Saturday, 1 June
We left the camper storage lot around 1 pm and drove to Weston Bend State Park, only 30 minutes away. Our first stop was chosen to be a short trip to test drive the camper and make sure we had not forgotten anything.
Weston Bend State Park
The 1,133-acre park is named after a bend and natural harbor on the Missouri River, where Weston was founded in 1837. Located across from Fort Leavenworth, the town initially thrived on tobacco, hemp, and its river port. By 1858, Weston was the largest hemp port in the world. However, the town began to decline after the Civil War and several major fires. A significant river shift in 1858 destroyed the port, further contributing to the town’s decline. Today, agriculture, including tobacco production, still plays a crucial role. The park has five tobacco barns, with one housing an interpretive display about the region’s tobacco history, while another has been turned into an enclosed shelter.
The campground offers 37 electric and non-electric sites arranged in a loop and surrounded mostly by scrub forests, providing good privacy. We stayed at site 23, which had 30-amp service but no water, so we had to fill up at the dump station beforehand. The site was paved, but the pavement was rough, so we had to use some leveling blocks. A building near the dump site has modern restrooms, hot showers, and laundry facilities. Several chemical toilets are scattered around the loop.
Weston
After setting up our camper, we headed to the historic downtown area of Weston, which is bustling with touristy stores and bars. We arrived during the annual Roots Musical Festival, where folk singers performed at over a dozen venues around the city.
We parked near the Old River Landing, where a small covered bridge led to a quaint complex featuring a small chapel, an outdoor bar, a bed and breakfast, and a large shed full of architectural curiosities. A musician played some Irish folk songs in front of the wedding chapel. We encountered a large, rotting fishing boat and a streetcar as we explored the complex. We decided to grab our chairs from the truck and sit to enjoy the music for a while. We caught the last few songs before the musician took a 45-minute break.
During the break, we walked downtown, browsing art and fun tourist knickknacks. Then we returned to the Old River Landing to catch the next folk singer.
We headed back to the campground when the show ended around 6:30 p.m..
Sunday, 2 June
Weston Bend State Park
After watching Sunday Morning News, we walked some trails inside the park. The first few trails were enjoyable short trails, less than a half mile long, that took us down to the Missouri River. We then drove to the Overlook, which took us to the high bluffs overlooking the Missouri River. The trails were not very muddy, which was nice.
We then returned to the camper for showers and lunch to prepare for our afternoon tour of the Holladay Distilling Company.
Holladay Distilling Company
We headed to the Holladay Distilling Company for a 2 pm tour.
Founded by Ben Holladay in 1856, the Holladay Distilling Company is the oldest distillery west of the Mississippi River, still operating at its original location.
The tour began at the visitor center, which featured live music on a screened balcony. Despite some internet issues, we checked in and boarded a small tour bus a little after 2 pm. The bus dropped us off at a building housing a hand-dug cistern that collects limestone-filtered spring water used by the distillery. We walked past the limestone spring, discovered by Lewis and Clark in 1804, and fed the cistern. We then gathered in the adjacent stillhouse, with most of the building predating the distillery itself. The tour guide explained the distillation process, and we saw and tasted the fermenting mash. Next, we walked up the hill to one of the rick houses, where the bourbon barrels were aging. We also visited a reinforced natural cave, initially used by Ben Holladay to age his bourbon, now reserved for specialized recipes. The tour concluded with a bourbon tasting, where we smelled and tasted Real Missouri Bourbon made using the original 160-year-old recipe. The tour lasted about 90 minutes.
Weston Brewing Company
We ventured into downtown Weston to explore the Weston Brewing Company, a historic brewery with roots dating back to 1842. Founded by German immigrant John Georgian, the brewery brought traditional lager brewing to the United States. Georgians used ice harvested from the nearby river during winter and constructed deep lagering cellars to maintain an ideal brewing temperature below 60 degrees for over six weeks. This innovative approach made the Weston Brewing Company one of the first lager breweries in the country. Over the years, ownership has changed hands, but the brewery has evolved into a vibrant destination featuring a pub, restaurant, beer garden, and brewing operations.
Our first stop was O’Malley’s 1842 Pub, a unique venue in an underground cellar. We descended a staircase 60 feet below ground to reach it and passed through a narrow tunnel. Inside, we enjoyed locally brewed beers—a Royal Lager and an O’Malley’s Cream Ale—while listening to live music from a guitarist who wasn’t the highlight of the evening.
After finishing our drinks, we headed upstairs to the beer garden for dinner at the America Bowman Restaurant. We shared a hearty Chicken Fried Chicken meal and took some time to marvel at an unusual attraction—a massive ball of twine displayed nearby. This 3,000-pound creation, crafted by Weston resident Finley Stephens between the 1950s and 1980, boasts an impressive circumference of 19 feet.
Satisfied with our evening, we returned to our trailer to unwind with some TV before calling it a night.