D's Notebook

Tag: Kansas City (Page 1 of 2)

Weekend in KC

August 8, 2022 /

A very good weekend trip to Kansas City. Other than the heat, of course.

Travel

It was probably our easiest drive between Indy and KC we’ve ever had without driving at night. A few slowdowns, a few standard trucks passing each other or slow people in the fast lane issues. But otherwise it was kind of smooth sailing.

One side effect of me switching to a smaller car without a third row is that trips like this can be problematic. Our girls bitch when they have to ride 10 minutes to dinner three-across in the back seat. Eight-ish hours was going to be a shitshow. We decided that the expense of renting a van was worth the reduction in bitching and increase in comfort for all. That was a good call. Plenty of room for our bags, the girls weren’t on top of each other, and we got pretty solid fuel mileage.

Speaking of fuel, it saddened us that the father we got from Indy, the more the price of gas fell. I mean, it was good for this trip. But sucks that it reinforced the reality that Indiana typically has some of the highest gas prices outside of California.[1] Anyway, when I bought gas in Lawrence on Friday, I was paying a full dollar less per gallon than in Indy. Joy.

OK, onto the trip itself. Some of you know many of these details but I’ll go ahead and act like no one knows nothing.

Thursday

We mixed things up and stayed at the Hampton Inn near the Power & Light District rather than on the Plaza. We haven’t ever checked out downtown on any of our trips other than driving through, so it was cool to see the many changes that have taken place down there in the 19 years since we moved to Indy. The streetcar stop was directly below our room. More on that later.

Thursday night we met my aunt and uncle for dinner at Parlor. The food we sampled from the various vendors ranged from ok to very good. When I walked to the bar to order our first drinks, I scanned the QR code to pull up the drink menu. The bartender said that if I was a quick chooser I had two minutes to still get happy hour prices. I asked her if she had anything local. She began to rattle off the list and when she said “Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat” I said, “Two please!”

As she poured them she commented how Boulevard really isn’t local anymore since they got bought out awhile back. This very nice looking young woman sitting at the bar next to me shook her head and said, “They’re sellouts.”

Oh my!

I asked that they not hold it against me and took my beers and fled.

Friday – KU

Friday was our KU campus visit. This was my first trip back to Lawrence in 12 years, and only my second in 19+ years. Which seems crazy. It’s just hard to carve out a day in Lawrence when we have generally taken these quick trips to KC and are trying to see as many people as possible in a compressed time frame.

I honestly don’t remember the last time I took I–70 to Lawrence. It’s been well over 20 years, for sure. The girls were totally confused by the concept of toll roads.

We arrived on campus a little early, so I drove by a couple of my old apartments and then we hit the bookstore to scout out possible purchases for after the tour. M quickly piped up, “KU has way better shirts than anywhere we’ve been so far.” Score one for the Jayhawks! She was right. I think the KU bookstore had more shirts than the IU and Purdue bookstores combined.


The KU admissions presentation was outstanding. M agreed with me that it was the best of the six we’ve been to, so it wasn’t just a biased KU alum’s opinion. Most of that was because of the guy who was leading the presentation. He was great, funny and full of personality. He was a stark contrast to the lady who presented at IU last Monday, who basically read from a script and overused the word “beautiful.” KU really hits hard on being an AAU accredited school, and that got M’s attention. I told her IU and Purdue are also AAU schools, so that means KU has many of the academic benefits of those schools without the sheer size. In many ways it is the perfect blend of a Big 10 school and Miami, Ohio.

Between the shirts, our peeks at campus, the presentation, and the fat chunk of scholarship money M’s grades qualify her for, she was professing some interest. I’ll admit while I thought it was a long shot, I was getting excited about her at least applying.

Then we took the tour.

Listen, it was nasty hot and humid. It was a Friday late in the tour cycle. Our entire group seemed a little low energy. But the tour kind of sucked. Our guide wasn’t very good, he skipped some of the best parts of campus, we didn’t go inside a single building, and he did more telling than showing about the things that make KU an interesting option.

The tour walked out to a stopping point where families could grab a bus that would take them to stops at professional schools if they had appointments, dorm tours if scheduled, and eventually back to the Union where we started. We waited around for about five minutes and decided to hoof it back rather than wait, as everyone was getting hungry. I think the walk up the Hill in the heat extinguished any interest M had in KU. We were all dripping when we got back up to Wescoe beach.

On the way to the Union I walked us through the main part of campus the tour had missed. M said, “Why didn’t he take us here? This is awesome.”

Unbelievable.

I also corrected a few “facts” our guide had wrong. He was a nice enough kid and I’m hoping he was just off his game Friday.

In M’s welcome bag was a 20% off the entire purchase at the KU Bookstore, so we did some shopping. I was in heaven, but only walked out with a couple stickers. They had some amazing gear but I have purchased like eight KU shirts already this year. The girls all got nice sweatshirts, though.

So I don’t think M will be a Jayhawk. But L is interested so maybe we’ll try again in four years!

My brain was literally cramping last week trying to come up with a place to eat lunch while in Lawrence. Which of my old favorites should I hit? I reached the point of mental paralysis and consulted with brother in Jayhawkdom E$, who suggested the Ladybird Diner. This was a brilliant rec: the food and environment were fantastic. If you’re ever in LFK, you should stop by.

