KANSAS CITY!

Kansas City, Missouri.

Another city was checked off our list last weekend. What I’m loving about living in St. Louis is the close to fairly close proximity of so many cities on our “visit list” that are within a driving radius for a long weekend.

Last weekend, we got up early on Saturday and drove to Kansas City. 

Our friend, April, was there visiting her cousin so it was a perfect time to see a friend and new city. I used my Roadside America app along the way. I love this app for seeing landmarks, quirky things, odd statues, or historical sites. The general rule is that if it is 1 mile or less off the road, it won’t cause too much damage to our time to stop. The road from STL to KC was a bit bare. We only found 1 decent stop – Arcadian Moon winery.

We arrived at Arcadian Moon right as they opened. When you leave too early in the morning, wineries are logistically never a stop if the drive is short…

The ground were beautiful. I love being able to taste from the winemaker/owner because I think they add more to the tasting. You hear about the struggles and successes, why they opened the winery, their wine tasting adventures, and their dreams.

After Arcadian Moon, we went straight to the hotel for an early check-in. We didn’t know where to stay so we picked the budget bargain since it was a last minute trip. We wound up being across the street from the stadiums. The hotel was okay but exactly what we needed for just a sleep.

Ready to go!

We picked up April and made a quick stop at a couple museums to see some "big" things.

Saturday evening started off with what else? BUBBLY! We found a champagne/sparkling wine bar in Westport (what a cute fun area!). They had happy hour so we caught up over bubbles and cheese and bread.

NUTELLA CREME PUFF!!

figuring out face swap and looking at the results

For dinner, we met up with April’s cousin for dinner at Q39 for some KC BBQ. It was a nicer atmosphere than I’m used to for BBQ. The meat was good. [I’m still partial to STL BBQ, especially Pappy’s – SSSShhhh! Don’t tell…]

After dinner, we went for ice cream and to see the glass maze at the museum.

 waiting in the center of the maze 

Sunday, we woke up ready to see some sites. But first, coffee...even if it's hotel room coffee. I also religiously look at the previous day's pictures.

mine & April's face swap

After we checked out and drove off, we crossed the street to check out the stadiums: Arrowhead (KC Chiefs) and Kauffman (Royals). They are right next to each other which we thought was pretty cool!

We headed straight for coffee and right across from where we parked was the one site I had bookmarked on roadside America. I was so excited to see the wall of books. I think this is along the parking structure for the library or maybe it’s the library itself. LOOK HOW AWESOME!

 Found my favorite book: To Kill A Mockingbird

We headed to the Hallmark Crown Center. The center was open but the museum/interactive part was still closed. We headed over to Liberty Memorial, Union Station, walked the Link back to Crown Center and headed out. By that time, who cares about the Crown Center?

 inscription behind water on fountain: WHO MORE THAN SELF THEIR COUNTRY LOVED

 Oops, a finger - great city views from Liberty Memorial 

 Union Station 

We had lunch at the state line at Aladdin Café and then WALKED TO KANSAS! Well, we just crossed the street. It was lackluster. There’s no touristy sign to show you are straddling the MO/KS line.

April (standing in Missouri) taking our picture (in Kansas)

By this time, it was late afternoon so we said good-bye (for now) to April and then made the drive back home. We only made a couple quick stops from Roadside America.

One was Warm Springs Ranch. This is where they house and train the Budweiser Clydesdale horses. My “thing” from childhood was horses. We missed the last tour but I wanted to glance at the property so I have a visual of what I can come back to. Yep, I want to go back.

We also made a bathroom stop at Ozarkland. WOW! Two stories of "stuff" await you. Some portion is touristy and gaudy. They also have some cute house stuff and gifts. It’s worth saving your pit stop for so you can weave through a couple aisles while heading up to the restroom.

We made it home for me to cook some red chicken curry and watch Quantico.

Next stop? Who wants to meet us somewhere? Or host us?

Danielle