Last year we introduced you to our lovely friend Alli with her guest post on family travel tips!  She’s the founder of Lazarus Ministries, a non-profit that works with the homeless communities in Atlanta and Washington DC, where Alli lives with her husband Joe and adorable son Jack. Read on to hear about their recent amazing road trip and quest to visit all 50 states in the US. You will love her Midwest story!

Alli’s Midwest Road Trip

It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see. – Henry David Thoreau

I was sitting with friends and explaining our upcoming road trip to the Midwest over 6 days and the biggest question was “Why?” Why go from Atlanta to St. Louis, MO, to Kansas City, KS to Omaha, NE to Sioux Falls, SD to Fargo, ND to Stockholm, WI to Manchester, IA back to Washington, DC in 6 days with a 20 month old? The answer was to see, experience, and know. My husband, Joe,  and I want to see all 50 states and so since we could, we did.

My son, Jack, and I picked up my husband at the airport in Chattanooga on Friday evening. Our goal was to get to Kansas City to visit our friend, Brigit, on Saturday. We wanted to have lunch in St. Louis on our way and so we spent the night in Kentucky at a Super 8 right off the highway. Saturday morning dawned beautiful and bright and with “Holiday Road” from National Lampoon’s Vacation on and we were ready to see and experience.

On road trips, we have a pretty good rhythm with our son. He usually sleeps during the first leg of the trip until around lunch. So Jack slept most of the morning as we drove to St. Louis to have lunch. We could not have picked a worse time to have lunch especially near the Arch. They had 2 major events and parking was difficult and restaurants were packed. We almost gave up but we persevered and found a table outside on a beautiful day at Morgan Street Brewery on 2nd Street. Joe and I love to try flights of beer and local beers (don’t worry, we are wise when driving….it was my turn to drive so I only had tastes) and we had a great time at Morgan Street.

We arrived in Kansas City in the late afternoon and after getting settled at our friend’s house, we decided to eat at Joe’s Kansas City BBQ. It was everything we had hoped for. It was a gas station and convenience store and had a line out the door. The long line was moving fairly quickly and it was some of the most delicious BBQ we have ever had and we even filled up the car.

The next morning, we started our next leg of the trip hoping to spend the night  in Sioux Falls, SD and stopping and spending a few hours in Omaha, NE. Our son slept most of the drive to Omaha and when we arrived we headed to the recommended Old Market to explore. We were all hungry and decided to eat at Upstream Brewery. They have a rooftop patio and the staff was friendly. There are two things you must try if you ever find yourself in Omaha- their home brewed root beer and the hot artichoke and asiago cheese dip. After eating, we walked around and shopped. A street performer named Mike asked us what Jack’s favorite song was and wanted to play it on his saxophone. As soon as we told him, Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” filled the air and as did Jack’s joyful squeals.

After falling in love with the Old Market and Omaha, we decided to settle in and drive to Sioux Falls, SD. As Jack played and read books in his car seat, I began looking up hotels in Sioux Falls. I wanted to stay by the Big Sioux River and we were able to book at the Hilton Garden Inn. We arrived around 8:30 pm and wanted to Jack to bed. Needing a quick dinner and really wanting salads, we ended up with pizza because salads were hard to come by.

In the morning, we decided to go to Josiah’s Coffeehouse for breakfast. This had a special meaning to us because on the way to Sioux Falls we found out that our friends ten year old son, Josiah, was put on hospice and his brain cancer was going to be terminal. I woke up with weight of the news and thoughts to my friend. We were able to get Josiah a mug and take a picture of the coffee shop near our hotel that bears his name.

Our next stop was Fargo, ND. One thing on Interstate 29 that I loved was a black and white sign that said “Do Your Best”. I am not usually a fan of billboards but I loved that one. North Dakota is known for its inspirational billboards.

Fargo in the late afternoon on a Monday was a bit of a disappointment. Not many places were open and we were able to find food that we could also bring Jack in but all in all we walked around to a lot of closed businesses.

We spent the night outside of Minneapolis with the hopes of heading to Wisconsin the next day. I grew up a Little House on the Prairie fan and so I really wanted to go to the birthplace of Laura Ingalls Wilder in Pepin, WI. After going to the cabin where she was born, we decided to go have lunch in Stockholm, WI. We especially wanted to have legitimate cheese curds and Gelly’s Pub and Brew(soon to be Lena’s Lucky Star) delivered. My goodness, it was so good. We then walked around and enjoyed desserts at Stockholm pie and general store and played in a park near the Mississippi River.

Then we were on our way to Manchester, Iowa to visit our friend Lisa. She wanted to meet about 45 minutes from Manchester at the Irish Shanti in Elgin, Iowa. My husband ordered the corned beef burger and was pleasantly surprised when it was a burger with corned beef on top of the burger! #meatsweats! We were so full with  delicious food and ironically, no corn.

In the morning, we walked around Manchester. My friend, Lisa, showed us around the downtown which was the epitome of Americana. It has a movie theater that shows two movies, the brewery, the Courthouse, and the riverfront park. I honestly expected Leslie Knope to show up and offer me waffles. All of it was so inviting, picturesque.

As we prepared to leave, it was recommended that we stop in Dyersville to visit the Field of Dreams movie site. It was a Wednesday morning and only a couple of people were there. We bought a baseball from the souvenir stand and played a fake game and ran around the bases. My husband played catch with our son and was near smiling ear to ear to have that memory. Yes, we were dirty from playing and it was worth every second.

From there, we were headed back home to Washington, DC. I will always be grateful for the time we took to see the Midwest and all its charm. To know that Monday afternoon is not the best time to be in Fargo, ND. To know if in Elgin, Iowa a corned beef burger is not a burger made of corned beef but a burger with corned beef on top. To see the slight fog above the Great Sioux River in the morning. To know, to experience, to look and truly see.

Thanks to Alli for guest posting for us again! We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.