After lunch we did some more driving around and then made the pilgrimage to Allen Fieldhouse. This was my only misstep of the day. I didn’t research how to partake in all the new exhibits at the Fieldhouse. I figured you just walk into the building and you’ll see everything. They do have the little museum display in the main entrance. But the main part of AFH was closed off, so the girls couldn’t see the court. I assumed this meant the area with the original rules of basketball was also off limits for the day. It wasn’t until that evening that I read those are in a whole other building that may well have been open. L was bummed she didn’t see the court, but we did get to see the latest national championship trophy.


On our way out of town we swung by the house I lived in for two years, aka The Big Yellow House. Which is now brown. If you know, you know. Naturally there was an accident at 23rd and Mass when we were there. We used to call 911 at least once a week because of accidents there. Some things never change.

Friday night the Murray family graciously hosted many of you. It was great to see all of you who were able to make it.

Saturday – Raytown and More

Saturday morning we took the streetcar up to the River Market. I ate many lunches and dinners in the River Market in my adult KC years. But I don’t think I had been to the farmers market since I was a little kid. It was fabulous! I remarked at how when I was a kid it was pretty much all local Italian vendors. I did hear one old lady speaking some Italian Saturday. I was amazed by how many world cultures were represented in the area now. A Vietnamese place. A Thai place. The spice store with all kinds of exotic, wonderful smelling spices on display. Vendors selling all kinds of Asian and Latin foods. Good for KC.

We took the streetcar back down to Union Station and walked around there a bit. I showed the girls the bullet holes that remain from the Kansas City Massacre. I found that more interesting than they did.

A few weeks back M said it would be funny if we went to the Taco Bell I worked at in Raytown on our visit. That jogged my memory that I had read about a really good barbecue place that was right around the corner. We met the Nesbitt family and Stacey B at Harp Barbecue for lunch. Sure enough, the old TB building was still there, although now it is a Chinese takeout place. M asked if that was the actual building I worked in. Hell yes, it was! All it had was a new coat of paint.

Harp’s was terrific. I had the burnt ends which were top notch. The sides were solid. The rest of the family had pulled pork which they all approved of. The beer from Crane Brewery was good, too. A little oasis of culture in a town not always known for that.

After lunch I drove the girls by the three houses we lived in, my old high and elementary schools, and numerous car washes I used. We popped into a CVS and the girls were disappointed I didn’t buy any of the RHS swag they were selling.


After our Raytown sojourn, we headed to the Plaza for the obligatory shopping trip. It was sales tax free weekend in Missouri, which made the stores extra packed. Not the most fun on a day when the heat index was something like 107.

While on the Plaza I got stopped by a guy who was with Amnesty International trying to hit me up for a donation. I interrupted him and thanked him but said we were late to meet someone. That shut him down. I turned and there was a red light greeting me. So we just stood there awkwardly until it changed to green. The girls were trying to sustain their giggles the entire time.[2]

For dinner Saturday we met the Vogel family. Our first choice was going to have trouble seating us so we bopped down the street and went to Carmen’s. It was a great meal with great friends. As much as I miss the Plaza, I think Brookside is the part of Kansas City I miss most. We just don’t have an area like that in Indy. Everything that is similar is either just a couple notches bigger or smaller and lacks that special Brookside feel.

That was our weekend in Kansas City. Other than the heat and not getting into see Allen Fieldhouse, I have zero complaints. I think the girls all enjoyed it as well.

  1. This is mostly due to our gas coming from refineries to the north, which increases the transportation cost to get that gas to us. Plus those refineries are old and both constantly shutting down for repairs and under some more significant environmental restrictions.  ↩

  2. That’s only my second-best effort at avoiding solicitors on the Plaza. Years ago I was stopped by a very nice young lady. She asked how my day was going. I grabbed my stomach and said I had just eaten too much barbecue (truth), my stomach was a little upset (not true), and I needed to find a restroom. She encouraged me to find one. I walked in mock distress until I was out of her sight. Then I laughed and laughed.  ↩

A Return to the Motherland

August 23, 2021 /

A wedding took us back to Kansas City for a very quick trip over the weekend.[1] I think most of my regular readers were at the wedding, so most importantly it was great to see you all!

The wedding was wonderful and the reception everything we hoped it would be. It was a terrific night with nearly all of my closest KC friends dancing together for three or four hours. This wedding was originally supposed to take place nearly a year-and-a-half ago, but was wiped out by the first weekend of national lockdown. That was a bummer in many ways, but ended up being a good thing for me. Had the wedding taken place as scheduled, we would have been on spring break in Colorado and missed it. I’m very glad I was able to attend.

Being such a tight trip – we arrived in KC before 4:00 Friday afternoon and left right at 7:30 Sunday morning – did not leave a ton of time to squeeze stuff in.

After we checked into our hotel, S and I made a lap of the Plaza. It’s always a shock how things have changed down there. I’ve been bummed for years that probably 90% of the shops and restaurants on the Plaza can also be found at the mall that is a mile and a half from our house. Sure, our mall doesn’t have the same feel as the Plaza. But the Plaza doesn’t feel nearly as unique when I can buy a lot of the same shit five minutes from my front door.

