Terrace Avenue Inn
Give me the open roadway and a set of songs and I’m a happy man.
An author named Mick Foley said something similar in one of his memoirs and it suits my feelings when it comes to travel. This weekend I traveled to Liberty, MO to stay at the Terrace Avenue Inn AKA Anna Marie’s Teas and Inn, owned and operated by Brenda Hedrick. I had been invited to return to the K.C. area by the Barn Players of Mission, KS who wanted me to review their amazing production of Kiss of the Spider Woman.
To make the drive a little lighter, I spent the first night at my older brother’s house in Maryville, MO before driving the last 90 minutes to Liberty. It was a great day for travel as I listened to the Iowa Hawkeyes battle North Dakota State on the radio before I lost the signal and moved over to my tunes.
I arrived in Liberty at nearly 1pm. This suburb of Kansas City is actually quite a bit bigger than one would expect. I was met by a myriad of businesses and restaurants upon my arrival. A restaurant called the Corner Café caught my eye and I decided to pull over for a bit of lunch.
Corner Cafe
I wish I had a bit more time to linger over lunch, but I had arranged a 2pm check-in time and was slightly pressed. Still, if you like good, old-fashioned home cooking, then Corner Café is definitely worth a visit. I dined on a Corner Melt (patty melt with bacon) with a side of fries while reading Ellery Queen’s The Egyptian Cross Mystery. I will say that while the food is quite tasty, it is all a la carte, so the bill may come to a bit more than you’d expect for food of this type.
From there, I headed to the Terrace Avenue Inn located in one of Liberty’s historic districts. I was met on the porch by Brenda’s husband, Al. He led me to the Terrace Suite which was truly a cozy room with a soft king bed, private balcony, and a Jacuzzi. Al left me to my own devices after a brief orientation of the inn and I brought in my gear and began exploring the house.
The Dutch colonial bungalow was built in 1923 and is remarkably well maintained. The home boasts 3 rooms (Cottage Nook, Liberty Suite, and Terrace Suite). The bottom floor consists of the inn’s tea shop along with a small dining room and well apportioned kitchen which guests can use for light cooking. Being quite a small home, my explorations went quickly.
The Tea Shop
After giving the house a onceover, I began to walk around the historic district and downtown area of Liberty. Liberty actually boasts quite a few things to do from wineries to walking tours. I didn’t do a very thorough exploration, but I did visit the Fairview Cemetery and meandered through the business district before I returned to the inn where I promptly dozed off on my plushy king bed (a result of a burst of insomnia at 4:30am).
I awoke at 5:30pm and had just enough time to make myself presentable for the play. I had a wonderful shower than drove to Mission, KS to watch the Barn Players work their magic.
From there it was back to the inn to write the review while Quantum Leap played in the background and a sound night of sleep.
I felt truly well rested when I awoke on Sunday morning. And I was ready for breakfast since I hadn’t eaten since lunch the day before. Al had a nice repast waiting for me.
Market spice tea, Devonshire cream, fruit, scones, and a ham and egg dish.
Oh! You want to know what it was. Well, he had a pot of Market Spice Tea ready for me. Now I’m not the biggest tea drinker in the world, but this was truly excellent tea. A spoonful of granulated honey added just the needed sweetening to it. There was also a ham and egg dish, fresh fruit, and 2 scones with chunks of chocolate. A little Devonshire cream on top made for a tasty breakfast dessert.
And from there it was time to write the last few words of this review before returning to Omaha. But Liberty is a nice little town and the Terrace Avenue Inn will certainly provide a comfortable room, a filling meal, and a lot of tea.
Chris' Corner 