Tour of Ballparks - Episode 6: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO

Once again, we snuck into enemy territory to support our Texas Rangers. This time it was to Kansas City, Missouri.

Originally named "Royals Stadium", it was renamed for Ewing Kauffman, the original owner of the Royals. It's often called the "K" but I never heard anyone call it that. It was a beautiful day for a ballgame. The K is located right next to Arrowhead Stadium where the Chiefs play.

We had amazing seats! There were lots of Rangers fans in our section so we were hoping for a great game.

The stadium was actually pretty cool. In the outfield they had these fountains that would light up or "dance" to music. They also had a really nice selection of food options. I normally get a chili dog but this time I got a grilled chicken sandwich that was quite tasty and comparatively inexpensive. They had a lot of gluten free and vegetarian options as well.

It was a rough night for the good guys. It was 1 - 1 through the 7th inning. Then the Rangers changed pitchers. The Royals scored 6 runs that inning. Ugh!

We stayed until the 8th inning. Then we left and went back to the hotel because the Mavs and the Stars were playing Game 6 in Dallas and we wanted to watch. Fun evening though.

But wait! There's more. We were there for 5 nights. We were going to drive out to Kansas City on Sunday but the weather was so stormy along our route, we decided to push and drive out on Monday.

It's a good thing because there seemed to be a lot of flooding along the way. This is in Missouri. There's a train track just beyond the trees and the water was right up to the track. Luckily, the weather cleared by Monday and it was a fantastic day for a drive.

We got to the Embassy Suites just in time for the Happy Hour drinks. 

Right across the street was this beautiful park - Mill Creek Park. We walked here a few times.

So many things to see here.  First up was the Negro League Baseball Museum. 

The museum was started by Buck O'Neil who was a player and then the manager for the Kansas City Monarchs. If you've never seen the Ken Burns documentary called Baseball, I highly recommend it. That was the first time I heard of Buck and he was a cool character.

In the museum, they basically tell the story of the Negro League. There's a short film to begin and then many displays. At the end of the tour, you can walk out on to this field. The statues are of some of the great players from the Negro League.

Me and Buck O'Neil. I love him!

There were some female players in the league as well. Not a separate girl's league. These ladies played on the same teams as the guys. Girl power!

Also on display are tons of baseballs that have been autographed by players from the Negro League. They were donated by Geddy Lee (he's the bass player for this band called Rush).

This is an awesome mural of Buck O'Neil. This city had quite a few cool murals but this was my favorite.

We took a quick break for lunch and decided to try some Kansas City barbeque. It's a thing. Gates BBQ is a family run business that dates back to 1946. It's still in the family.

We tried a couple of things. This is a plate of short ends. It's ribs and they were good. We also tried a burnt ends sandwich. While the food was good, the sauce was a little vinegary for me. I think when it comes to barbeque, there is no right answer. Still, you can't come to KC and not try some.

After lunch we went to the American Jazz Museum. The Jazz museum and the Negro League Baseball Museum share a lobby in an area called 18th and Vine. Back in the day, this was a happening African-American neighborhood. All the players in the Negro League hung out here with many of the Jazz musicians.

Before you enter the museum, there's a video about life in this part of town. There were three ladies in the video and they were funny. They seemed so excited to talk about what life was like here, they were talking over each other. I would have loved to spend time with them and listen to their stories.

The Jazz Museum has some really cool artifacts, like a trumpet that belonged to Louis Armstrong, as well as displays about some of the Jazz greats like Ella Fitzgerald. 

Each museum is $10 but if you go to one and take your receipt to the other, you'll get a discount on the entrance of the second. They also let you go into the Blue Room, which is a little Jazz club. Several days a week, they have FREE Jazz there! Unfortunately, we missed it. 

The next day we took a little drive to Independence, Missouri to see the Harry S Truman Presidential Library and Museum. 

Harry was the VP for Franklin Roosevelt in his last term in office. When FDR died, Harry took over. A lot of stuff happened on his watch (see the list above). He chose to drop the bomb on Japan in order to end World War II. He chose not to drop the bomb again during the conflict with Korea. 