Thank goodness for places like the Charlie Hustle store, Rally House (which is a chain but always seems like a KC store to me), and the Made in KC Marketplace, where I bought a cool t-shirt.

It was crazy to see that building that used to house The Capital Grill, among other things, completely demolished.

I thought it was cool that since the last time we stayed at the Plaza Hampton Inn they’ve torn down another one of the old apartment buildings on the north side of 47th street. Thus I was able to look out our room window and see my old apartment at Plaza Terrace. I was living there exactly 20 years ago!

Friday night we met a few of you for dinner at Third Street Social, which was excellent. Before we got to KC I thought we might walk there from our hotel. I had made the walk from 46th and Jefferson to the Peanut many times over the years. I knew that might be a stretch for us – again, it’s been 20 years – but would be doable. We could always catch a ride back afterward. Then we felt the KC heat and humidity and decided we didn’t want to be soaked with sweat for dinner and drove ourselves.

We even got a bonus loud Kansas City thunderstorm that woke us up after midnight. It also allowed me to see Gary Lezak get excited about approaching heavy weather on the 10:00 news.

Saturday we got up and took another walk around the Plaza. My plan was to order some Joe’s Barbecue to take to a lunch we had planned for 11:30. John N told me that you could order curbside online, so I tried to do that around 9:00 AM. By then the earliest pickup time was already 11:30. I thought about just running over and getting in line around 10:45, but after our walk I wasn’t in the mood to stand in a line.

Past experience taught me that you can’t rely on Gates to have burnt ends when they first open. So we called an audible and grabbed some Planet Sub, which I had actually been thinking about earlier in the week. Whole Planet Sub, no Dijon. My go-to order for 32 years is still a winner.

That was consumed with friends at Loose Park, near the Rose Garden. We found a shady spot and had some good conversation before it was time to get ready for the wedding.

Too little time to eat all the foods I wanted to eat, or see much outside the Plaza. Most importantly, too little time to really catch up with friends I hadn’t seen in two years (four years for a few of you). We could never find any direct flights from Indy to KC. I forgot a new terminal is being built at KCI. Stacey B suggested perhaps when it opens they’ll add those direct flights back in. Those flights were always full, and I would love to have that quick flight option rather than driving eight hours or having to fly to Baltimore or some other bullshit to get to KC.

A few quick travel notes:

  • We used Apple Maps via CarPlay to guide us. It seemed pretty good. We even switched to Google Maps at one point and it kept overriding our intended destination and replacing it with a generic address in downtown KC. Apple Maps did keep offering alternate routes that were strange. Not the “Take this route to save 13 minutes” type stuff. They were always long detours from our intended path. One said it would take us 3:38 longer than just staying on I–70 the entire way. Who the fuck wants to do that unless I–70 is shut down?!?!
  • Sadly, speaking of that, Friday on our way over there was a terrible accident on the opposite side of I–70 in central Illinois. There was a Life Flight helicopter sitting in the eastbound lanes and dozens of emergency vehicles. Traffic was backed up over three miles behind the crash. We later learned a westbound truck had crossed over, hit two cars, instantly killing the driver and passenger in one of them. Just awful…
  • After that I feel bad about making this comment, but it was kind of good to see that I–70 in Missouri is still the shit show it has always been. That stretch from the western St. Louis suburbs until about half an hour outside Columbia is one of the craziest stretches I’ve ever driven. It has always been “Go 80+ in the left lane, or 60 in the right line.” There are no other options. Occasionally someone from out-of-state will get stuck in the left lane going too slow and it’s a mad dash to find an opening to pass them on the right. I think I actually waved my fist in mock disgust at a driver from Michigan who was puttering along at the speed limit in the left lane. “You have to go 85 if you want to drive in the left lane in Missouri, motherfucker!”
  • We took S’s Jeep Grand Cherokee. As usual she is waaaay below her lease mileage limit so that made more sense. I don’t always love driving it – I find its transmission to be a little rough – and would have preferred driving my Audi. But you can’t argue with the free miles we have stocked away in the Jeep.
  • I was kind of surprised there wasn’t more insurrectionist propaganda along the way. Sure, we saw a few flags and signs. But far fewer than I expected. If only that meant the supporters of insurrection had actually disappeared.

Again, great to see all of you who were at the wedding. I’m committed to getting back next year, so long as travel returns to normal and I can get to KC without spending two hours in Charlotte waiting on a connecting flight.

  1. We did not go into any Quick Trips, though.  ↩

KC Trip Notes

July 16, 2019 /

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.

  1. I’ve now lived a third of my life in Indianapolis. No, I’m still not a Hoosier. ↩

Comfort Zone

November 7, 2017 /

I’m not the most outgoing person in the world. Particularly when it comes to strangers. I just don’t have that gene that makes it easy for me to talk to people I don’t know in non-social settings. I’m not the dude striking up a conversation with the guy next to me while we wait in line at the deli, or the mom sitting by me at a first sports practice for one of our kids. So when I do have a lengthy encounter with someone I don’t know, it always stands out.

A week or so ago I was making my normal Monday grocery run. I went to a store I don’t normally go to, wearing a generic KC hat.[1] I was heading toward the meat cooler when I noticed a woman looking at me and making a beeline in my direction. I looked away, looked back, and she was still heading right at me. My first thought was that she had her eye on a particular package of pork chops and was worried I was going to get it first. But then she broke into a smile and I began racking my brain for if I knew her from somewhere. She was probably in her early 60s, so I’m thinking grandmother from St. P’s, parent of one of S’s friends, etc.

