Kansas City.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I’m goin’ to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come…

So enlighten me… what is there to do in KC???

I’ll be there for 3 weeks from the 29th September to 20th October.

I have a wedding to go to on the 6th and my mate (Darryl) who’s getting married will be taking me around to the various drinking/gambling establishments beforehand and our other mate (Peter) will be joining us on the 2nd.

When Darryl goes on his honeymoon, Peter and I will have another 3 days 'til he flies back home on the 10th, to travel probably to St. Louis and then I’m on my lonesome until the honeymooners come back on the 13th October.

So what is there for me to do for 3 days in KC???

There’s only so much gambling and drinking I can do on my own… :smiley:

2

I haven’t been to KC in several years, but here are some things I liked when I was there:

The “National World War I Museum” (aka Liberty Memorial) was very nice. They’ve renovated it since I was there, so I’m sure it’s changed quite a bit, but if you’re into that sort of thing, you might check it out.

There’s a neat area of shops and restaurants, “The Country Club Plaza”, that I always enjoyed. Too bad you won’t be there for the Christmas lights, though. Those are very nice.

For some professional drinking and good music, head to 39th Street. I spent many nights I’ll never remember in Jimmy’s Jigger.

I envy you. I miss KC. Have fun!

3

The fun part of town is a small but lively neighborhood called “Westport”. It is a mile or two south of downtown, an easy walk north of the lovely early-20th-century Moorish-style shopping/restaurant district known as “The Plaza”. Within Westport, you may catch a good band at, say, the Beaumont Club.

Just north of downtown, toward the river, is a recently revitalized market neighborhood called…River Market. There are usually good things happening on weekend mornings.

Sadly, there is only a tiny remnant of KC’s once thriving jazz scene, over at 18th and Vine (in a dodgy neighborhood a half-mile southeast of downtown). Still, if you’re into jazz history, you may want to stop by.

If you don’t already have a place to stay, the Philips Hotel, downtown, is comfy but elegantly old-style. It exemplifies why KC is like a mini-Chicago.

Two more things: The Nelson Museum of Art was always excellent (especially ancient Greco-Roman stuff, but other things, too), but they just opened a highly-praised modern wing (I haven’t yet visited). It’s maybe two miles southeast of downtown, not far from Westport.

Finally, there is a 19th-century steamboat which sunk and was salvaged not long ago, and is now a sort of museum. I’ve never been, but it’s supposed to be fascinating – the artifacts recovered give a glimpse of the good life on the Mark Twain-era American frontier. I think it’s called the “Arabia”.

4

What Bayard called the “Country Club Plaza” is equivalent to what I called “The Plaza”.

What Bayard called “39th Street” is equivalent to what I called “Westport”.

FYI. Have fun!

5

Oooh yeah. Can’t believe I forgot the Nelson.

6

How about the Negro League Baseball Museum? http://www.nlbm.com/
There’s also Jesse James’ and Cole Younger’s graves. I’ll have to find directions, but email me if you want them. How about the Plaza for shopping? They have or did have a very nicely appointed academic-leaning Barnes and Noble.

CA

7

Hilarious! Because what you are calling Westport isn’t, at least to me. Westport proper is around the Westport and Broadway intersection. You can go to Matsuu for some decent not too pricey sushi, Papa Keno’s has really good pizza by the slice (they are HUGE slices btw), Blarney’s (a bar) is right there, plus McCoy’s plus others.

On 39th Street (near the KU Med center) you can find Frick & Frak which is a fun place to grab a drink but isn’t upscale in the least. I also really like Blue Koi which is a noodle place, and as someone else mentioned, Jimmy Jiggers is right there at the corner of 39th and State Line.

There’s great shopping on the Plaza, although not as many cool unique boutiques any more. But the chains are good ones, and you can walk around and find pretty much anything to eat or drink you’d care to find.

I do like the Nelson, also the Liberty Memorial (which is where the nation’s only WWI museum is, and it’s been completely redone, very very cool), and if you are into it, there the Toy and Miniature Museum.

