Day Twelve, Kansas City, MO: State Line

After last night, which was a blast by all accounts, I decided to extend my stay in Kansas City. Having only arranged to stay with my original host, Greg, for two nights, I stayed one more night with Torey, who I met last night.

Kansas City has surprised me in a lot of ways. As I said before, I wasn’t expecting a whole lot coming in, but the city has grown on me. It has a nice big city feel, but with small town conveniences. It’s easy to get around the city and park your car without having to hunt down a bunch of one-ways and parking structures. In general, the downtown has a great atmosphere. 

Tonight Torey and I went downtown to the Power and Lights District, at the center of which is a semi-indoor atrium ringed by bars and restaurants which, in this case, doubles as a concert stage. Unlike downtown Detroit, Kansas City regularly sponsors free concerts and provides their citizens with something to do. Tonight they brought in the old 90’s post-grunge group Lit. It was a lot like going back to high school and turning on the radio really loudly. In fact, the girls that we had met last night explained that they couldn’t find the keys to their time machine, and thus, would be unable to make it to the concert. After the concert, we went over to the Flying Saucer once again, which was just down the street. Every Wednesday night, they have glass night. For a little bit extra, they’ll give you the pint glass that they serve that designed night’s glass special in. (And the Fire Sale Beer was Moose Drool. Actually pretty good).

That was about the extent of what I actually did today. I should talk a little, now that I have an opportunity, about CouchSurfing. This is a sort of hybrid between Craigslist and Facebook. People have profiles on the site, and they can search for other people with whom to stay when passing through a city, (as I am). The idea is to meet like-minded people (although Greg informed me that I was the first Republican Couchsurfer he had met), who can not only host you, but actually show you around the city. That’s how I arranged to stay with Greg, who in turn had met Torey through a local couchsurfing event a few weeks ago.

Finally, Kansas City is interesting in that most of the city lies in Missouri; however, a smaller portion does lie in Kansas. The two sides of the city are “separated” by State Line Road. But for the name, you’d never know you were crossing a state line.

And so tomorrow I finally cross the State Line into Kansas and leave Missouri behind for the foreseeable future. I’ve spent the last six nights in Missouri and all told, I’ve enjoyed myself quite a bit. The people are friendly, the economy is buzzing, the baseball parks are great, and the beer is fantastic. I’m glad I gave it a shot. However, I do not plan on extending the same courtesy  to Kansas. I will be camping one night in Kansas on my way to Denver, (to break up the 10 hour drive), but am told there is nothing to do besides look at corn. That is generally not how I like to waste my time.

Day Eleven, Kansas City, MO: Free Hot Dogs and Flying Saucers

I went to breakfast with my host, Greg, at McDonalds in the Plaza. I can’t say enough about that Deluxe Breakfast. Great value. After breakfast, we went to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, which was an interesting tour. The Negro Leagues had little structure for most of their existence, but at some times, their events rivaled those of Major League Baseball in size and attendance, not to mention player talent.

Following the museum we went to Arthur Bryant’s BBQ. Kansas City is famous for their BBQ restaurants. Arthur Bryant’s isn’t the most highly thought of among all the BBQ  places in KC, (Oklahoma Joe’s, which is located just across the state line, is supposed to be the best). However, Bryant’s was within walking distance of the museum.

Still having a few hours to kill before the game, we went to the Crown Center, which is easily one of the strangest places I’ve ever been to. Entering through Kansas City’s old Union Station, (left; built in the 1920’s to accommodate an increase in rail traffic which never materialized,) the Crown Center was created by the founder of Hallmark as an “Urban Experiment.” It has absolutely no clear identity, direction, or purpose.

Again, it’s difficult for me to describe how odd this area was. Think of an indoor mall attached to a 1920’s train station, with a large hotel located within, Corporate Headquarters-style decor (not surprising, as Hallmark’s headquarters are connected by skyway), and the oddest collection of shops you’ve ever seen. There was the Crayola Cafe (haven’t you always wanted to try the smoothie version of that Electric Yellow-colored crayon?), the Cat Boutique (?), Chocolate Factory, and Mobile Solutions. Mobile Solutions was really a microcosm of this entire urban schizoid aberration. At first, you might assume that the store carries cell phone cases, extra batteries, and things like that. In a way, that is correct. But Mobile Solutions also carries knock-off Calvin Klein sunglasses and an enormous selection of remote control helicopters. Like the mall it’s based in, it is designed for people with no clear reason for visiting and a fantastically short attention span.

It’s a small world. After arriving at Kauffman Stadium and buying tickets ($7), Greg, Marlene, Torey (a friend of Greg’s), and I enjoyed a nice KC-style tailgate. Kauffman Stadium is on the same general plot of land as the Chief’s Arrowhead Stadium, and thus they both share a parking lot that does not end. As it happened, we were parked next to two girls who were also tailgating. One of them was from Michigan and knew a few people I went to Albion with. It also turned out that they were sitting directly in front of us at the game.

