Van Issues
Driving into Kansas City on our first morning it wasn’t to a place that we had expected to go to at all…..a Mercedes dealership. Since we purchased Bubbles in January 2017 we had taken her in for regular maintenance, in Rochester, NY twice, Seattle, WA, as well as in Tampa & Lakeland, FL. Nothing major was ever wrong, just scheduled oil & fluid changes as well as a new set of tires. So as we were driving from Columbia, MO the day before something strange came on, a warning light lit up on the dash. As soon as this happened we called the Kansas City Mercedes dealer and luckily they had an opening for a Sprinter van the next morning (usually it takes at least a few days to get an appointment for a Mercedes van depending on how large the dealer is). So there we were at 730am rush hour traffic crossing our fingers that it wasn’t a major issue.
We arrived at the dealer around 8 and had brought our laptop in order to work on our website as we waited. We were glad we did as it took 4 hours before we were told not to worry, the issue was the exhaust sensors. We were also told that this usually doesn’t happen normally until around 100k miles for a Sprinter (ours has 60k) but like people, every van is different. After a few more minutes we were told that we were all set and the sensors were covered under warranty (yay great Mercedes warranty!) and we were out the door. As scary as it was to have something go wrong with your vehicle mid trip, lucky for us it turned out to be a minor inconvenience and we had a great experience working with the team at Mercedes-Benz of Kansas City.
Crossroads & Power and Light Districts
As we had already lost a half-day immediately we decided to add an additional day to our stay in Kansas City. Usually for big cities we spend 3 nights, 2 days and we didn’t want to miss a thing. From the dealership we headed downtown. We didn’t really know what to expect as neither of us had ever been to Kansas City before but we did not expect it to be so big. We parked the van in the Crossroads neighborhood walking around a bit and checking out the Casual Animal Brewery. We then walked further downtown to the Power & Light district. This area was really buzzing with bright signs, new buildings and people everywhere.
Earlier in the day as we were sitting at Mercedes my Dad had called and said that one of his good friends and his wife lives in Kansas City. He said that I should give him a call and that if they were in town they would more than likely love to show us around. So I did. Lucky for us it turned out that Loren and his wife Theresa were home and wanted to have dinner with us. Around 5 we left the downtown KC and headed to their house in Prairie Village, a suburb on the Kansas side of the city. After arriving we talked for a bit (the last time that I had been there or seen them I was around 5 or 6, so there was a lot to catch up on). They then uttered words that spoke to my heart “So, do you guys like BBQ?”. Why yes…yes we do.
Kansas City BBQ
Kansas City had been on my list of BBQ cities to go to for a long time and at the very top of my restaurant list that I had wanted to check out was Joe’s Kansas City BBQ. Joe’s has a few locations now but the original just happened to be close to them in Prairie Village. So we hopped in their car and off we went. The original Joe’s location is located in a still working gas station. You are still able to purchase gas and there is a small convenience store in the building but for the most part its all about the BBQ. When we arrived the line was out the door and the place was much smaller than I had imagined. It looked like they had seating for maybe 40 with that many people or more in line for food. Loren saw me looking at this and said no worries, the line moves so slowly that by the time you get to order your food the people eating are already done and so there is always room for new people. He was absolutely right. We waited in line for 45 min and by the time we ordered and got our food there was plenty of seating for us.
The BBQ at Joe’s was delicious! For those keeping track of our BBQ restaurant number, Joe’s was #29. The wait was well worth it as we gobbled down all we could then packed up the rest to take home. From Joe’s Loren & Theresa took us on a little tour of some of their favorite spots in KC. We saw their favorite neighborhoods and fountain after fountain. It was neat to see at night too as usually we are in Bubbles in the campground after dark. After their tour we headed back to Loren & Theresa’s and we chatted for a bit more before we said heartfelt thank you’s and goodbyes. We really enjoyed their hospitality and said that we would hope to see them on our return trip back east in a few months. We then headed back to the campground for a good sleep after a long day.
World War I Museum & Memorial
The next day we woke up ready for some stress free exploring. Last night one of the main things that Loren & Theresa said that we had to do was to visit the World War I Museum. We had visited the World War II Museum in New Orleans a few years prior so we thought, why not. The museum and memorial sat on top of a hill overlooking the city. It was a beautiful day and just the entrance was extremely grand. You drove up and parked next to a long mall (the grass kind like in Washington DC). The museum is built into the ground with the monument on top. The monument is a tower reaching 217 feet into the sky, which you can go up. We first toured the museum, which was well worth the entrance fee. You start the tour by walking over a glass walkway over a bed of red poppies. Every poppy represents 1000 deaths. It immediately gave you a sense of how immense this war was. You then go from area to area showing why and how the war started and who was involved. The war started in 1914 but the USA did not get involved until 1917 and the war ended in 1919. The amount of artifacts, exhibits and just the layout of the museum was eye opening and now we could understand why this was a must see if you are visiting KC. After touring the museum we headed up the tower and took in the sights from above. It was a beautiful day and we got some great photos of the city.