A replica of Harry's office at the White House. After his two terms in office, he returned to Independence to live in the same house that he'd lived in before going into politics. The library is very cool and well worth a visit. While we were there, two different groups of kids came through on a field trip. One group was grade school level and the other was high school.

Harry and his wife, Bess are buried in the courtyard of the library. Also buried here is Margaret Truman, Harry's daughter, along with her husband.

After he retired, Harry could be seen taking early walks around Independence, greeting people as he went by. At some point, a secret service detail was assigned to him and they would walk with him.

Truman was very involved in the building of the library. This is his office. Everyday, he dressed in a suit and came here to work. These are all his books! It's a cool place. You should visit if you're in the area.

Next on the was lunch at Dixon's World Famous Chili. Vergne Dixon started selling his version of chili back in 1919. We didn't realize this initially but the way it works is, you order the ingredients and then you combine them the way you want.

It's like this: You decide if you want beans or no beans. For the meat, you decide if you want dry (meaning they drain the juice from the meat), Juicy (they add the meat juice back in), Saucy (they add juice from the beans) or Juicy and Saucy (which is juice from both). Then you select from a list of condiments: Onions, pickles, ketchup, cheese or jalepeno relish. Then on the table, they have chili powder and vinegar. They also sell tamales (though I'm not sure what that has to do with chili). John got a tamale and juicy meat with onions and pickles. It was good!

I got the chili dog and I ate the whole thing (which is why I chose a grilled chicken sandwich at the baseball game). I did not choose how they assembled the chili but it was very good.

After lunch, we walked around the town square. This is the county courthouse where Truman served as a judge. 

Then we went to the Harry S Truman National Historic Site (aka the house he lived in). When Harry married Bess, she lived in this ancestral house with her mother. After they married, Harry moved into this house too. I can't think of too many men that would be okay moving into their mother-in-law's house but he loved Bess and that's what she wanted. He also lived here after his time in the White House. The secret service put up the fence because people would just walk through the yard and peek in the windows. No photos in the house.

The famous photo of Harry and Bess when they returned from Washington.

Me and John doing our best impression of that same photo. Independence was a cool little town. As always, I wish I'd had a little more time to spend there. But, it was a great day!

The next day was pouring down rain so we needed an indoor activity. We chose the World War I National Museum. It's all about WWI. There were several groups of younger kids on a field trip here. 

There's a video to start you off and give you a quick tutorial on what led up to the war. Then they had tons of exhibits. There were several canons/guns that were used during the war. I'm not sure if they were actual ones or replicas.

There was also a timeline of events. I tried to take photos of all the panels so that I could read them at my leisure. This is a war I don't know a whole lot about but I'm interested in learning.

This was really cool - they had interactive games to show how difficult it was for the US to move supplies across the ocean to the allies in Europe. They had another one for messages. On sunny days, you can go up in the tower and get the best view of Kansas City. Because of the weather (there was lightning), the tower was closed.

On our last day, we had time before the game so we walked to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. It's FREE. On the lawn of the museum, they have these large shuttlecocks (badminton birdies). I thought they were cool. They are huge!

In front of the museum, a cast of Rodin's "The Thinker".

Not only does the museum have some really cool art, the inside of the building is beautiful.

There were several amazing paintings. All the greats were represented: Monet, Cezanne, Van Gogh, Pissarro, Renoir - it was fabulous. And if paintings aren't your thing, they have statuary, Egyptian Art, Asian Art, there's something for everyone. And did I mention it's FREE? 

A view of the lawn from the museum entrance. To the left they had a putt-putt green that looked pretty cool too.

Look at the birdie!

We had a great time in Kansas City. There's a ton of stuff to do there. While we did a lot during the five days we were here, there was still a lot of other things that we didn't have a chance to get to. Next time! If you're looking for a place to go, take a nice drive and head up to KC for some good food and cool stuff to do!

As much as we enjoy our travels, going home day is still the best!