Sunday, August 23, 2009

Everything Is Up to Date in Kansas City

We're still on vacation in Kansas City. Having a great time. A few observations:

  • One of the things you don't always appreciate about the Twin Cities until you leave is how well signed it is. We made some sport about the expense of changing out the signs for the terminals at the airport, but by and large it's pretty easy to figure out where things are in the Twin Cities. Kansas City leaves a lot to be desired that way. You often don't find out about exits until you're just about on them. This has been pretty problematic a few times here -- fortunately, I'm a big fan of abrupt lane changes.
  • I don't know how nice the new ballpark will be in Minneapolis, but they'll have to go a long way to improve on Kauffmann Stadium here. It is absolutely gorgeous and the renovation they did is spectacular. It's the nicest ballpark I've been in. Too bad the product on the field is, well, terrible.
  • We went to the Harry S. Truman Library on Saturday. While's there's more than a little big of hagiography going on, it's a pretty neat place to visit. It's easy to forget how momentous the times were when Truman served the nation. A hell of a lot of things were on the line back then. I highly recommend a visit if you come to this area.
  • Today we went to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and the American Jazz Museum, both located in the historic 18th and Vine District east of downtown. The neighborhood is the one referenced in the Wilbert Harrison song about Kansas City and was the centerpiece of African-American life here. Both museums have a lot to offer and the kids had a great time.

Bottom line -- this is a nice place to visit, especially if you just want to get away from the Twin Cities for a few days. And I'm glad to see that the Stinger is keeping the neighorhood filled with content.

1 comment:

Gino said...

i can vouch for the sign comparison.
signs everywhere, to the point where i was not sure if i was coming or going, not being used to so many.
it took a couple days to get used to the system. after that, getting around was a cakewalk.