KC Trip Notes

A belated and brief wrap up of my weekend in Kansas City.

Thanks to Southwest’s always morphing flight schedule, I believe for the first time ever on one of these trips I flew over late in the afternoon, landing at 4:00. That certainly shortened the weekend up a bit. But, to be honest, often when I came over in the morning, after meeting people for lunch weariness would set in and I would seriously contemplate going to a library or bookstore and taking a quick nap. No need for that when you get in late in the day!

Friday evening I dined with friends at Char Bar. I had been there once before and it was another very solid meal. From there we went to the Westport Ale House for some drinks. We rolled in around 8:30 and thought it odd there were only a few other folks there. Turns out the kids don’t go out until later, because the joint started hopping right around 10-10:30. Which was about the time we were leaving. I noticed that there seemed to be more diversity in the bar than everywhere I went combined 20 years ago. Good to see Kansas City is changing.

Saturday I met some folks for lunch at Planet Sub. That seemed appropriate since we are about a month away from the 30th anniversary of my first visit to Yello Sub in Lawrence. To celebrate, I got the sandwich I’ve been ordering for three decades: Planet (Yello) Sub, no dijon. The best, Jerry, the best.

It was then off to Lee’s Summit to hang with friends before the Royals game. On our way to the K, we stopped and had Gates for dinner. Can’t go wrong, although I missed the more in-your-face Gates experience you get further into the city.

The Royals game was hot – HOT – for about the first 20 minutes until the shadows hit our seats. After we were able to cool off, it was a solid game. The Royals played well and wrapped up their win in a brisk 2.5 hours.

We were left needing something to fill the extra hour we planned on being at the K, so headed to a bar in my old stomping grounds of Raytown called The Dirty Bird. It was a surprisingly solid establishment. There certainly weren’t any bars like this in the RYT back in my day there.

Sunday I met friends for brunch at Port Fonda, a place that is new to me but has apparently been in Westport several years. It was tremendous, would definitely eat there again.

Then it was back to Indy.

I also got in my obligatory walk around the Plaza, drove by a couple of my old apartments, and did some other brief exploring. I got the girls some gear, although when I was moving some items around at KCI to make more room, I apparently misplaced the shirt I bought M. It was not in my bag when I got home. Fortunately she’s out of town for a week so I ordered a new one that should be here before she returns.

Several people asked how KC feels to me now. I recently realized that being gone 16 years is a long ass time.¹ So when I go back, I’m not always sure what is new and what’s been there for five years but I haven’t stamped into my memory yet. While I don’t always remember the best way to get from point A to point B, there are also lots of little shortcuts that I can recall the moment I get to an intersection. The city is still in my DNA, but those traces get a little fainter each year.

It was great seeing all of you who made time to meet me one place or another. The food, baseball, and other things are all great. But spending time with my friends is always the best part about these trips.