Kansas City (Lenexa)

I'm going to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come.
I'm going to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come.
They got some crazy little women there
And I'm gonna get me one.

I'm gonna be standing on the corner, Twelfth Street and Vine.
I'm gonna be standing on the corner, Twelfth Street and Vine;
With my Kansas City baby and my bottle
Of Kansas City wine.

Well, I might take a train, might take a plane,
But if I have to walk,
I'm gonna fly there just the same.
Yeaaaah, Kansas City here I come.
They got some crazy little women there
And I'm gonna get me one.

Well, if I don't leave that woman I know I'm gonna die.
Got to find a brand new baby and here's the reason why:
Ya, ya, ya-eeeee eee, Kansas City here I come.
They got some crazy little women there
And I'm gonna get me one.
Ah - right.

Might take a train, might take a plane,
But if I have to walk,
I'm gonna fly there just the same.
Yeaaaah, Kansas City here I come.
They got some crazy little women there
And I'm gonna get me one.
(One more time)

If I don't leave that woman, know I'm gonna die.
Got to find a brand new baby and that's the reason why:
Ya, ya ya-eeeee eee, Kansas City here I come.
They got some crazy little women there
And I'm gonna get me one.
Yeah, yeah,
they got some crazy little women there
And I'm gonna get me one.
(One more time)

They got some crazy little women there
And I'm gonna get me one.

Train down to St. Louis
Get me there alright
Over to the city there, you know that one
Where the farmer's daughter digs the farmer's son
Dig your Charlie Parker
Basie and Young
Witherspoon and Jay McShann
They will come
Oooowoooowoooo

Chorus (Van and choir in background)
Excuse me do you know the way to Kansas City?
Excuse me do you know the way to Kansas City?
Excuse me do you know the way to Kansas City?
Excuse me do you know the way to Kansas City?

Lady Liberty in waiting
You know she lights the way
Her name is Billie, she's a Holiday
And the city is eternal -- hey, can't you see?
It's inside of you and it's inside of me
Oooowoooowoooo

Chorus (Van and choir in background)
You know, you know the way to Kansas City?
You know, you know the way to Kansas City?
You know, you know the way to Kansas City?
You know, you know the way to Kansas City ?
You know...the way to Kansas City
You know...the way to Kansas City
Wild Thing

You know the way to Kansas City (Choir only)
Thank you Man (Van)
You know the way to Kansas City
Sing it (Van)
You know the way to Kansas City (Van and choir)
Hit it (Van)
You know...the way to Kansas City
You know...the way to Kansas City
You know...the way to Kansas City
You know...the way to Kansas City
Baby can't you sing it one time (Van)

(Choir)
You know the way to Kansas City
You know the way to Kansas City
You know the way to Kansas City
You know the way to Kansas City
You know the way to Kansas City
You know the way to Kansas City
You know the way to Kansas City
You know the way to Kansas City

well its a long long time since my baby been gone

ooo kansas city gonna give my babt one time o yeah yeah
im going kansas city gonna give my baby one time o yeah yeah

its just a one two three four, five six seven eight nine wow!

a hey hey hey hey (hey hey hey hey)
hey baby

repeat hey hey hey hey

Over on the KS side it gets far spookier, a horror show that's as close to Gotham City as I've ever imagined. Heavily industrial and abandoned, the only signs of life were oppressive goth clubs and car repair places loaded with cars beyond repair. It looks like the last development money spent here (other than by the goths) was in 1962.

Things got even stranger south of the city. We passed through low-slung rows of stores and neighborhoods of older houses that at least had some local character. Suddenly we were in a hyper-expensive section of town, filled with hideously trendy stores and Lexi in every parking slot. It was like someone had levelled a portion of the town and built a mecca to over-extended credit, ringed by office parks. Just past that we found a record store with the single largest room full of vinyl I've ever seen, much of it overpriced. Very impressive.

We engaged the proprieter in a conversation asking where to get something good to eat that reflected the local flavor. He started recommending us back to the posh part of town before a local hipster interrupted with "they said something good." The hipster accurately pointed us to a local bbq shack near a power station, where we ate pulled pork sandwiches on white bread and chatted with the friendly but rotund owner.

Then we saw a game at the baseball stadium which was well worth the trip, if only to watch a violent thunderstorm roll through the city and the fountains in the outfield.

On the way East out of town there was a huge amusement park with rollercoasters that seemed to loom over the highway.

If you're looking for something to do, the Nelson-Atkins Museum and the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art (very close to each other) are great places to spend the day. KC is very into public art and fountains; there's lots of great art to enjoy.

They're also known for barbeque...what kind of information are you looking for?

I don't think that airport is really in Iowa. It's actually in southeast Nebraska.

