Albuquerque Hobbs: August 4-9, 2024: Kansas City Missouri trip

When Mike mentioned a conference trip to Kansas City, I said YES because we'd never been there before. We had a great time, and I'd go again! There was so much more we could have seen and done, but we didn't rent a car. We either walked and/or took the free trolley/streetcar from our hotel to Union Station to get around. The photos below uploaded in reverse order again, but I tried my best to put them in order.

Sunday, August 4th: BBQ brisket at the Kansas City Airport for dinner

The pretty lobby at our Sheraton Crown Center Hotel near downtown KC

A Book of Mormon in our hotel desk drawer
The hotel is owed by Marriott

Nighttime view from our 35th floor hotel room

Daytime views

Mike's Detonation Symposium t-shirt from the conference

We walked and took the trolley to downtown to tour the Steamboat Museum
There was some interesting Mormon history associated with the Steamboat

From my Journal entry:

Yesterday Mike was done with the Symposium at noon, so we decided to make a day of it. We walked the two miles along Grand Avenue to check out the Steamboat Museum downtown, which turned out to be very interesting and fun. We watched the short informational videos along our self-guided tour and took our time inside. There was a LOT to see including actual recovered items that were carried on the ship and large parts of the ship itself. The 3-year old steamboat named The Africa hit a large chunk of jagged shard while on the Missouri River and sunk with tons of merchandise and equipment stowed below. The passengers were all able to be rescued, but many personal valuables and commodities went down with the ship. Over the decades, the river changed course. In the 1980’s it was discovered that the sunken Africa was hidden below a large cornfield not far from the river. Great expense and means were acquired to dig up and excavate the ship and its contents. And that’s what the museum is all about.

From my Journal entry:

Mike and I enjoyed walking around City Market across the street from the museum. There are mainly restaurants, a wonderful produce market, a big flower shop, an ice cream parlor, and a fancy soda shop there. We had a delicious fried shrimp and vegetable lunch at a Thai restaurant and some yummy ice cream treats afterwards. I had a 3-scoop bowl of dutch chocolate, butter pecan, and vanilla; and Mike had a coconut ice cream and pineapple soda float. We walked around until it was time to catch the free streetcar to Union Station. We went inside Union Station and checked it out. Basically there’s a KC gift shop, a restaurant, old railroad train ticket booths, a science city for kids, a post office, a 3-story theater screen for featured movies, concessions, and a 100-year commemorative Disney exhibition that’s going on currently.

Thai restaurant where we had a yummy lunch

Inside the trolley

From my Journal entry:

We found out that you can take the covered “Link” walkway all the way from our hotel to Union Station and back! You make a switch at the Westin Hotel that takes you to the Sheraton Hotel, which was really cool! It’ very easy to get around. I showed Mike the pretty shops at Crown Center mall on the way back to our hotel. It was a fun day!

Inside Union Station

The trolley and the Link walkway (above) that takes you to the hotel

Inside the Link

From my Journal entry:

Before I headed to Union Station, I stopped at the Crown Center mall to find a pretty top for my ladies lunch date. All I had packed were old, comfy clothes and nothing pretty. I found some cute tops at a second-hand boutique and bought 4 items for $15 or $10 each. Then I walked into a hat shop and bought a lovely straw hat with a wide ribbon that matched the new top I was wearing, and it happened to be 1/2 price! What a lucky day for me.

Some of the cute shops in the Crown Center mall near our hotel

From Union Station to the Link

From the hotel to the Link

It was fun to take Mike to the Crown Center and show him around the small but adorable mall. We stopped and had ice cream too.

Thursday, August 8th: My friend Teresa Russell was in Kansas City visiting her daughter Jennifer. We made plans to have lunch together while I was in town! They came and picked me up and took us to a nice restaurant in The Plaza. Wish we could have spent more time together, but Teresa had a dental appointment with Jennifer's husband who is a dentist.