Picking up from Monday morning, in Kansas City, after spending Sunday driving there from St. Louis: Smoothies at City Market Coffee; a good few hours at River Market Antiques; lunch at Waldo Pizza; Brass Armadillo; the drive to Lawrence; and checking in at our lovely Airbnb at 13th and Haskell, not far at all from our home of three years in Barker. There was so much we wanted to do in Lawrence that that night I actually made a list in my sketchbook of all the things we wanted to do, organized into columns for places to visit/walk, places to buy things, and places to eat, and then numbered in priority order and circled for our final choices 😂

Tuesday: A walk to the Secret Beach (not the same at all without Cody, and with the river so high); breakfast at Milton’s; Wonder Fair (such huge heart eyes for their new space); the Lawrence Antique Mall; gushing over my dream library, LPL; seeing my old work space and friend and coworker in Baldwin; Antiques on the Prairie (my all-time fave); visiting my everyday lunchtime hangout, the cemetery and its cows across the fence; the Douglas Fishing Lake, where we spent many a summer evening on our boat; and driving to our farm stay (you saw those pictures).

Wednesday: The KU Natural History Museum! And then – tattoos! We tried to get Free State on our way to Lucas, but they had just stopped making Wheat State Golden?! (Our wedding beer!) So we got cheddar ale soup to go. Then Lucas – those pictures here.

Thursday: On the way from Lucas to Weston, we stopped in Lawrence one last time to see what the Baker Wetlands look like now. Very different! I miss them so much. The new Discovery Center there looks really neat. And of course, the sky/clouds/sunsets are amazing as ever.

It was such a huge relief to feel like Lawrence is exactly the way we left it over three years ago (four years ago at the end of this month!). Being there, I seriously felt like I had just lived there yesterday. In my experience, not many places have felt that way. I’d really like to make it a priority visit Lawrence every three years or so. It really is such a special place to us, somewhere I’d definitely like my hypothetical child to know well. Until next time, LFK!