I always thought Kansas City was a strange place. You've got your quasi-rural, Harry Truman midwesterners shopping in Wal*Mart with all of these Witness Relocation Program looking mob guys. Sixty years ago, the African-American population tried to just get by, and maybe some invented be-bop jazz in the process. Today, they are in charge of the government.

But everyone likes Worlds of Fun. Who wouldn't?

Also, it's freakishly cold here. So indoors = good.

WHERE DOES A BITCH EAT IN KANSAS CITY, MO?

― Astronaut Mike Dexter (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Monday, October 4, 2010 11:58 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

ARE ANY OF THESE PLACES GOOD?

http://www.notfortourists.com/Features.aspx?city=OT&id=338

― Astronaut Mike Dexter (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Monday, October 4, 2010 11:59 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

jack stack - fine, sort of barbecue dressed up fancy, not actually any better than the other places. having to wait at a table for barbecue is sort of a letdown.

oklahoma joe's - "To say Oklahoma Joe’s is no-frills may be understating it—I’ve never seen this type of food paired, under the same roof, with a standard convenience store’s worth of Ho-Hos , Playboys, and Marlboros." haha, putting this thing in a gas station seems like it's been the best marketing gimmick ever. they do a lot of stuff well though in some ways this feels more generically "barbecue" and less "kansas city" to me. sauce is toward the thick and sweet end, which is not my favorite.

arthur bryant's - been a long time since i've eaten there, but it's been really good when i have. sauce is spicy and salty and awesome.

gates - probably overhyped like all these, but still really good. usually have gates sauce at home. actually kind of curious about the lamb that the guy talks about b/c i've never had it.

driven by danny edwards' a million times but never been there. have had good sandwiches at winslow's in the city market. i have sort of a sentimental attachment to rosedale barbecue but other than ribs they're not really as good as most of these.

the first four are definitely "for tourists", but locals go to them too.

I've been to all the bbq places in the article save Danny Edwards & Heyward’s. I don't think any of them are overhyped; they're all fantastic. The one I bother with the most when it's just me & the fam is LC's, which is more out of the way than the others listed here but by USA standards, still quick to get to with a car; their pork sandwich & burnt ends are ridic & they have the best fries I've ever had on this continent (I've had just as good fries in France once, at a pretty high-end steak place, but o/w this is the best). When people visit us I always take them to the "original" Arthur Bryant's b/c it's the classic---again, the pork sandwich will do you right. I would love a Z-Man from Oklahoma Joe's right now, & if you go there the onion rings are really top-notch.

this is all valuable, thank you. I suspect that I'ma gonna have to take whichever one's closest. Do you have any recs. for things BESIDES bbq or are you laughing at me as you read this?

The WWI museum is good, & its complex is really pretty. Nelson-Atkins (the art museum) has a great building & a good, if relatively compact, collection. It's located right near the Plaza area, which is built to look like a medieval Spanish area with art deco touches, & that's a pretty nice area to walk around (& there's a Jack's Stack in the Plaza also). The Truman museum in Independence is great. I don't live in KC (it's just my closest big city where I presently live) so I don't know the hip scenes there, if there are any.

There's a sweet corn maze this time of year in Liberty if that's your kind of thing!

thankin uuuuu

another stop in the general plaza area is the kauffman memorial garden which is south on rockhill road from the art museum. nice place to walk around for 20 minutes and is free and uncrowded.

http://www.notfortourists.com/Photos/976/1836.jpg

Vacation dining at its finest.

is that a z-man?

yup (not my photo). so good and the fries were pretty righteous too

Well, I'll be going here for a weekend in late August (baseball, bbq, gay bars, like most places I go). What's new?

I don't drive, but the hotel has a shuttle to the museums, jazz district, ballpark etc.

shit there's some kinda MLS soccermania going on there, but no game that weekend

yeah their MLS team has benefited immensely from a re-branding and a new publicly-funded stadium, the all-star game is there this year & the stadium is truly beautiful

nb I hate their club and most times I've traveled there for a game I turn around and gtfo as fast as possible, the one time I spent a couple nights there the downtown seemed incredibly plastic & boring to me

the one thing I remember people talking positively about was the negro leagues baseball museum, but I'm guessing you already have that on the list

yes... there's also a Thomas Hart Benton joint near where i'm staying (not downtown). Not sure I can get transit to the Truman Library in Independence, but eff that guy anyway.

A friend w/ expert knowledge tells me the baseball museum is Disneyfied, and the bbq of choice is Arthur Bryant's.

Hot new restaurant is apparently offbeat Mexican near my hotel

http://portfondakc.com/

I'd advise you not to stay in Westport on "KU weekend" just before school starts. Or at least bring an Uzi.