Anyway, she rolls up on me and kind of nervously says, “Is that for Kansas City?”

It took me a moment to realize she was asking about my hat.

“Oh, yeah, it is. Are you from there?”

“I thought so! No, but we just had some very good friends move there.”

Thus kicked off a roughly 10-minute conversation. And by conversation I mean she stood there and told me all about her friends who moved to KC, what their jobs were, how this woman and her husband used to have dinner with them, what each one of the four would make for their dinners, etc. The man who moved to KC made really good lasagna and his wife made the most wonderful salad to go along with it.

So, you know, I was totally comfortable with all of this.

Eventually she asked me what I did and what my wife did. When I told her, she mentioned that she had a friend who was in medicine. Then segued into telling me about her daughter who lives in North Carolina for about five minutes.

I kept waiting for some kind of pitch to come. The question of whether I’ve accepted Jesus. Or if I’ve heard of Amway. Or even about how she was down on her luck and could just use a few bucks to buy some groceries for the week.

None of that ever came, though. I think she was just a lonely lady looking to talk to someone, and my KC hat was just the opening she needed to corner me.

After several awkward pauses and me saying, “Well…” she finally wished me a good day and left me to finish my shopping. Which I did nervously, hoping I wouldn’t get cornered by someone else.

Needless to say I’ve not been back to that store or worn that hat while doing my shopping since.

  1. It is royal blue with gold, block KC on the front. So vaguely Royal-esque in a late 1970s way. I got it off an ad on Instagram. It’s kinda dope.  ↩

Weekend in KC

June 6, 2017 /

Another great weekend in Kansas City. Then again, aren’t all weekends in Kansas City great? At least when you’re visiting there. This trip was made more fun by it being the first full-family trip to KC in over three years. For my readers who weren’t involved in the weekend festivities, here’s a little run-down of what we did.

We drove over Friday. Had great weather and easy traffic the whole way. We marveled at how quiet our girls were when everyone has their own screen in front of them. The girls were basically silent for the first half of the trip, until we stopped in St. Louis for lunch. Then they remained quiet until we reached Concordia. Then they started getting a little antsy and ready to get out of the car.

We cruised into our hotel on the Plaza, relaxed for a bit, then headed straight to the original Joe’s barbecue location.[1] The girls had Joe’s three years ago, and were excited to have it again. But this was their first trip to the 47th and Mission gas station location. Luckily, since we rolled in at about 4:45 local time, there was a minimal line and we were able to snag a table big enough for us all to sit comfortably. Both S and M had pulled pork sandwiches, but C and L decided to split a half slab of ribs! Which actually meant they split half of a half slab and I knocked out the rest after finishing off my Z-Man. All-in-all, it was a fine meal enjoyed by all.

We walked around on the Plaza a little after, the girls got some dessert, and we made a stop at Rally House so the girls could get some gear for the Royals game Sunday. L really wanted a jersey. I was pushing a shirsey, pointing out if she got a t-shirt she’d likely get something else over the weekend. Nope, she wanted a real jersey. Then we had to pick a player. The kid options in light blue were Eric Hosmer, Salvador Perez, and Alex Gordon. She was leaning toward Hosmer until I told her he wouldn’t be a Royal after this season. She debated between Salvy and Alex before picking Alex. I didn’t have the heart to tell her he’s having a terrible year. She loved the jersey and that’s all that really mattered. Then we headed back to the hotel so they could swim for a bit.

Saturday the girls wanted to go to the Nelson Atkins museum. Kind of an odd request, no? Well C and L follow some YouTube family that lives near KC and had visited the glass maze at some point. The girls just made the connection a couple weeks ago, when I was explaining the shuttlecock statues to them, and suddenly they wanted to go to the museum. They thought the maze was pretty cool, didn’t really get the shuttlecocks,[2] and weren’t nearly as impressed by the Asian temple exhibit inside as I was when I was their age and visited on school field trips. Oh well, I was just excited they wanted to go to an art museum. And I think it’s awesome the Nelson is still free. It would be about $50 for me to take them to our local art museum if we don’t go during the four hour free entry window each Thursday.

After the Nelson we met an aunt, uncle, and cousin for lunch at Ponak’s on the Boulevard. We drove them by the Roasterie and Boulevard plants on the way. They thought the plane outside the Roasterie was pretty cool, but didn’t seem as interested in the location where a significant percentage of the beer I drink comes from. They loved Ponak’s, though! “THAT WAS SOOOOO GOOD!” Back in the day I would have put Ponak’s 4th or 5th on my list of favorite spots on the Boulevard. When I told them that, it just confused them.

After that, off to our first big group gathering at our friends the B’s, who moved out to Lake Quivira six months ago. Good times in and around the water well into the evening.

Sunday, we had brunch with a couple of S’s friends from residency and their families. More good food and catching up.

