These are a few of my favorite things:KC
We are all lovers of the city, we've instilled it in our children. The irony is in that Dale and I both grew up in smaller communities. When we first started dating, I had already lost my heart to Chicago and he told me he also loved Chicago, I remember thinking, "Well that's weird," because we had so many other things in common. I think we asked each other if we could live anywhere in the world where we would live or something like that. Well, we've yet to reside in the city as a family, but I showed the kids a lakeview of the skyline and they all said, "Wow..." (that breathless, unbelievably wow) and have not stopped asking when we can go there.
We have been fortunate to live within an hour of a big city from every place we've lived. It's one of my favorite things just to be familiar with the drive to freedom. Our outtings are not generally extravagant. When we lived in Nebraska, we set the tradition on our Friday night family nights to go eat at King Kong, a little hole-in-the-wall Greek food restaurant, to the toy store to perruse the new stuff and usually purchase nothing, and then to Krispy Kreme donuts. Those days were so fun. Our lives were completely bombarded with busyness and, often times, turmoil, but it seemed like as soon as we were loaded in the car on our way out of town, it was just us and life was good. There were a lot of things I loved in Omaha, but King Kong was my number one favorite thing. The thought of a gyro platter... wow... *breathy unbelievable wow* If you've never been it's worth the trip.
All that to say this, we love Kansas City. It's a beautiful city full of culture and entertainment and rich historicity. First stop, the Westin Crown Center. My first choice for our vacation this year was the Westin. When we are there, I feel like I am in the lap of luxury. Needless to say, we are not there often. As a matter of fact, I could count the times we've been on one hand. It's this spectacular hotel that is stacked, who knows how many stories high, and there are glass elevators that eject you to the top in nothing flat The lobby is vast and there is a lot of seating where we love to sit and have conversation. Connected by a corridor is a three story mall full of shopping, food, a movie theatre, live theatre, and children's entertainment. Across the street is a wide open patio complete with fountains in the summer and an ice skating rink in the winter. At Christmas time they set up an enormous tree and and decorative cutouts that you can walk through. It is just a remarkable place to frequent.
Missouri would not appear to have a lot of offer; it's reputation kind of a backwards state is not altogether true. There are perks to living in this not quite northern, not quite southern place. Let me just spell it out for you; FOOD! I have never known southern cooking quite like they do it here. And what's more, I had never tasted soul food until I moved here. Dale heard about a soul food buffet on the radio and insisted that we go there. So we hunted out the Peach Tree Buffet and found ourselves in a glutton's paradise. I can't even think about it without my senses responding. Fried chicken, fried catfish, mac and cheese, greens, cornbread, sweet rolls, black-eyed peas, fried potatoes, bread pudding like you've never tasted, peach cobbler like you've never imagined... the works. It's my favorite place to eat in the universe.
We also found a little old school cafe called Neice's. They had the most delicious sweet potato pie that I've ever tried. It's small, and cheap too, but the food is top quality.
Being that I (kind of still) believe we won't be here, I wanted to share these places. KC seems to be kind of a general stop for travellers from all places so if you are in the area, they are definitely worth visiting!
We have been fortunate to live within an hour of a big city from every place we've lived. It's one of my favorite things just to be familiar with the drive to freedom. Our outtings are not generally extravagant. When we lived in Nebraska, we set the tradition on our Friday night family nights to go eat at King Kong, a little hole-in-the-wall Greek food restaurant, to the toy store to perruse the new stuff and usually purchase nothing, and then to Krispy Kreme donuts. Those days were so fun. Our lives were completely bombarded with busyness and, often times, turmoil, but it seemed like as soon as we were loaded in the car on our way out of town, it was just us and life was good. There were a lot of things I loved in Omaha, but King Kong was my number one favorite thing. The thought of a gyro platter... wow... *breathy unbelievable wow* If you've never been it's worth the trip.
All that to say this, we love Kansas City. It's a beautiful city full of culture and entertainment and rich historicity. First stop, the Westin Crown Center. My first choice for our vacation this year was the Westin. When we are there, I feel like I am in the lap of luxury. Needless to say, we are not there often. As a matter of fact, I could count the times we've been on one hand. It's this spectacular hotel that is stacked, who knows how many stories high, and there are glass elevators that eject you to the top in nothing flat The lobby is vast and there is a lot of seating where we love to sit and have conversation. Connected by a corridor is a three story mall full of shopping, food, a movie theatre, live theatre, and children's entertainment. Across the street is a wide open patio complete with fountains in the summer and an ice skating rink in the winter. At Christmas time they set up an enormous tree and and decorative cutouts that you can walk through. It is just a remarkable place to frequent.
Missouri would not appear to have a lot of offer; it's reputation kind of a backwards state is not altogether true. There are perks to living in this not quite northern, not quite southern place. Let me just spell it out for you; FOOD! I have never known southern cooking quite like they do it here. And what's more, I had never tasted soul food until I moved here. Dale heard about a soul food buffet on the radio and insisted that we go there. So we hunted out the Peach Tree Buffet and found ourselves in a glutton's paradise. I can't even think about it without my senses responding. Fried chicken, fried catfish, mac and cheese, greens, cornbread, sweet rolls, black-eyed peas, fried potatoes, bread pudding like you've never tasted, peach cobbler like you've never imagined... the works. It's my favorite place to eat in the universe.
We also found a little old school cafe called Neice's. They had the most delicious sweet potato pie that I've ever tried. It's small, and cheap too, but the food is top quality.
Being that I (kind of still) believe we won't be here, I wanted to share these places. KC seems to be kind of a general stop for travellers from all places so if you are in the area, they are definitely worth visiting!
Your spirit is amazing. What would devastate some, makes you smile. A Missouri native, I do take exception with the reputation comment. That was Kansas to me. Fall in the Ozarks is nothing short of spectacular. See you on your next visit.
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