Summer Vacation 2025 — Missouri & Kentucky
FINALLY getting around to putting this post together sharing about my family’s summer vacation to Missouri & Kentucky! It was by far one of the most laid back + peaceful vacations we’ve ever had & it was really wonderful.
If you know me at all, you know I’m mega organized & I love it so I thought I’d kind of walk you through our trip / itinerary & give ya all the links to things in case you want to use our trip for a reference!
I dropped Piper off to be boarded at the local vet while we were gone. Poor girl tried to walk out the door with me to get back in the car. Even though I know she was so well taken care of, it was still sad!
On our first day of travel, we stopped in Kansas City for lunch at The Brick. My sisters shared a deep fried bacon-wrapped hotdog & said it was amazing!
We drove on to St. Louis where my brother has been living since he graduated from college in May. He recently got a new kitten & we were all straight up smitten with her!!!
It was so good to be all together again!
We went out to dinner together at Salt + Smoke BBQ. We had the most amazing deviled egg appetizers & the BBQ was some of the best we’d ever had!
Afterwards we took a little walk to see the arch. That night, we stayed in a little airbnb above a bar. We were very thankful that we only stayed there one night because it was pretty rough. The place itself was pretty cute, but things were pretty dirty (I’m talking weird stains on the pull-out couch), lamps didn’t have lightbulbs, the smoke detector batteries needed changed, etc. We could hear loud music & very loud singing until the bar closed at 2am (they had mentioned you could hear some noises, but didn’t disclose how truly loud it is). I’ll link it for you here if you’re interested, but I personally wouldn’t recommend it.
The next morning, we started our drive to Kentucky. It rained off & on which made for such a peaceful ride.
Traveling fuel.
We stopped for lunch at Merle’s Whiskey Kitchen in Louisville.
I can’t even explain how amazing the views were.
Pictures truly don’t do it justice.
We were so tired after such a long day of traveling, so a super comfy bed + some time to read was on the agenda.
The next morning, we went to church at The Creek Church, followed by brunch at Local Honey. So darling! There are three types of Rice girls… a bloody mary, an espresso martini & a peaches & cream martini. The breakfast charcuterie board & chocolate zeppoles were AMAZING! I stepped out of my comfort zone & tried lobster benedict & it was one of my favorite meals out of the whole trip!
After church & brunch, we grabbed some groceries & went back to the cabin for some lake time!
For those of you that have been following my smirnoff ice obsession lately, this green apple one is now also a top fav!
The perfect ending to our day.
The next morning, we got up bright & early & had breakfast on the go. I’ve never had Chick-fil-A’s cold brew before, but it was really good!
We spent the morning at Noah’s Ark! I was obsessed with all the landscaping + animal topiaries. We learned so much that we had no idea we were missing out on.
Afterwards we had lunch at Wallace Station.
Being on vacation with my sister, Bethany, means a lot of shark week content.
Spent almost every evening reading on the deck.
Bethany & I got cookie jar cold brews from Love Is Real Wellness Coffee Shop & it was DELICIOUS!
Followed by lunch at The Wrigley.
Then spent the afternoon on the lake!
We had Sauced Pizza for our last dinner on the lake.
My biggest nightmare in bug form that we found in our floatie tub!
Another evening spent reading on the deck.
We left the cabin bright & early to get on the road. The end of vacation is always a bittersweet feeling.
We drove all. day. long. & rewarded ourselves with a yummy dinner at The Black Sheep. We tried all the fries & got shakes as well. Mine was by far the best oreo shake I’ve ever had!
We finally made it to our little farmhouse airbnb for the night & I was pretty sure I could’ve stayed there forever. Here is the link for this stay.
My sisters & I already decided we will be coming back for a sister spring break trip!
Thank goodness it was only a 4.5 hour drive to make it the rest of the way home. I was so excited to get back to Piper!!!
A season full of rest + healing was just what I needed. Summer 2025, you were good to me. Psalm 62:1
We had the absolute best time!! If any of y’all go to these areas in Missouri or Kentucky & use any of our recommendations, I hope you love them as much as we did! :)
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