We originally weren’t sure what else we wanted to see in Kansas City. I had talked to a couple friends from church who have lived in Kansas City and people who have been there before and the general consensus was there is not much “must-see” sites there. But, of course, I refused to go to Kansas City and not see it (of course, we never made it over to Kansas, actually, but we did see Kansas City, MO). So, after scouring tour books and the internet, I think we had a great day in Kansas City.
We left the hotel and drove downtown along kind of an alternate route (fearing some heard-of construction), but it drove us right along the river and then straight into downtown and it was pretty scenic. Kansas City seemed to have a nice downtown. Both Detroit and St. Louis kind of have a dead downtown. St. Louis has some nice parts, of course, but most of the city itself just seems like miles and miles of … nothing. And Detroit really is dead. But Kansas City seemed to have a nice vibe to it. Surprisingly, Kansas City has tons of fountains (I think second only to somewhere in Italy) and we kept our eyes peeled – there were a lot of nice fountains. Some of the architecture was really nice, too. I especially liked the convention center and Union Station. We got a lot of nice pictures of the city later.
We stopped first at the National World War I Museum. I was a bit skeptical at first – no one I know had been there. And why in Kansas City? But I had recently read Fall of Giants by Ken Follett about the first world war, so it has been on my mind. And I’m a sucker for museums. So, we decided to try it out. It was great. There is a very large monument there. Apparently, it was built shortly after WWI because KC residents raised $2.5 mil in just 10 days in 1919 to put it up – that to me is astounding. So, that is why it is in KC. Recently, the WW1 museum was built below the monument and the monument was restored. So, the museum is really new and really nice.
First, we explored the grounds until the museum opened. They had a film and then the exhibits. On one half of the museum, the side of the exhibits showed examples of trenches from the different countries and you could peek in. The boys LOVED the trenches. In fact, today they played war all day and built their own trenches (I am not so sure how I feel about that). The whole time we were wandering around the museum Andrew kept saying “It’s so sad that all these people were killed”, so at least he gets that perspective of war, too. They also had really high tech exhibits. The boys loved parts that had holograms or moving pictures or the area where you could use little light clickers to move things around on the screen and learn about the war. You should have seen the propaganda poster that Andrew made – the busiest thing ever.
Afterwards, we took an elevator and then climbed the last 45 steps up to the top of the memorial to see the views of KC (shown before). Me and the boys were a little scared of the wind – it felt so exposed – so Katsu stuck around a little longer by himself and took some pictures.
Afterwards, we went to Crown Centre, a nearby mall, that seemed like it had some fun stuff to see and was most importantly indoors. We arrived just in time to see the puppet show.
Then, I had read about the coolest restaurant to eat, Fritz Railroad restaurant. To reduce staffing needs, the owner developed a little train that actually brings the food directly to your table. I knew it was a must. The food is the typical burger fare – pretty small servings, but very cheap, and the line was pretty long, but it moved fast. The boys got railroad caps, and loved watching the trains – both the ones that deliver the food, and the model trains that run around the restaurant. You even order your food by telephone. It was fun!
Luckily, the mall is connected in the air by walkways to Union Station, so we decided to check it out. We wanted Seth to fall asleep in his stroller, but he wanted to run. We finally acquiesed. The boys loved running around. But they also loved the train exhibit there about Union Station when it was really up and running – it kind of reminded me of St. Louis’ transportation museum, but indoors. And they really loved the model train exhibit – best part, they were both free.
We “ran” (okay, mostly just Seth, and then Andrew & Katsu when they were running to the bathroom) back to the mall and tried some ice cream concrete (yummy!) while watching some fountains and explored a Rainforest exploration exhibit (way too crowded) and watched fudge being made and got some licks off the spoon. Then, we went to the Hallmark Visitor’s Center (the headquarters are also at the mall). The boys liked watching how embossed cards are made, stamping passports at each of the 6 stations, and seeing bows being made (and getting their own). We even got a Hallmark book free to bring home. At this point we were tired, so we headed back to the hotel, the boys took a nap on the way home, and then we relaxed, went to eat at Olive Garden (needed something less greasy), and spent time at the pool before going to bed. Katsu mostly dealt with the boys – I think I overextended myself a little bit and was either having stomach cramps or contractions. But after water and resting, I felt much better. We went to bed with the boys on this trip – late for them, but early for us, so we were sleeping 10 hours a night! What a relaxing trip.
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