From there it was out to the K for the girls first Major League Baseball game with a group of 20 or so. Thank goodness we picked seats just under the overhang, because we got stuck in a two hour rain delay and only got a little water blown our way. That delay challenged all the kids that were there, especially since they kept the tarp on a good 30 minutes after the rain stopped. But today L told me she liked the delay, because we got to walk around and do some other things during, and it made our stay at the K last longer. But the game kind of sucked. 8–0 losses are tough to sit through regardless of your age and the weather. The girls had fun, though, and no doubt will be telling all their friends here about going to an MLB game.

On our way back to the hotel I stopped and got Planet Sub for dinner. Which meant I had to bore the girls with the story of how I had Yello Sub for the first time in August 1989, ordered a Yello Sub with no Dijon, and other than a brief stretch in the early 00s when I dined there frequently and varied what I ordered, the Yello/Planet sub minus Dijon has been my go-to meal there for nearly 30 years now. Hey, just because they don’t enjoy hearing the story doesn’t mean I’m going to stop telling it! A little more swimming topped off the night.

Our drive home Monday was uneventful. Thankfully all the big slowdowns on I–70 were westbound and we made it home before the evening rush hit in Indy.

As always, it was too quick of a trip. It was great seeing so many people, but the conversations never feel as deep or long as they would be if we didn’t have 150 kids running around and yelling the entire time. The girls had a really good time. M seemed to pick right up with the her two seventh-grade-to-be friends she hadn’t seen in several years. Some of the younger friends followed C around and thought she was the coolest. And L slid right in with the older boys, playing basketball with them[3] and sitting with them at the game Sunday.

For those of you we got to see, thanks for making time to hang out with us. I wish our conversations could have been longer and with fewer interruptions. For those we missed, hopefully it won’t be too long before we make a return visit and we can try again then.

  1. Always Oklahoma Joe’s to me.  ↩
  2. Meaning they’d fit right in with a signification portion of the KC population. I’m a big shuttlecocks guy.  ↩
  3. And “dominating” according to her.  ↩

KC Trip Wrapup

August 23, 2016 /

Once, summer trips to Kansas City were the norm for me. Just about every summer I would sneak away for a weekend that, famously, included the four B’s: baseball, Boulevard beer, barbecue, and buddies.[1] But as the girls got a little older, it became more difficult to get away. Buying a lake house where we spent most of our summer weekends added another layer of difficulty to making that trip during school vacation. It had been four years since I made a summer trip to KC that revolved around baseball!

Luckily I broke that streak this past weekend.

Despite the long slump, this trip had a familiar rhythm to it. Fly in Friday on the early, direct flight. Pick up a car and start driving around. Go to the Plaza. Drive by some of my other favorite spots and see what’s changed, what’s the same. I usually snap some pics while doing my wanderings, but this is the first time I’ve come back since I started taking photography semi-seriously. I added in a trip to the Liberty Memorial this time around where I got a few decent shots. It was a weird day for pics: overcast days are often good for pics because you don’t get blinded by the summer sun, but the clouds Friday morning were really thick and I struggled to get good color in many of my shots. Oh well.

Obligatory downtown KC pic
Obligatory downtown KC pic

I made a stop at the Boulevard Brewery. Stupidly I didn’t think to reserve a time for a tour a few weeks back before they filled up. I’ve heard you can often slip into already booked groups if you just show up, but I went about 40 minutes before my lunch plans kicked in, so didn’t have time for that. I just bought a sweet shirt instead.

Lunch at Charbar, one of the new barbecue places in town. It was really good. While meeting the folks I was eating with, I randomly ran into another good friend I hadn’t seen in years. In the first few years after I moved to Indy, when I would go back to KC I would always be looking around, expecting to run into someone I used to work with, lived near, or hung out with. This is probably the first time that’s ever happened!

Friday night was Royals game #1, a fellas’ night out. We had good seats, the Royals had a lead going into the 4th, and life was good. Then Minnesota tied it and heavy rains moved in. We hustled to our car and departed for the Peanut, as the radar showed storms stacked up halfway across Kansas. That was a wise move, as play didn’t begin again until nearly midnight. And then they had to play into the 11th inning before the Royals got their sixth-straight victory.

Saturday I met my uncle at Oklahoma Joe’s[2]. I was at Joe’s a couple years ago, when we brought the girls back. But this was my first Z-man sandwich in probably 5–6 years. It was delicious.

An obligatory trip to the Kansas Sampler for buying the girls some KU gear and myself another Royals shirt followed.

Saturday night was our big evening at the K. Seven families were represented in some form, along with a whole gaggle of kids. There was tailgating, football throwing, wisecracking, and reminiscing. Our seats were way up in the view level, an area of the K I hadn’t sat in since 2001 or 2002. But they were just fine to catch up with folks and watch a 10–0 Royals win.

Then I was on the noon, direct flight back to Indy on Sunday, where the delightful weather that reached Kansas City on Saturday morning had just rolled into town. There’s a hint of fall in the air, which made this trip the perfect capper to a pretty good summer.

For my obligatory “what did it mean to me” part of this post, Kansas City started to feel foreign to me awhile back. There were just too many changes, whether it was my friends moving and adding to their families or making other major life changes, or things like the Power & Light district or other physical changes to the area, for the city to feel fresh to me. But still there’s a lot of familiarity there for me. I think I find my footing pretty quickly even with all those changes.

