How far would you drive for great meal? Today we learned we would spend nine hours in a car to discover the most sublime barbecue brisket known to man.
The Food
Even if we weren’t on the first day of a five-week road trip, this place would have been worth the trek. The critics rave about Q39 Barbecue in Kansas City. Plus, our friend Kenny, from the award-winning GQue barbecue team, made an enthusiastic recommendation for Q39 based on his experience of competing against them in championship smoke-offs.
After wading through the busy tables and being seated near the towering shelves of trophies, we quickly found ourselves diving into what we learned is a Kansas City signature BBQ staple: burnt ends – the savory, smoky goodness you would pick off the brisket to keep for yourself if you knew no on was looking. Delish. Needless to say, we highly recommend it.
The Playlist
Sing it with me! Eastbound and Down. The whim of starting the day with this song and using it to seed our rotation gave us many other country standards featuring Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings as the leading Highwaymen, along with so many others. What better genre to kick off our trip across ‘Murica?
The Notable
It was hot … in Topeka. Fans of Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends (Cassie, Alex, Audrey and Eric, among others) will know this episode segment is likely Topeka’s ultimate claim to fame.
It was so hot. How hot was it? A whopping 94 degrees when we rolled through this afternoon. We spent more time than we care to confess saying, “It’s hohhhht in Topeeeeeeekaaaaaah,” and “I’m I hot toe picker!” Guess you had to be there.

Up Next
After our stay tonight at the Jefferson House Bed and Breakfast, we plan to cross Missouri and Illinois and halfway through Indiana to see what Indianapolis has to offer those on a one-night stay.
Hope you did have a great hot toe picker of a time in Topeka!
Thanks, we did! What else on earth would one do in Topeka?