Melitastitches4fun's Blog

I registered for our hotel room upon arrival and then for Seminar before heading to the room. And ran into a half dozen people I know!

The tote has a fantastic zippered front pocket to hold the Seminar brochure. I think the blue thing with the ANG logo is a cell phone stand but I’m not sure. I either have one of the large silver magnetic ort bowls or gave it away. It seems odd to have such a large dish be magnetic. Maybe it’s for something else! I’ll have to ask around.

Saturday starts my first of 3 classes (two 2-day classes and one 1/2 day class). I have my bag and name tag ready to go.

We rode the full loop on the free KC Streetcar and back down south to Union Station. Luckily, the Kansas City Fun Tours https://g.co/kgs/FvQJtT5 was getting ready to take off just as we arrived at Union Station.

The tour was great and about 1.5 hours air-conditioned. Knowledgeable guide and good driver. $25 each. The Children’s Mercy Research Tower has different colored blue windows representing the DNA of a childhood cancer that now has a cure rate of 96% thanks to their Genomic Medicine Center (they develop DNA tests to unravel the mystery of genetic diseases).

Once that was over, we looked at the lovely train station (ceiling and chandelier), bullet holes marking the Kansas City Massacre (of FBI Agents as they transferred gangster Frank Nash), walked across the Sky Walk, and skipped eating at A Taste of Philadelphia in favor of SPIN! Pizza.

That freed us to get our Friday pizza fix and enjoy Anton’s for a steak dinner. I opted for the steak soup and lobster mac and cheese. I think they waved a lobster over top the Mac and cheese. The steak soup (it was the soup of the day) was excellent and filling. Bill’s KC Strip was flavorful but fatty.

A full and fun day.

Nobody mentioned these but exploring Google Maps found:

BRGR Kitchen and Bar. Good place. Really decent prices. Excellent Reuben.

We hopped in a cab because we were hungry! 4 min drive was $15+tip. The 10 min walk back wasn’t as flat as Google Maps says it would be but worth the walk. Ask for Emily as your waitress. Angelo, the manager, sat and talked with us about local places. He recommended a German restaurant, Grünauer and that has sauerbraten on Saturday night. That’s where we’ll be!

He recommends the free trolley to Union Statio and using the Sky Walk to go to Crown Center. Look at the artwork on Sky Walk as you go across. 

In the opposite direction is River Market also accessible on free trolley. You get the trolley on Main at 12th. I’ll be getting used to walking that incline. Angelo loves the River Market on Saturday to people watch, get veggies, and flowers. In the back of the spice place, at a small counter, an older woman makes spicy potato filled pastries $3 each that he loves. Emily loves Sunday at the River Market with more flea Market type shopping.

Back to Google finds:

Breakast and lunch at https://www.meshuggahbagels.com/

Banksia, an Australian bakery and cafe for breakfast, lunch, and dinner https://banksiabakehouse.com/

On the walk back, we ran into needlepoint ladies at Costentino’s, a huge market. Lots of food options with tables. They said good Gelato! We got water and a T-shirt for Bill.

We’ll explore along the trolley route tomorrow.

From our window, we have an awesome view. We can see a ballpark! Not Kaufman Field as I thought I itially. A city ballpark field is lit up in the upper left corner of the photo. Ferris wheel will offer a great view. That round weird disc building is the Kaufman Performing Arts Center. And, the towers are actually sculptures called the Bartle Hall Sky Stations.

Lots to explore.

Lynn from Fireside Stitchery in PA also has a home in Kansas City and has recommended several spots. Her daughter’s wedding beats Seminar, or else she’d be showing off KC personally. Best wishes to her daughter and new son for a healthy and happy life together!

For BBQ, Jack Stack for BBQ and baked beans. Go as a group and get platters to share. KC Joes for BBQ (2nd choice).

For steak, Anton’s on Main Street. Or 801 Chop House had a decent steak. At Anton’s,  you can pick your steak out of their butcher case … grass fed or grain fed … dry aged or not.  They are really great steaks.

Farina’s is the best place to eat but rather expensive.

For seafood, the Bristol is almost identical to Devon on Rittenhouse Square in Philly… if you are looking for good seafood.

For pizza, Spin has a couple sites (2450 Grand Blvd is 1.4 miles/7 min drive/33 min walk from the hotel) and they are good.  Waldo’s pizza is our favorite but that may be too far out for you.

Boulvard is the local brewery.  Tom’s Town is a local distillery and they have an underground tasting experience where you would hear all about prohibition in KC. But you will taste straight liquor. I couldn’t find a picture of the underground.

Good places to go:

The World War I Museum

The Power and Light District

River Market Antiques

From ANG Facebook’s page:

Restaurants:
∙ Jack Stack BBQ – https://loom.ly/8rfsJQY
∙ The Savoy at 21c – https://loom.ly/5TXFU7c
∙ Bristol’s Steak + Seafood + Social – https://loom.ly/5Pn54jI
∙ Lidia’s Restaurant – https://loom.ly/A1_a4ZA

Museums:
∙ National WW1 Museum – https://loom.ly/_ikRVRw
∙ Arabia Steamboat Museum – https://loom.ly/Q4-5fJ8
∙ American Jazz Museum – https://loom.ly/ZzUaj6Y

Other:
∙ River Market Antiques – https://loom.ly/7yMlEjU
∙ Kansas City Zoo and Aquarium – https://loom.ly/cZ9V95Y

In researching the area for quirky, I found (times are distances by car and placed near each other with times from Marriott Downtown

Leila’s Hair Museum (20 min) 2.6 miles from Puppetry Arts Institute (20 min)

The National Museum of Toys and Miniatures (15 min S)

Glore Psychiatric Museum (52 min north Rt 29)
Patee House Museum (52 min north Rt 29)
Jesse James Home (52 min north Rt 29)

Looks like a fun, busy week!