I’m definitely not a local anymore when I visit. Yet there’s still a part of me that feels more at home in KC than Indy. I guess I lived there (mostly) for 23 years and this is just year 13 in Indy. Perhaps that feeling will flip someday.

It was great to see all of you who stop by here on occasion and made time to meet for lunch, or at the K.

  1. Buddies being a gender-neutral term in this case.  ↩
  2. I know what it’s called now. I’m still calling it OK Joe’s!  ↩

A Quick Trip Recap

April 2, 2014 /

A whirlwind of a weekend.

Leave Indy early Saturday, just ahead of a quick burst of snow, heading west through rain and dreary skies. Our traditional lunch stop at the St. Louis Bread Company in Maryland Heights. Into sun and warmth in western Missouri. Finally arriving at our home base for the weekend in Overland Park.

That evening, dinner with friends from S.’s days as a resident. Minsky’s pizza and Boulevard beer.

Sunday morning, an early trip to Legoland in Crown Center. We were a little frustrated by the ticket purchasing and entry process, which takes way too long. But once inside, the girls loved it. I thought the area where many of the architectural landmarks of Kansas City are recreated using Lego was fantastic.

I tried to push a couple of my favorite spots for lunch, but the girls weren’t having it. So, much to my chagrin, we ate at Kona Grill. I say chagrin not because Kona isn’t good; it’s perfectly fine. But we have one about 10 minutes from our house. We can go there any time. The saving grace was it was a gorgeous day so we were able to eat outside. Followed that with a quick stroll around the Plaza and swings by S.’s and my old apartments. Sadly M. remembered that there had been an explosion not too far from S.’s old place so we had to point out the remains of the late J.J.’s as we drove by.

Next, our friends the Belfords were kind enough to host the big get-together of the weekend. We saw lots of good people there. The catching-up is always far too brief, but I’m grateful we get the chance to do it. It was fun watching the 50 or 60 kids that were running around.

All three girls were pretty quick to find kids to pal around with. But M. was especially funny to watch. See was super excited to see her old friends Caroline and Mia. Then throw new friend Liza, who she had met before but not spent much time with, and suddenly there was a flock of 7-9 year old girls acting like they were the oldest of friends.

Everyone was worn out as we headed back to the hotel, but we needed some food. Fortunately, there was a D’Bronx right around the corner. First time I’ve had a hot Wild Bill in six or seven years. And it was taaaaasty.

Monday, lunch at Oklahoma Joe’s. As much as I wanted to go with one of my usuals, it was a burnt end day, and I had never sampled their burnt ends before. So I got the platter. They were awfully damn good.

We did some light shopping afterward. Well, light at first. The girls got new outfits at the Gap since it was warmer than we expected and we hadn’t brought clothes for the heat. Dad got another KU shirt for his collection.

I also made a rather controversial choice for my hat for the spring. I bought a plain Royals hat. I honestly don’t remember the last time I had a (replica) hat like the team wears. I’ve had a whole swath of KC Monarchs hats. I’ve had a couple “fashion” Royals hats in non-traditional colors. But it seriously may have been since high school, or even middle school, since I had the royal blue cap with the white KC on the front.

The Royals promptly blew a two-run lead and lost their season opener 4-3. Blame the cap.

Then it was over to Oak Park Mall, where the shopping got serious at the American Girl Doll store. We didn’t plan on going, so the girls had not brought their dolls. They still managed to spend some money despite that hurdle. They also rode the two-story carrousel, which they thought was amazing. And I ran into a guy who grew up across the street from me. Which wasn’t awkward at all as he A) recognized me and I did not recognize him, B) he remembered my name, and C) I now realize he’s probably either mildly autistic or has Aspergers or something. It was an odd conversation. At least it wasn’t one of the hundreds of scorned women I left in my wake during my single days! Amirite?!?!

And, finally, Monday night we visited the Nesbitts of Jackson County, or at least a good chunk of them.

We were up before the sun Tuesday, to ensure we didn’t get stuck in rush hour in Indy on the way home. We rolled into the neighborhood after seven-and-a-half hours, a new record with kids in the car.

We are grateful for all our friends who took time to host us and/or spend time with us. These trips don’t happen often enough, nor last long enough. In fact, as I write this on Tuesday night, I’m realizing I only took a few photos all weekend, and those are mostly of the kids in front of things in Legoland.

The girls had a great time. In fact, between the weather – they think every day in Kansas City is sunny and 70 – their friends, and the American Girl doll store, they think it’s the best place ever. C. even said when she grows up she’s going to live there.

And now we’re in the midst of the mad dash to get the house ready for the girls’ four-year-old and two-year-old cousins who are visiting from Denver.

Farewell To The Season

October 4, 2012 /

I’ve always loved the final day of the baseball season.1 Anyone can go to Opening Day, but it takes a real fan to go to Closing Day when your team is 25 games out and has been since Father’s Day.

When the end of the season rolls around, I often think of a year in the late 90s, probably 1998, when a group of us planned to go to the Royals’ final home game. It was a mid-week game – they would go on the road for their final three games – and a few of us wanted to spend one more night at The K before it closed for the winter. But there was a torrential rainstorm that night. We went to the park, waited for awhile in the parking lot, but eventually the game was called before it even started. Those few of us who sat and waited, chugging beers in steamed up cars while we listened to the radio for final word on the game’s status, felt like we were paying a tribute to the baseball gods. A thanks for those chilly nights in April and May, those steamy summer afternoons, and that sense of community that other sports can’t quite match.