Which didn’t make much of a difference, as we sat at the outfield bar for almost the entire time. Following this, there were a few more events that made this night incredibly remarkable.

First, there was a free hot dog giveaway in our rightful section, (which the bar directly overlooked). You know the kind where the girl trying to pay her way through college holds up three hot dogs and tries to get everyone to make an amount of noise that, were free food not involved, would be completely unacceptable? Whether it was the waving arms or my bar-perch that overlooked the section, this gracious lady decided that tonight was my night. This hot dog was the first prize I have ever won and I will never forget it. It tasted like delicious free.

Now under the impression that this new good luck  streak could only bring me more valuable free things, I immediately picked out the closest give away employees I could find (see picture). It turns out they were giving away hats, in this case. After realizing that I was not going to be getting a free hat, I settled for the picture to your right. Although I look a little distressed, I assure you that I felt fine.

As the game came to a close, I was witness to one of the most spectacular exchanges between two people that has ever occurred. While we were talking to a guy who was probably in his late 20’s, an innocent looking, 8-year-old-ish kid walked up. This was the result:

Guy: [With straight face] “Yeah, so this is my son-”
Kid: [Visibly flustered] “I’m not your son, for the last time!”
Guy: [Still straight-faced and unnerved] “Yeah, I have no idea who this kid really is…”
Kid: [Somehow even more bothered] “You’re such a dick!”
Guy: [Now searching his brain for some way to associate himself with this child, and saying the first thing that comes to mind] "Uh, he’s my AA sponsor.”

Of course we gave the guy directions to the bar we were headed to next and told him to meet us there. Not surprisingly, he didn’t make it there.

Really, the word “bar” does not adequately describe the Flying Saucer. They use the words “Draught Emporium” and I’m inclined to stick with that. The Flying Saucer has 200 beers on tap. Two hundred. And each beer has its own tap handle. The idea behind the Flying Saucer is simple; drink all of the beers. You have a membership card, and each time you order a beer, you swipe it. The beer you ordered is recorded, and when you reach 200 different beers, you get a saucer on the wall. Do it again, you get a different colored saucer, and so on. This is obviously not something you do in one night. However, it takes some people significantly less time to accomplish than others.

I usually get a positive reaction when I tell the people I meet what I’m doing. A lot of them think it’s a great idea. Some ask interesting questions, like, “What, did you just quit your job and go?” I laugh and remind them that I’m from Michigan, where people don’t have jobs. But invariably, most people express a desire to take a similar trip. Sure, some people can’t just get up and leave for two months, (especially if they’re lucky enough to have a job!) But otherwise, why not?

For more pictures, see http://picasaweb.google.com/reidksmith.

Day Ten, Kansas City, MO: The Swanky Plaza

This morning I left St. Louis, but not until I had visited the Arch. In truth, the top of the arch wasn’t as spectacular as I had imagined. However, it was still nice to be at the top of the city. Really, the arch was more exciting to see from outside. One nice thing about traveling alone is that I was able to skip ahead of groups when buying tickets for the tram to the top. As it was, I probably saved ninety minutes over what it would take if I was with another person.

You travel to the top via a tram which is quite small. In fact, one of the people originally on my tram decided very quickly that it wasn’t for him. If you’re claustrophobic it’s a difficult fit. Once at the top – which was a surprisingly small area – you can look out the windows to the skyline of the city on West, and the Mississippi River on the East. The windows, again, were surprisingly tiny.

The arch is actually located on a large park, (The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial), and also overlooks the old courthouse, which was the site of the Dred Scott decision. In addition, you have a great view of Busch Stadium from the arch. (If you enjoyed these pictures I’d encourage you to check out the Picasa Albums at http://picasaweb.google.com/reidksmith. There are many more photos that I wasn’t able to include with this post and I’m not sure that the ones I did include were the best.)

After this I headed to Kansas City. On the way I stopped at Booches Billiard Hall in Columbia for lunch. The burgers there are slightly larger than sliders, served on wax paper, and taste great.

After arriving in Kansas City, I explored the Plaza area with one of my hosts, Marlene. The Plaza is a Kansas City version of Birmingham, MI, and the  first outdoor shopping center designed to accommodate people arriving by automobile. Although I didn’t bring my camera, I included a picture of Brush Creek, which runs right along the edge of the Plaza. It’s a very upscale area with a lot of outdoor events and public places. The architecture of the shops, sculptures, and fountains are lifted from Spain, and this creates an interesting effect, (a Spanish-themed Restoration Hardware, for example.)

One of the fountain parks we walked through was hosting a vigil for the sister of someone who was killed in the Iranian protests.  The candles spread throughout the park at dusk made for an interesting, but somber, scene. There was an outdoor adaptation of some of Shakespeare’s plays outside the art museum, which was a fascinating site, even at night. I’m going to try to get back there during the day and get some pictures.

I have to say that I’m surprised by Kansas City. I wasn’t expecting a whole lot, but it’s really a large and well put-together metro area.

For more pictures, see http://picasaweb.google.com/reidksmith