Living so nomadically can make an inviting driveway about the kindest gift one could even imagine. So, we changed our route and high-tailed it across the country to get to one of our most favorite driveways, surrounded by family, for a brief road reprieve. And in typical fashion, when we got there Hercules broke down and Chrysalis sprung a (potty) leak. So our couple of weeks turned into a few. And over those few weeks (and the many years prior), while we tend to make all our meals, rarely leave the house, and actually rarely leave the couch, I have gotten to know this town more and more and felt it deserved a run-down of the sweetest treasures here in the Gateway to the Ozarks.

• We stayed: the driveway
• We explored: Bentonville, AR, Beaver Lake, Carthage and Neosho, Shoal Creek, tennis camp, friends’ fishing holes, Frisco Greenway Trail for runs, George Washington Carver National Monument
• We ate: Forest and Field Bakery (I would eat here every day if they were open), The Bruncheonette, Zinc Coffee (Lead put Joplin on the map but Zinc built the city), Joplin Greenhouse + Coffee, The Undercliff, Woody’s Pizza (obvs, cousin Tommy works there)
• We drank: Bentonville Brewing, Indian Springs Brewing Company, Chaos Brewing
• We read: Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI (David Grann)