Bart Giamatti got it right when he wrote:

It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone.

Our hearts weren’t broken. Our team had sucked for months rather than pulling one of those traditional September swoons that Giamatti’s beloved Red Sox were famous for. And we had football to entertain us, with college basketball right around the corner. But he was right in that we all felt a sense of emptiness as the lights went off until April.

Where there was cautious optimism a year ago, this off-season just feels like it will be a bad one for the Royals. Last year, there was the hope they might snag a decent arm or two, maybe move a prospect for another piece, and while contention was probably out of the question for 2012, certainly having meaningful games after the All-Star Break was in play. And it was all supposed to be a springboard for 2013, which really would be a year of contention, finally.

But 2012 sucked. Hosmer sucked. After a decent start Moustakas sucked. Hochevar sucked. Sanchez was a complete disaster. Frenchy sucked. Chen sucked. Soria, Paulino, and Duffy made sacrifices to the UCL Gods. And, of course, Wil Meyers never got called up. The season was over by June, just like every season but one since 1994.

Alex Gordon shined. Sal Perez came back in June and did some wonderful things. Alcides Escobar was a surprise at the plate and still great in the field. Jeremy Guthrie was an inspired pick-up. But those four could not erase the stink of the rest of the roster.

Maybe the Royals were just saying the polite thing, but the news that they fully intended to bring Luke Hochevar back in 2013 nuked the off-season for me before it even began. Wasting money on a waste-of-talent like him, after seeing over-and-over that he can not figure it out, is a sure sign that there is no hope for the franchise with the current front office.

The might surprise us and news will come soon that they will not offer Hochevar arbitration, making him a free agent. But I’m not holding my breath. And I expect the news that he has been resigned to be the first step in a bad off-season, which will bleed into another lost season in 2013.

It may not break your heart, but baseball can piss you off.

The fantastic second-half performance by the Oakland A’s just rubs salt in the wounds of Royals fans. The A’s gave up on the 2012 season a year ago, trading their two best pitchers for a bunch of prospects. They signed a bunch of has-beens and never-weres to fill out their roster. In July they were well off the pace, as expected. Then they turned it around. Despite still being five games out with nine to play, they kept fighting and, amazingly, not only clinched a playoff spot but grabbed the AL West crown yesterday. So a team that was basically booting 2012, and probably ’13 and ’14, wins 94 games and a division title while the team loaded with young talent that was in position to sign a difference maker a year ago could manage only 72 wins in the weakest division in baseball.

It’s clear that Billy Beane and Dayton Moore are playing completely different games.

OK, baseball does break your heart. And then stomps on it.

My late-season bitterness caused me to miss a couple great races and some great stories. One is the smack-down between those arguing about who the AL MVP should be. Miguel Cabrera won the Triple Crown, something that had not been done since 1967. Mike Trout, after spending April in AAA, came up to have one of the best rookie seasons ever. By several advanced statistics, Trout had the better year, and was right there with Cabrera in all the traditional stats.

For the last month there’s been a pissing contest amongst baseball analysts about which player was most deserving of the MVP award. Some say winning the Triple Crown should make it a no-brainer for Cabrera. Others cling to the stats that show that Trout has a bigger effect on each game. This morning I heard two different radio hosts going on-and-on about how Cabrera “carried his team in August and September” to a division title. They didn’t mention how Trout’s Angels won one more game than the Tigers, but had the bad luck of playing in the AL West instead of the AL Central.

I don’t know that there’s a right answer, as each player had a season for the ages. And this is the kind of argument that makes sports great. But I think it is indicative of what’s wrong with the age we live in: the middle ground in discussions has been torn away. You’re either for something or against it. You can’t be nuanced in your support or aversion to something. You have to dig a trench, stick your head in the sand, and demean those who disagree with you. This is true in discussions like Miggy vs. Trout, who deserves a number one seed in the NCAA tournament, what kind of smartphone you use, and politics. Especially politics.

I used to love debating things like this. But we’ve forgotten how to debate and discuss and go straight to lobbing bombs at people with different points-of-view. We’re not happy unless we can divide everyone into clearly defined camps of winners and losers, with no space between those sides.

OK, some quick playoff picks. After I look and see how this new playoff system works.

Coin Flip Games

Texas over Baltimore
St. Louis over Atlanta

Divisional Series

Cincinnati over San Francisco
Washington over St. Louis

Detroit over Oakland
New York over Texas

League Championship Series

Cincinnati over Washington
New York over Detroit

World Series

Cincinnati over New York

  1. I’m pretty sure I’ve written about that at some point in the last nine years. Probably multiple times. ↩

67 Hours

August 7, 2012 /

From the time I left my house Friday morning until I returned very late Sunday night, I spent approximately 67 hours in, or traveling to-and-from, Kansas City. The obligatory run down of the weekend’s events.

I landed at 7:30 Friday morning. Having been up since 4:45 Eastern, I drove straight to The Roasterie to grab some coffee and enjoy the easy-going ambiance of Brookside. I followed that up with a few laps of the Plaza.