Lunch at The Majestic
From the museum we headed further downtown for a lunch with one of Julie’s old friends, David. Julie had met David while living in France during college and David had given her a job at a Subway franchise that he had owned there. It had been 10+ years since Julie had seen David and she was excited. We arrived at the restaurant that David had picked out called The Majestic. Julie & David were very excited to see each other and after initial pleasantries we got down to eating. The Majestic turned out to be one of Kansas City’s oldest still standing restaurants, which had a bit of history to it. During the course of lunch I found out that the restaurant had a cigar bar on its 3rd floor. Even though it wouldn’t be open until 5pm that day I asked our bartender if I could go up and just take a look around. He said that he would give me a tour and up we went. It turned out that the restaurant and cigar bar had once been a hangout for the mobster Al Capone. I was told that legend has it that Capone had planned the infamous Valentines Day Massacre from one of the rooms of the cigar bar. Even the furniture was supposedly the same from that time period. It was pretty neat history.
As David had to get back to work it was time to head out. He said though that he was free that evening and would love to show us some of his favorite spots. If a local in a city that you are unfamiliar with says that they will show you around always say yes! From The Majestic we headed over to the River Market area. We checked out a few spots in their huge city farmers market and a coffee shop called Our Daily Nada (great coffee/bookstore) before it was time to meet back up with David.
Union Station & Kansas City Landmarks
We took the KC Tram through the city getting off at Union Station. This was Kansas City’s huge and beautiful train station. It was just as beautiful as the one that we had seen in St. Louis but this one was still being used for its original purpose…a train station! David explained that only a few trains actually run through there so for the most part the space is used as an exhibition hall for art shows and anything that comes through town that needs a big space. It was beautiful and neat.
From Union Station we walked over to the Crown Center (owned by Hallmark) walking through the Sheraton hotel property that was actually built into the side of a hill. We then took the tram to the north side of the city to the Louis & Clark Overlook, which overlooks the Missouri & Kansas Rivers. This was awesome as we were hundreds of feet above the rivers and the part of Kansas City in Kansas. This was perfect timing as well as the sun was setting on a clear day and we could see for miles. As it was getting to be dinnertime we ventured with David to one last place, his favorite neighborhood pub. It was called The Peanut Restaurant and they were known for chicken wings. We had told David that being from Western New York we knew a thing or two about wings but David wasn’t having any of this. He was right. They served their wings in a style I had never seen before…the entire wing. Usually when you get chicken wings you get them a basket full of little drumsticks and the wing portion. At the Peanut Restaurant they brought them to the table not broken up so you got both still connected as an entire chicken wing. A portion of these, some fries and a beer filled the three of us up. After a day exploring and another night of great company we were pretty tired. David drove us back to Bubbles and after giving him a tour we called it a night and headed back to the campground.
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
The next morning we woke up ready to explore Kansas City on our bonus day. Besides the World War I memorial the other thing that we were told that we had to see was the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. So after breakfast we set out to see the museum. The museum building itself was a beautiful building. Built on the former grounds of the Kansas City Star’s publisher the museum opened in 1933. The front of the building is in a beautiful tree lined neighborhood with the back end on top of a hill overlooking the city. As beautiful as the building was one of the best features of the museum is that it is free! You can wander in for as little or as long as you want and you don’t have to pay a dime. This was much different than many of the museums that Julie and I have been to in the USA and around the world. We ventured in going room-to-room oooohing and awwwing at different pieces and sculptures. One of my favorite parts was a room that had pieces that at one point were stolen by the Nazi’s during World War II. Every piece had a story next to it about who painted it, who owned it, roughly when it was stolen and how the Nelson-Atkins had acquired it. It was very interesting to know the entire story behind these paintings. Julie and I wandered around the museum for a few hours before heading back to the van and having some lunch.
Country Club Plaza
From the museum we drove over to the cities Old Westport neighborhood and took a walk around. We stopped in a few places but didn’t see much we wanted to do so we hopped back in the van and drove through The Plaza District or by its official name “Country Club Plaza”. This area of the city sounds as fancy as the name implies it to be. It was designed in 1922 as the first shopping district in the world created to be driven to by automobile. It was also designed to resemble the city of Seville, Spain. Almost all of the stores are high end and it is a beautiful area. Julie and I drove around the streets in this 55-acre neighborhood looking at the stores and fountains. It was a very neat area and one that we did not expect to see in the Midwest.
As we had been on the go for what it seemed like a long time we drove from Country Club Plaza back to the campground to rest and relax. Kansas City had exceeded our expectations in almost every way possible. We loved our time here and would come back in a heartbeat!
Next up…We head west to Topeka & Wichita, Kansas!
