Weston offers a refreshing, short getaway
Kaity Holtman
My husband and I spent this past weekend in Kansas City and Weston. That’s about as far as our “summer vacation” gets us this year, with the exception of a trip to the Lake of the Ozarks with friends in a couple weeks.
The trip was meant as an anniversary gift to one another. Ever since we did the big declutter project back in January, we’ve been focusing on experiences rather than material things.
We started the weekend with some of Matt’s family at the Friday night Royals game for “Mizzou Night at the K.”
It was evident that night how much popularity the Royals have gained over the last year. When we went to Mizzou Night last year, we walked in, picked up a black-and-gold KC hat, and went to our seats.
This year, we were told to go in Gate B (centerfield) to get our hats. There was a line this year. We walked all the way up the spirals, and then found the end of the line past the third-base-line gate.
It’s great to see this popularity, don’t get me wrong.
But the process better get more efficient next year, after we win the World Series this year.
We stayed in Liberty that night and did some shopping in Kansas City Saturday morning. We made it to Weston around lunchtime.
What an adorable town!
Not a chain store in sight. We chose a barbecue restaurant right on Main Street called Tin Kitchen. It was delicious and unique.
After lunch, we checked into our hotel, the St. George Hotel, which was right across the street from the restaurant.
Aside from the one hotel, Weston boasts a number of bed and breakfasts. But the concept of a bed and breakfast weirded Matt out a lot, and me a little.
We were lucky we even got to go.
We’d called a couple weeks ago to reserve a room, and they were all booked up. And it appears they and the B&Bs book up quite far out. We were put on the waiting list and got a call that they had an opening. The trip was back on.
That afternoon, we made a loop up and down Main Street. Shop after shop, after shop, we found antiques, boutique clothing, home décor, candles, pottery, and the list goes on. (Matt stayed outside if the store was too girly.)
There was even a place called The Farmers’ House, where they sell products created at a working farm where children, youth and young adults with developmental disabilities live, work, play and grow. This store was very cool, and we drove by the actual farm on our way out of town.
Later that afternoon, we found our way to Pirtle Winery, which is in an old Lutheran Evangelical Church built by German immigrants in 1867. It was very quaint, with a lot of old charm.
But it has been redone very nicely, with a wine tasting room, a cool basement with tables, and an outdoor covered patio perfect for enjoying time as a couple, or with a large group.
That evening, we walked through a small car show on Main Street and ate at O’Malley’s Irish Pub, which was very good, and we sampled a wide variety of beers brewed at the Weston Brewing Company across the street.
O’Malley’s also has two awesome underground bars — a bigger area with a live band, more of a party scene, and another smaller one with a single Irish musician with a great sense of humor. That’s where we hung out all night. We loved the quaint, personal feel of it.
We found a beautiful Catholic church up the hill on Sunday morning, enjoyed breakfast at the restaurant in our hotel and headed home.
It was a nice little getaway that was just a little over an hour from our house.
Weekend getaways like that are all over the place if we open our eyes. And it’s nice to leave a vacation and only have an hour’s drive home.
Plus, seeing that historic downtown booming and revitalized made me really excited for what the Maryville Downtown Improvement Organization has coming down the pipeline.
With Missouri Mainstreet’s guidance, I believe we can turn downtown Maryville into an exciting place for locals and visitors alike.
