detours: Chez Elle, a crêperie. We split a ham and cheese crêpe and a chocolate mousse crêpe. Of course we had to order something hot to drink as well, since it was still so chilly outside. Everything was delicious and the café was incredibly cute. It was a fun place to sit and visit.

Fourth stop: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. I had never been to an American art museum before and was very much looking forward to this new endeavor--especially since I was going with someone who is studying art and is an artist herself. I took advantage of her knowledge and asked her many many questions. We didn't get to even half of the museum, but spent a good two hours walking around. I pretended to know a lot about modern art. It's all individual interpretation, right?!

 Isn't she just beautiful?! 

(I'm referring to Doh, not Mary in the picture below!)

What made my day was stumbling upon a collection by Monet! I love Monet's paintings! I was thrilled!

 

Fifth Stop: Legends Shopping Mall! We had to take a momentary break at this time to rest and re-group. Doh wasn't feeling well (my driving in heavy traffic, maybe?) and we were a bit hungry. Panera just happened be the lucky spot! 

After some shopping, we decided it was time to head home. It was nearly 9:00, after all. On the way home, we had another mini-adventure. While going 75 mph on the interstate, one of my tires blew out. By God's grace, I didn't lose control of the car. We were still probably 50 miles outside of Emporia, so I called my wonderful Aunt Terry and asked her what we should do. To make a long story short, we managed to get in touch with someone in Emporia who graciously came out to change my tire. It was 27 degrees outside and at least 11:00 PM before we he managed to get it fixed. I was missing a certain tool, so he had to make do with what he had in his truck! Can you figure out what that is in the picture? 

Yep, that's right. It's a deer's antler. The state trooper who came to see if we were alright was very impressed. 

At 11:58 we pulled up to our house in good ol' Empo-town. What a day. We were completely exhausted, but thoroughly enjoyed our time in KC.