I love KC, and feel a little bittersweet that we are moving to Boston soon. I will really miss this town.

8

Contrary, as I am a relative newcomer to these parts, I thank you for clearing up my misunderstanding of the urban geography. We should make it clear to the OP that the 39th and Westport neighborhoods are, at least, contiguous.

And I love Papa Keno’s pizza!

And, yes, we should make it clear that the shops (and most of the retaurants) in the Plaza are pricey and snooty and blah. But if you find yourself there, it’s a pleasnt enough place to walk around for a half an hour or so. (And, there’s a great dim sum restaurant a couple of blocks away – Bo Ling’s)

9

Well then, welcome to KC! What brought you here? Are you on the KS side or the MO side?

10

Actually, I’m one of them no-good, Jayhawkin’, Confederacy-bashin’ hippie freaks in Lawrence, KS. But both KCK and KCMO are just a day’s worth of canoe paddling away (or an hour’s drive). I came for a specific professor whose work coincided with mine, and stayed 'cause it’s a great place to live. Mrs. Map agrees – and she’s from the other side of the world!

11

Oh hey I lived in Lawrence a long time–moved to KC in 2001. But I’m one of those really confused people, bachelor’s is from KU, MS is from KSU! EEP! So Rock Chalk Jayhawk KU!

12

Sadly, if you like baseball, October’s a terrible time to be in Kansas City.

Sigh. And I thought the Royals were out of the cellar for good.

Beyond that, I second the recommendations of the Steamship Arabia museum and the Toy and Miniature Museum, plus the Hallmark Center is nice, if you’d like a little look at how greeting cards are made.

13

I don’t remember if the graves where there or not, but the Jesse James Farm in Kearney is enjoyable. Nearby that site is the Watkins Woolen Mill, which is fun if you’re into historic sites. It’s also in a very pretty park.

About 30 minutes from dowtown KC is the town of Liberty, which has a cute town square. If you like antiques, that is (or was 10 years ago) a good place for that. There is a shoe repair shop on the square. Look above the repair shop, and you’ll see my old apartment!

14

Um, sorry, I’m finally back now.
Work web access is patchy sometimes…
I’ve had a look at some of the suggestions and they look pretty good.
When I get up from my sleep this morning I’ll have a closer look at them.
Maybe we could arrange a drink or three??? :wink:

15

If you’re into amusement parks, Worlds of Fun is still open for the season, although only for the weekends this late in the year. (They have a haunted special attraction going on now, I believe.)

The haunted houses are open now. The Edge of Hell is a popular attraction, as is The Beast (owned by the same folks).

As others have said, The Nelson-Atkins is a great museum, and their Asian collection is top-knotch. If you like modern art and want to see more than what’s at the Nelson, you might try the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art.

The Plaza is, as others have mentioned, a great place to shop and eat. It’s down the road from the Nelson, too, so you can visit the museum and grab something tasty without having to drive all over town.

If you’re into theater, The American Heartland is usually a pretty sure bet for a good performance. The Unicorn, is too, although they tend to put on a lot more angsty plays. It’s a smaller, more intimate setting, though, so for good or bad, you get a closer view of the actors performing.

The majority of the bars and clubs in Westport are closer to the intersection of Broadway and Westport Road (so, if you’re in to clubbing, that’s the area you want to focus on), but Westport extends beyond that in both directions. It’s fun to walk around; some of the smaller shops are college-crowd, anti-establishment hoots.

Definitely be sure to try some KC BBQ while you’re here. Some of the best in the world! My personal favorite is Jack Stack (one location on the Plaza), but there are plenty of others. Danny Edwards ran Lil’ Jake’s Eat It and Beat It, but it was recently taken over by a construction project, so he’s opening up new digs elsewhere in town. I’m hoping it’s open by the time you get here, so look for it when you get into town.

I second the The Liberty Memorial, and the gorgeous Union Station is right down the street.

We also have four major casinos in town, with Harrah’s and Ameristar being the largest.

If you want a comedy club, we have Stanford’s.