Cirrus in the West Series!
See them all: Denver, Boulder, Santa Fe, Taos, Southern Colorado, Kansas City, Saint Louis.
Growing up, my family drove between Colorado & the east at least a dozen times. But my parents--classic Boomers--never cared about cities and thought they were just trafficy obstacles to avoid. As we passed through (or more likely around) Kansas City, Saint Louis, Indianapolis, and Columbus, I'd try to catch a glimpse of the skyline, wondering what they were like.
Well guess what mom & dad, I'm in charge now and we're stopping! Ha!
So here's my four hours or so in Kansas City. Of course I've seen it posted here on SSP a thousand times, and with just a short stop I'm not digging down into anything obscure. I wanted to see Union Station, the streetcar, and Country Club Plaza. My wife wanted to see the downtown library. So that's what did and what you're getting here.
As a kid this was my view of KC--passing on the highway:
No more!
Kansas City's famous for its fountains. If I had more time I'd love to do a fountain tour. Maybe someday. In the meantime, here's a nice specimen along KC's only local rail transit, the Main Street streetcar. It's generally regarded as the most successful of the Obama-era streetcars, providing good service along a solid transit corridor.
The libary is nice but weirdly its parking garage is the most famous thing about it. Very literal.
Inside:
KC Union Station is like a bizarro DC Union Station. It's basically the same size and has a broadly similar layout and style, but it's cube-like instead of
arched.
KC's dials up the nostalgia though. The Harvey house stuff is kinda fun.
Main Street, with its streetcar extension under construction.
The main event of our brief stop was County Club Plaza, KC's beautifully ornate uptown district. If there's a more Europeanesque place in the Midwest, I don't know what it would be.
Thanks for looking!
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