The Seasons of Kansas City

I live only a few hours from Kansas City, so I make the trip to go back again and again. Each trip I make adds a new memorable moment.

The Kansas City Chiefs have the best pre-game tailgating parties of any professional football team around. There is a huge parking lot with grills going and decorations galore. I have friends who go for the tailgating without even getting tickets to the game.

All first time visitors to KC need to head to the Plaza area to shop, eat, and wander. It is especially inviting at Christmas time with each building outlined in lights. The unique architecture and fountains draw you in, even when the Christmas lights are calling you in. If you take kids, take a carriage ride. It may seem a little extravagant but they will truly enjoy it. Also, visit the dog bakery. My pups love me when I bring them special treats. You can of course take your dog in to pick out his own!

Another favorite for visitors is the Crown Center area. If you go there, take time to visit the Hallmark Visitors Center. I honestly stood for 30 minutes to view loops of those Hallmark commercials that make me all weepy! At Crown Center in the winter you can ice skate at an outdoor rink. There are plenty of places to catch a good meal as well while you are there. Just across the way is the refurbished Union Station. Science City is a fun way to spend an afternoon with your kids.

In summer, make sure to head over to the Nelson Atkins Art Museum for the day and then when evening comes wander to the park a block away for Shakespeare in the park. You don't have to be a Shakespeare fan to enjoy your evening unless you don't like the idea of a warm summer night in KC under the stars on a blanket with a picnic basket and wine watching an outdoor play.

Once you've made the trip several times, or if you need a change of pace for adults, head to the Westport area for some great clubs. Blues music is easy to find and even easier to listen to with friends and you'll find plenty of options.

Quick Tips:

If you are taking your family, the two theme parks (Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun) sit side by side. They are an excellent way to spend a few days in the summer. Try the barbecue. Kansas City is famous for great barbecue and blues and won't disappoint you in either.

Best Way To Get Around:

There is no real public transportation options, so make sure to get a map of the city and have a car available. Parking is cheap and the city is easy to find your way around in. The airport is pretty far north of the city, so if you are flying in, don't get a hotel near the airport. It may be cheaper, but you'll spend all your time running back and forth. There are also hotels close to the stadiums that offer some pretty good package deals (tickets and rooms) but those are out of the city to the east. I'd recommend paying a little extra and getting a room at one of the nice hotels near Crown Center. It's a great base location.

No trip to KC is complete with stopping in at Arthur Bryant's. It is not easy to find, so you've got to get directions and when you find it you won't believe this is the place you've heard so much about.

It is an old storefront cafe which feels like you are stepping back in time. You go inside and order at the walk up window. They wrap your order in paper. You can take it with you or eat it at the metal tables, but there is generally a crowd. The meat is rubbed with spices and is so tender it melts in your mouth. They have their own sauce that is a must try, but the meat is great without it. There is such flavor in the cooking process that you'll want to eat there and take some with you for later.

The Cheesecake Factory is a chain restaurant, so Kansas City is not the only place you can check this out, but the location is wonderful. It sits on the entry corner of the Plaza with a great outdoor fountain and seating area as you wait for a table (and there is almost always a wait so plan accordingly).

The food portions are huge. I recommend that whatever you order, you share with a friend because you definitely have to save room for dessert. They are famous for their various desserts, and these are not just cheesecakes. However, if you can only choose one, the turtle cheesecake is my absolute to die for favorite.

I honestly believe the thing to do is go in with a large group of friends, skip dinner, and order a variety of desserts and keep passing them clockwise around the table. If you are still hungry, which I doubt, then actually ask for the menu and order some dinner items or at least something from the appetizer menu, which is also wonderful, to top off your dessert!

For a forty-something lady, this was one of the most entertaining shopping experiences I've had in a long, long time! This shop is a large collection of things of bygone eras. I found a great pair of white go-go boots with some matching white sunglasses in the cat-eye shape with rhinestone tips. I won't be sharing with you where I intend to wear them, but they were such a fun buy.

Not only do they have great costume gear and funky clothes, especially since the 70s have totally come back in style, they also have an incredible collection of home and interior design items. I literally spent hours looking at every shelf and in every corner of this shop, and it is much larger inside than it appears outside. I think I was having flashbacks of my younger years and laughed out loud at the many items I saw. My daughter initially thought I was losing my mind, but then started to enjoy the retro shopping as much as I was. I can't wait to go back and take friends along.

If you are really into gambling, this isn't much of an experience, but we laughed a lot and spent an entire night without losing much money. There are four different casinos so we decided to do what we called the "casino crawl" and spend a night checking them all out.

We got a group of adults together and set a time limit and a loss limit, agreeing to move on to the next casino by whichever came first - two hours or losing the specified dollar amount. It was a fun way to spend a night with friends and we got a lot of people watching in. There is a definite difference in the clientele of each casino.

If anyone in the group needs more entertainment than people watching, then I recommend the Ameristar. It is definitely the nicest and has good bars as well. I'm not really much of a gambler and probably would not spend my limited time in KC at the casinos, but this made for a fun adult outing.

Many cities offer the experience of Shakespeare in the Park, but this is something truly special. Maybe it is the perfect park setting. Southmoreland Park is next to the Nelson Atkins Art Museum and is within walking distance of the Plaza. As you enter the park, there are Shakespearean actors and entertainers on hand to set the mood and answer questions. This leads to a hillside with the open air stage at the base.

It is done exactly as Shakespeare intended, with a very simple stage and backdrop so that we can really focus on the characters. You pick a piece of hillside, throw out your blanket, and settle in for an evening under the stars on a warm Missouri evening. Don't forget to bring your picnic basket. I always include a bottle of wine.

The troupe offers alternating productions - one night a comedy, one night a tragedy. This way if you are in town for several evenings you can choose which you prefer. Or possibly, if you enjoy the experience as I have, you can do both. It is completely free and whether or not you have been a Shakespeare fan or even understand the production, I promise after this evening event you will be a Kansas City fan!

One of my favorite trips to Kansas City occurred in the springtime last year with my younger kids. It wasn't so much of what we did while we were there, but in the experience of getting there.

We decided to take the train into Kansas City. We live on the east side of the state in Missouri and decided to catch an Amtrak for a weekend getaway. The time on the train was much more relaxing than the drive and a great experience for my kids. We played cards, talked, ate a snack in the dining car, and enjoyed the scenery along the way. The train station is one block from Crown Center, so we didn't even need transportation to our hotel close by.

We visited Union Station and Science City. While we were there we ate at a little cafe where we could watch the people come through and could almost picture what it used to be like when people were there catching their trains. We shopped and saw a movie at Crown Center. It was a great little escape for us and I wish I'd do those things more often!