Last week, Turkey, Chickadee, and I had a new experience…we went on an academic road trip!

Turkey was headed to Columbia, MO, for an academic conference sponsored by the Missouri section of the Mathematical Association of America. I decided that his travels would provide Chickadee and me with the opportunity to travel on to Kansas City to visit a few museums, so it turned into a learning experience for all of us! We stayed at a Hampton Inn that was literally across the street from Mizzou (not the location of Turkey’s conference):

Since we were right there, Chickadee and I took an evening walk around the campus…it was beautiful and historic!

The next morning, we set out for KC, which is only about two hours away from Columbia. The main purpose of our visit was to tour the National WWI Museum and Memorial. It is easily one of the best museums I have ever been to, and very moving…full details to come!

When you buy a ticket to the museum, you can add on a trip to the top of the memorial tower to your purchase, which I didn’t realize until we were there. I couldn’t believe that it was only an additional three dollars, so of course we went up, and the view of the city was AMAZING!!!

After we toured the museum, we walked to Town-Topic Hamburgers, a Kansas City classic that has been around since the 1930s. They make an amazing burger, and some of the best onion rings I’ve ever had!

After lunch, we hopped on the KC Streetcar (free to ride!), and rode to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

After the drive back to Columbia, we stopped in at Hy-Vee, because I love checking out a local grocery store!

We grabbed breakfast from the hotel buffet before we checked out Saturday morning…the branded waffles really amused me!

While Turkey attended the last few sessions of his conference, Chickadee and I went to Rock Bridge Memorial State Park for a short hike and to explore a small cave:

And then we met up with Turkey at Columbia College before making the trip home.

This was an unprecedented school trip for us, and while I don’t know if it’s something we’ll ever be able to do again, I really enjoyed this opportunity!