Thanks to my early arrival, I was able to break my three-year Oklahoma Joe’s drought. Even getting there right at 11, there was a healthy line. But we got our food pretty quickly and Mike A, Chris N, and I enjoyed Kansas City’s finest barbecue and some good conversation. My meal of the day was the Carolina Style with fries, my old standby.

Next, I was off to Lee’s Summit where my hosts, the N’s, live. While they took their kids to the water park I took a nap to get ready for the evening.

That night Mr & Mrs N, Chris N (no relation), and I enjoyed game one of the Royals-Rangers series in Mrs. Ns’ father’s seats. A loss, but a competitive loss and pleasant company. Some fair ballpark barbecue for dinner with a surprise batting helmet sundae from Chris for dessert.

Saturday, after an early breakfast with some former co-workers, I traveled to Leawood to meet Billy and Stacey B at the newest Oklahoma Joe’s location. I really liked the set-up of the Leawood store, as it kept the tradition of the long, in-store line going, but with lots and lots of room to actually eat. This time I went back to my original OK Joe’s favorite, the Z-Man.

Late in the afternoon, John N, Erick R, Steve B, and I returned to the K for game two of the Rangers-Royals series. Steve had obtained some pretty sweet seats from a client, so we were lucky enough to sit in the Crown Seats directly behind home plate. Not only do you get great seats, but you get access to the private club under the stands. We dined on some fine prime rib, had some terrific shrimp, and finished with some delightful desserts. Just the way baseball is supposed to be!

Once the game started, we took advantage of the waitress that served our section and enjoyed the texts from friends who were seeing us on TV at home. You could get spoiled sitting in those seats, but you are so close and low that once the ball is hit in the air, it’s hard to see exactly where it’s going. Free food and beer make up for it, though.

After the game we moved to the Plaza and O’Dowd’s deck. It was busy, as it was a pleasant night, but since it was 8:30 when we arrived, most of the people were our age. We laughed thinking back 15 years when we would have just started thinking about our plans for the evening at 8:30 on a Saturday night. We were extra lame when we headed home at 9:30 or so.

Sunday I meet Lisa and Roger D along with Erick R for brunch at Michael Forbes’ Grille in Brookside. Knowing I was heading back to the K for the third game of the series, I ate a tremendous amount of sausage, bacon, and sausage gravy. Because that’s exactly how you should load up before you’re going to go sit in 90-degree heat for three hours.

This time Billy and Stacey B joined me for the game, and we sat waaaaaay out in the outfield, farther away than I’ve ever sat at the K. But they were still fine seats. All that red meat at brunch and the heat conspired to limit me to one beer for the day. But I did throw down some ice cream and a large Topsy’s cherry limeade.

Between the heat and the long weekend, the last thing I wanted to do was sit through a long game. So the Rangers and Royals conspired to play stupid baseball late and send the game to extra innings. We did not stay for the free baseball. Fortunately I made it back to the N’s house in time to see the Rangers literally throw the game away in the bottom of the 10th. I doubt that would have happened had we stayed.

Mrs. N volunteered to grab some Gates for dinner. Turned out there was a long, post-game line, and they were out of burnt ends, so we cancelled those plans. I figured after all the food I’d had over the previous 60 hours, I should go lite for my final meal. Maybe a sandwich or something healthy like that. Which is exactly what I did.

I may need to slow down for awhile. Over the last two weeks we’ve had M’s birthday, with many, many treats. Next, a weekend with visiting friends that involved lots of eating. A couple’s night out on the town had me shoveling in food last Monday. I’ve had to sample my new beer. And then a weekend in Kansas City. When I stepped on the scale Monday morning, I weighed 10 pounds more than I did 10 days ago. Yikes. I hope it comes off as quickly as it went on.

It was a big weekend in a lot of ways. I got to see many great friends. Eat lots of great food. Drink a few beers. And watch some baseball. It’s been a very busy six or seven weeks. We finally have a weekend coming up with nothing on the calendar, which comes at the perfect time since M. and C. begin school next week.

Thanks to everyone who helped make my weekend in Kansas City terrific.

ↁ

Good Times

March 27, 2012 /

If we had to put a letter grade on our trip to Kansas City over the weekend, we would give it an A-. We had a great time seeing and catching-up with old friends. We hit a couple of my favorite eateries, although again with the kids present, I can’t go quite as nuts as I used to. And, obviously, the big, unexpected thrill was being about to watch a couple basketball games with people I used to spend a lot of time watching hoops with. That worked out well.

The girls had a few personal highlights. On the drive over, we had maps for them to color in based on the license plates we saw. They collected 35 on the way to KC, including the very rare Alaska. M. was pretty pumped up about that.1 They though the indoor pool at our hotel was great. And they loved playing with all their KC friends.

But without a doubt their favorite moment was our visit to the American Girl Doll store on Sunday. M. and C. got their dolls’ ears pierced and each girl got a new outfit. It was a little like Christmas morning, although there was no shrieking since strangers were present.

There were a few meltdowns, and the drive home Monday was a little more contentious that the first drive was. It was a fine trip, all things considered.

Thanks to all of you who hosted us or took time to come visit with us. It was great to see everyone. Hopefully it won’t be another two years before the entire family visits again.

ↁ

  1. They were less diligent on the ride home, but filled in at least four of those missing states. ↩
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