Museums Nelson-Atkins Museum A world renowned museum.  It has everything: Impressionists, Acient Egyptian artifacts, Greek and Asian art, Native American, Modern Art...the list goes on.  Friday the admission is free (sponsored by the greatness of Ford), and they have live Jazz. Check the website for events. Science City Located in the Union Station (another cool spot), this is a very kid-friendly place. This is where young kids and adults alike go for a one-of-a-kind experience. Explore more than 50 areas of Science City! Steamboat Arabia Museum Down at the river front, inside the City Market is this very cool museum. The museum houses the largest collection of pre-Civil War artifacts: china, hardware, cookware, jewelry, etc. Admission is $9.75 for adults, $9.25 for seniors, $4.75 for children ages 4-12. The museum and the City Market are both very kid-friendly, too. Harry S. Truman Museum & Library  It hosts documents, exhibits, audio, photographs, oral histories, digital archives, kids stuff, educational information about President Harry Truman, and the Presidency. Kid-friendly. Thomas Hart Benton Home and Studio One of Missouri's best known artists. Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art Cool place.  And it's free! (I think). top

 

	Dining / Shopping KC BBQ Connection This site has a guide to KC BBQ spots.  A couple of hometown favorites are The Filling Station (in Lee's Summit) and Arthur Bryant's.  The Plaza A Kansas City favorite. The Plaza is loaded with restaurants, fountains, sculptures, and shops.  Day or night, walking through this area is enjoyable.  Restaurants include a little of everything: Japanese Hibachi, Italian (Figlio's is great!), BBQ, The Cheesecake Factory, seafood, steak, cafe's, pubs, and on and on. Here's a list of restaurants (with maps). As for shopping, there is also a wide array of stores.  There's tons of small shops (wine & cheese, jewelry, specialty clothing, dog bakery, etc.).  There's also Saks, The Sharper Image, Mark Shale, Eddie Bauer, and a really cool kid's store (forgot the name...sorry).  Here's a list of shops (with maps). The Plaza is kid-friendly day or night. In the evenings, you can find jazz at Starker's, Irish music at O'Doud's (very cool), and great happy hours at dozens of restaurants & bars in the area. Westport Another cool place, day or night.  It's just a few minutes from the Plaza.  Westport is also loaded with shops and restaurants...but of a more "distinctive" variety.  The shops vary drastically, but here you'll frequently find eclectic shops.  For instance: great music stores, small bookstores, antique/handmade jewelry, contemporary clothing, candle stores, etc.  Perfect Scents allows shoppers to mix their own custom scents from a myriad of oils such as almond, sandlewood, and waterlily.  Westport is kid-friendly during the day, but not at night.  In the evenings, the clubs open up and this becomes a hot spot for entertainment.  There is a very wide variety of scenes in the evening: Cigar bars, whiskey bars, dance clubs, jazz clubs, comedy clubs, irish pubs, micro-breweries, etc.  Crown Center Crown Center is a really big place...tons of shops. Very kid-friendly.  If you're looking for year-round fun, look no further than Crown Center. You can enjoy exciting activities and free exhibits, events that make every shopping trip more fun. The Hallmark Visitor's Center brings you the sights and sounds of Hallmark's 85-year history: watch engravers at work, see video excerpts from award-winning Hallmark Hall of Fame presentations, and stroll past fanciful Christmas Trees given to J.C. Hall by Hallmark employees. Kaleidoscope is a creative workshop filled with sights, sounds, colors and fun for children ages 5 through 12. The 55-minute sessions, sponsored by Hallmark, are free and offered Monday through Saturday. top
	Nightlife Two very popular night spots are Westport & the Plaza, which are discussed in the Dining/Shopping area.  Westport is home to some pretty good jazz clubs, such as the Grand Emporium.  Here's another website with more information about KC nightlife. Stanford & Son's Comedy clubs.  Locations in Westport and Overland Park.  I think the Overland Park location is smoke-free.  Their site has maps, show times, etc. Irish Music Kansas City has a strong Irish heritage and as such, has a bunch of cool Irish pubs.  The link above is a small listing of a couple of the more popular places in town.  Bob Reeder is a lot of fun, and he plays at several of the spots listed, including at O'Dowd's on the Plaza on Wed & Thurs nights. Riverboat Gambling The name says it all.  Click the link for descriptions of the casinos.  top
	Outdoor Activities Kansas City Zoo A very cool zoo.  It was renovated a few years ago and it's great! The zoo now resembles the animals habitat, instead of just putting them in a cage.  The Zoo's African exhibit, unlike any other zoo exhibits in the Midwest, encompasses 95 acres of realistic scenery, expansive exhibits and more than 400 animals.  More... Powell Gardens & Unity Village Powell Gardens is a must-see...it's super nice. It's only about 20 miles outside of Lee's Summit.  In addition to the gardens, they will also be running a special Lewis & Clark exhibit in June: Celebrate the bicentennial of the Lewis & Clark journey with an expedition through Powell Gardens. Your interactive journey will include frontier crafts, secret puzzle rubbings, children’s activities and the chance to learn about the important plant and animal discoveries made by Lewis & Clark.  Unity Village in Lee's Summit also has very nice gardens.  And if you really like gardens, here's some more. The Woodlands Greyhound and horse racing Worlds of Fun Home of the Orient Express roller coaster.  And Oceans of Fun is next door, too. Nature walks There's lots of hiking trails and walks in the area.  Cave Spring  is a 36-acre nature center and historic area located in eastern Kansas City, Missouri. The area includes an interpretive center, picnic area, and scenic walking trails. Squaw Creek is another good center.  They have bald eagles there, too! I think the eagles best seen in the fall (but I'm not sure, check the website for more info). Parks & Lakes Loose Park is beautiful, it has a flower garden, duck pond, and lots of people and puppies running around.  It's one of the best parks in town. Be sure to bring a Frisbee or a soccer ball! City Market Located on the banks of the Missouri River In operation since the 1850s, this outdoor market is busiest on Saturday, when 150 vendors offer everything from vegetables and flowers to live chickens and T-shirts. An arts and crafts market is featured Sundays, May through August. The outdoor market is surrounded by 37 permanent indoor specialty shops, international groceries, and restaurants occupying an Art Deco building and the Arabia Steamboat Museum. Very kid-friendly.  The outdoor market is from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm.  The earlier, the better. Missouri Town 1855 A really cool place to spend several hours. See what a progressive farming community spread across some 30 sloping acres looked like in the 1800s. Missouri Town 1855 is composed of over 25 buildings dating from 1820-1860.  It also has some nice nature paths.  Golf The name says it all!  Here's another golf site that even allows you to book a tee-time online (with free membership). Heart of America Shakespeare Festival One of the largest free Shakespeare Festivals in North America. You'll have to be staying a little longer, though.  This is from  June 17 - July 13.  top

