The Talbots: Kansas City, MO...

We arrived sometime in the evening on June 18th in Kansas City, MO. We stayed at the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott and had room 435 for $142.42 for the night. It was a pretty nice hotel and had a great breakfast. After relaxing for a little bit Scott decided to go get us some Firehouse subs and bring them back to our room. After it got dark we went for a drive to see the Kansas City Temple. It was so beautiful.

As we were sitting there Scott decided to read about the temple. This was the 137th operating temple. It is the first to be built in the Great Kansas City area. Previous attempts at building an LDS temple in the area failed in Independence in 1833 and Far West in 1838, after church founder Joseph Smith had selected and dedicated locations for their construction. As we were trying to figure out what leaves were on the temple we found out it was the olive leaf that signified the peace that came after all the contention. After all our research we found out that the Liberty jail wasn't that far from us so we decided to go there the next morning before we went to World's of Fun.

Despite the deprivation endured by Joseph Smith and his companions while incarcerated here, Liberty Jail was "more temple than prison, so long as the Prophet was there," It was a place. of meditation and prayer. Joseph Smith sought God in this rud prison and found Him. Some of the world's most poignant scriptural verses were penned here. In response to Josheph's plea, "O God, where are thou?" some of God's most powerful messages of light pierced this dungeon's thick walls. These messages are found in D&C 121, 122, and 123.

Built in 1833 for $600, Liberty Jail was located 200 yards from the courthouse in Liberty, MO, the Clay County seat. The jail's interior measured only 14 by 14 1/2 feet. Its walls were 4 feet thick. The outer walls consisted of rough-hewn limestone 2 feet thick, the surface of which was yellowish in color. The inner walls consisted of 12-inch thick hewn oak logs. Separating the outer and inner walls was a 12-inch space filled with loose rock. The top floor of Liberty Jail, which measured 7 feet from floor to ceiling, had two small windows, each secured by five square iron bars firmly embedded in the stones. The massive door on the east wall was made by nailing inch-wide oak bards together with iron spikes. Prisoners were kept in the lower dungeon area. A trap door in the heavy wooden floor between the two stories provided the only access to the lower floor. Two narrow windows grated with heavy iron bars, offered scant light and ventilation. The floor was stone and strew with straw.

Joseph Smith and his five companions, held despite lack of evidence on a variety of charges were incarcerated in Liberty jail on December 1, 1838. They remained here through the bitter Missouri winter until April 6th of the following year. With Joseph were his brother Hyrum, Sidney Rigdon, and three other brethren Lyman Wright, Alexander McRaie, and Caleb Baldwin.

We took these pictures after listening to some audio stories with another family.

Liberty Jail was abandoned in 1856 after 23 years of use. Afterward, it served for a short time as an ice house but eventually fell into disrepair. It was demolished near the turn of the century. This house was built over the original foundation. Because of its historical significance, the Church acquired the site, partially reconstructed the old edifice from the original stones, and enveloped it with a visitor center to protect and honor it. The feeling here was more uplifting and not as sad as the Carthage Jail was. I was really glad we were able to visit both jails.

Brady was pretty excited to finally make it to an amusement park, Worlds of Fun. It was pretty cute how it was divided up into different parts of the world.

We went on a wooden roller coaster then Mamba. Luckily the lines weren't too long.

I made them go on this little trolley ride. I thought it was cute. After we rode the train.

We were so excited to get a shake from the Shake Shop but we were not going to pay $17.00 for a shake. So we went and got a little snack of pizza, salad, and breadsticks that we shared. We wanted to save room for some famous KC barbeque.

Scott's neck was hurting, so Brady and I rode the Prowler and Patriot together without him.

Brady and I both got a t-shirt and he got another sticker. Since it was so hot we decided we had seen and rode everything that we wanted so we headed to Q39 for some yummy barbeque and it did not disappoint us. It was so good. It was a little spendy at $ 127.92 but it was worth it.

We then headed to Salina, KS to stay at the LaQuinta Inn & Suites. It cost us $120.04 and it was your basic hotel but at least we had a clean room. On our way, we stopped in Lawrence, KS to get some ice cream at a cute little shop called Sylas and Maddy's.