17th Annual Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival

Greetings friends! I though I would stop by this early morning and share a few FUN photos from the 17th Annual Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival. This past weekend, we took a road trip up to Iowa to see the BEST of friends and attend the 2025 Bacon Festival. Over the the last 17 years, we have made it to almost every Bacon Fest...and even though we made the move to Kansas City, we still make the annual trip back "home" for this event each year. This year the bacon festivities were held indoors at the Iowa State Fairgrounds Agriculture Building. Our group had a VIP table/tickets for the event...and we were able to attend an hour earlier than the general public. We made so many memories over the weekend...we arrived in Des Moines on Friday evening and our Iowa friends (I call them family) had a big party and we were able to see almost everyone (including two new additions - babies that were born the last year!). Then, we spent all day Saturday at Bacon Fest. The theme this year was The Bacon Boat - and the costume contest was filled with characters from the original Love Boat television show - the winners were a group that included Captain Stubing, Julie McCoy, and Isaac Washington (there's a throwback cast list for you). There was axe throwing, all sorts of photo ops, my yearly photo with the bacon belt, a silent disco, lots of live music (Yachty by Nature!), all sorts of bacon food dishes, tasty beverages, a bacon eating contest, and the best people watching around...and did I mention, all the bacon you can eat! We finished the day by visiting two local bars and laughing into the wee hours. It was the BEST two days with my Iowa family...including ending day two by cramming nine adults into one Traverse (last time is was 10 adults into one Suburban). I couldn't have asked for a better road trip and I am already looking forward to next year! Sadly, Sunday we made the drive back to Kansas City...but the whirlwind trip was so good for my soul. We made it back home just in time to head out to Children's Mercy Park for a Sporting KC MLS soccer game (it was Star Wars night!)...it was a jam packed weekend. Here are a few favorite photos from the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival...

Happy in Hermann

Greetings friends! I thought I would pop in for a visit on a Sunday night. My husband and I returned earlier today from a long weekend in Hermann, Missouri and I thought I would share a plethora of photos from our trip.  Hermann is picturebook village in the Missouri River Valley that is known as Missouri Wine Country. A lovely small town that we like to visit once a year to unplug and unwind. We rented a lovely little Airbnb cottage downtown, where we could walk to all the restaurants and shopping and a quiet, quaint, little craft cocktail bar that we have found to be a favorite place. There are wonderful wineries throughout the area and we enjoy taking the trolley for a day to visit each one (it is hop on and hop off)....and it drops us off right at our lodging at the end of the day. 

This year, we decided to take The Shire Experience at Hermann Farm (one of my very favorite places) and get up close and personal with the shire draft horses. My husband and I were the only people on the tour, which made it an incredible experience. The Hermann Farm handlers and trainers showed us about the care, harnessing and driving of these magnificent horses - and then we were able to take a four-seat surrey (fancy farm wagon) ride pulled by the shire horses around the incredible 200 acre property. I was amazed at how much time we were able to spend with the shire horses and they were extremely affectionate and powerful at the same time. The farm also houses a draft mule and several sheep that we saw grazing on our ride around the farm. I loved this experience so much, it was a very special day.

While in Hermann, we also enjoyed wonderful food and wine, took several walks along the Missouri riverfront, and recharged. I really needed a break before the next month. As I mentioned in a previous post, I found out a couple weeks ago I would be taking a trip overseas with my parents in September. We are headed to Paris and London (a trip I never thought I would be taking in my lifetime!). We are going to be visiting some incredible places and I am thrilled I get to spend quality time with them for few weeks. It wasn't on my bingo card to be out of the country for a couple weeks (so soon!) and I am scrambling a bit to accomplish everything I need to do before we leave. The old saying - work hard, play hard. So, the Hermann trip was a restful few days away with my husband, before I am in a work frenzy.

As promised, here are some of my favorite sights from our trip...

I hope you enjoyed this trip to Hermann, MO through my camera lens. I will be back with more creative posts very soon! Have a great week and make time to do something special...