On the Road Dalton Gang Hideout Located in Meade KS, this is a fun stop. The link above has a phone # for the hours of operation and directions. Here's some stories and pictures. Dodge City was founded in 1872 and became a notorious haven for gamblers and cowboys during the era of the Old West. Here's some on its history. 5 miles from Dodge City is the Coronado Cross and Fort Dodge. Jesse James Home Outlaw Jesse James was shot and killed in this house in St. Joseph, MO in 1882 by fellow gang member Bob Ford, to collect a $10,000 reward. more On the subject of the James-Younger gang: Cole Younger is here in Lee's Summit. When we were younger, Lee's Summit used to celebrate Cole Younger Days: A festival which included a parade, entertainment, carnival, crafts, and fireworks. Pony Express One of the more remarkable feats from the Old West, the Pony Express was designed to deliver mail from St. Joseph, MO to San Francisco, CA.  The former headquarters is now a museum.  Missouri Caves Take a ride through a cavern. Fantastic Caverns is a popular one and is on the way (from Texas).  The link also lists other caverns in Missouri. Very cool!  Here's an article about Missouri caves from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Precious Moments Chapel in Carthage, MO. "Precious Moments figurines, for those of you who don't own any of the number-one collectible in the United States, are small porcelain bisque figurines of big-eyed children. Many of the figurines depict children with robes and halos: dead baby angels." Read the full article from roadsideamerica.com (it's great). Conception Abby "A church as dignified as possible, a monastery simple yet solid."  Built in the late 1880's, this magnificent place is located on a 30 acre campus in Conception, MO.  top