For Easter, my girlfriend and I decided to take a day trip to Lawrence, Kansas. Home of the KU Jayhawks (who sadly just lost in the Final Four), Lawrence is only an hour drive from Kansas City. Surprisingly, I had never been. With the variety of parks, nature trails, and art galleries, my girlfriend and I thought it would be a great way to celebrate the holiday while being in nature.
Little did I know, it was supposed to snow Easter day. The 70 degree Fahrenheit weather that spring had brought in was now going to wipe away all of our plans. Nevertheless, Sunday came, and we packed up gloves, put on our boots, and headed out. I had googled brunch locations in the Lawrence area, and one restaurant was having a brunch buffet. We decided that regardless of the weather, we would at least eat.
After scrambling to find coins for the parking meter (Kansas City does not have meters everywhere like Lawrence does, and we were not prepared!) We headed through the bone-chilling wind and entered Merchant's Pub and Plate.
When we walked inside, it was packed! Since we didn't have a reservation, we waited for about 15 minutes before being seated. I was able to snap a pic of the buffet while waiting in the lobby.
Once we were seated, we popped right back up and headed to the buffet, which was conveniently three steps away. I was relieved that we weren't sat upstairs, because I just know I'd end up tripping up or down them in front of the entire restaurant.
On to the food. Oh. My. God. The food at Merchant's was outstanding. Standard brunch items such as quiche, roasted potatoes, and bacon were available. However, the majority of the options were what I consider upscale. Slices of lamb, salmon, Brussels sprouts, and caviar were included in the all-you-can-eat affair.
While eating, we were approached by a waiter who soon returned with two mimosas. Merchant's Pub and Plate is known for their craft beer, so my girlfriend (a self-proclaimed beer connoisseur) ordered a pint later on. From the large, fresh grapes to the lamb loin we were impressed with every bite. The biscuits and vegetarian gravy were also a great touch, since my girlfriend is vegetarian and cannot always appreciate a buffet to it's full extent. After stuffing our faces with savory bites, we moved on to dessert.
After our pleasant experience at Merchant's, we left with smiles and full stomachs. We headed back to the car, and found it frozen over from the snow. Disappointed, we realized that nature walks and art galleries were probably not the best choice in spending our day due to the cold.
So we decided to take a restroom break at a local Dunkin Donuts. I decided to warm myself up with an Almond Joy hot chocolate, which picked my spirits right up.
While headed home, we decided to stop at the Legends shopping outlet. The outdoor center is halfway between Lawrence and Kansas City, and is home to popular stores and restaurants, like Forever 21, Coach, and Dave & Busters. When we got their though, we realized all the stores were closed due to the holiday. I still got a pretty picture of with the snow though.
The rest of the evening, we spent drinking cocktails and beer while watching Neflix's Queer Eye reboot (which I am loving right now!)
How was your Easter?
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Lawrence is a great little town. Some really cool restaurants and activities there even if you're not a college student. Hint - you don't have to pay for parking on Easter. ;)
Yeah well.. I'm willing to donate a few dimes to the city instead of risking a 80-100 dollar mandatory gift! I did enjoy it a lot. We plan to go back soon!
Hey! I really liked your post about your holiday! I've got very hungry while reading this, haha :)
Thank you! The pictures don't even do it justice! I've been debating on dedicating an entire article to just the glazed Brussels sprouts they were so good (:
I love how you ended up at Dunkin Donuts after all that nice food at Merchant's!
Haha I thought the same thing. It reminded me of Thanksgiving where I can stuff myself to max capacity, but always have extra room for pecan pie!