Eatin' Like Kings

So, as some of you have mentioned, I've been eating at a lot of good KC places. For lunch today we had the buffet at our neighborhood Waldo pizza.

The girls decided to get mani/pedis which was right next door but I opted out of that because of my phobia. But I wasn't going to opt out of a yummy lunch!

Waldo Pizza lunch buffet

Then tonight, we ate at Cheddar's and it was very good. 

Baked potato soup!

This mall also had a Sonic in their food court! How awesome!

But eating all of this delicious food does have its consequences. Especially when I'm eating like this...

...this is what happens:

And since Bree has been having these preggo cravings...

...She went a little overboard!

And poor Jason has such bad metabolism...

...that after one little carrot...

So, we've all decided we're going to cut back!

Fountain Update- No. 13:

69th St and Brookside Blvd

No. 14-

95th and Perry Lane at the Gramercy Place

Til next time...Laura

Weekend Update

Last weekend started off wild- at the KC zoo! HA! The zoo was hosting a Sunset Safari where you got in for half price but only half the zoo was open. They also had zoo keeper chats every 30 minutes at a different animal exhibit and a sea lion show. The sea lion show was pretty impressive. Vince, the sea lion, could do just about anything- wave, walk on his flippers, jump really high. It was a fun event, even though there were a lot of kids there.

This tiger was really close to us! But he was more interested in the branch than us!

The kangaroos were very cute and they did not have any fencing around them. They are tame enough in the zoo that they don't need a fence. The zoo keeper did tell us that they have a more aggressive kangaroo that scratched a girl so he can't come out anymore.

He's escaped!

The polar bear was a recent addition to the zoo this summer. He was 3 years old. At first, he was very dirty but then he swam around in the water and was nice and white. The zoo keeper would throw him fish from above and if he wanted more, he would stand up on his hind legs. Hope he doesn't mind how hot it is.

Better get in the water- it's 90 degrees out here!

Porcupine!

Elephants!

Another new attraction at the zoo: Creepy McCreeperson!

Gross!

Went to Noodles & Company on the plaza last night. It was very tasty but I needed more of it! I was still hungry.  Noodles is a chain, as are a lot of restaurants on the plaza now. Kinda disappointing but I guess that's how it goes.  At least most are chains that I've never been to, so they are new to me.

Pasta Fresca and ceasar salad

Fountain No. 12- alongside Southwest Blvd and 31st St, otherwise known as Little Mexico

No. 12

Other activities from the weekend included a bonfire, some AMAZING smores cookies, Pizza Hut (love it!) and watching an entire MLS soccer game. My first soccer game that I watched all the way through. Wizards beat LA Galaxy 2-0! Yay!

Til next time...Laura

Hunting for more KC Fountains

So, I wanted to catch up on some of the fountains that Bruce has driven us by and I was too slow to get a picture.

Fountain No. 4: Kauffman Stadium

No. 4 Kauffman Stadium

I wish I had a better picture of the stadium fountains but I didn't realize I was going to get so into this hunt for Fountains! But you can barely see them in this picture. At my next game, I'll get a better shot. Anyways, the fountains at Kauffman Stadium are the largest fountains privately owned in the world.

This morning, I drove down to the South Plaza neighborhood to get the following fountains:

No. 5 Rain Garden at Theis Park

No. 5 Rain Garden

This may not be an actual fountain per se, but I'm counting it because it's water running down an architectural piece. Another view:

No. 5

The Rain Garden is located at the Frank A. Theis Park, at Oak St and Volker Blvd. Frank Theis was a prominent grain merchant in Kansas City. When you are facing the Rain Garden, if you turn around you see this:

Front lawn of Nelson-Atkins

The art museum! I also saw these: 

Awww...cute!

Directly above the Rain Garden is another beautiful fountain:

No. 6- Volker Memorial Fountain

This is located alongside Volker Blvd, named after William Volker who was a local businessman and philanthropist. He also was a big supporter of UMKC, which is right across the street.

Here are a couple more fountains in the Brush Creek, which runs alongside the Plaza area:

No. 7- Brush Creek

No. 8- Brush Creek

Next, is the fountains at the Russell Stover corporate office on Oak St.

No. 9- Russell Stover

No. 10 Fountain was found at the Jefferson St. parking garage in the Plaza.

No. 10- Jeff St. parking garage

Finally, No. 11 fountain was on Bruce's drive home at 61st Terr and Ward Pkwy.

No. 11- 61st Terr and Ward Pkwy

I've read that all new corporate office buildings in the KC metro are asked to incorporate fountains into their designs so the number of fountains will continue to grow! 

Well, that's all I've got so far on the Fountains. Only 189 left to find!

Til next time...Laura

Art and BBQ= a winning combination!

Saw this bumper sticker today. Bruce wanted it bad!

Today, Bruce and I took part in two KC staples: art and BBQ.

First, my unofficial BBQ survey of Kansas Citians on what is the best KC BBQ was hands down, Oklahoma Joe's. Now, that may not sound like a KC original but it is- well, kind of. The co-founder was Jeff Stehney, who began his BBQ career in the KC circuit and Joe Don Davidson (who provided the smoker) was from Oklahoma.  After winning a bunch of awards at the KC festivals, they opened their first restaurant in Stillwater, Ok but it closed. Now there are two locations in the KC metro area and the best one is actually in a gas station.

Gas Station Oklahoma Joe's

Z Man Sandwich- SOOOOO good!

This place is so good. There's always a line of people getting in. We didn't have to wait too long. I ordered the Z Man Sandwich- beef brisket, cheese, and topped with two onion rings. It was probably the best BBQ sandwich I've ever had. The onion rings just added a special crunch to it and the sauce was just as good as my personal favorite, KC Masterpiece. Sweet and thick- that's the way I like it!

Here's the famous and award-winning sauce "Cowtown BBQ".

Next, we went to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. I've been here before and have always loved it. It boasts an impressive collection including works by: Monet, Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, Rembrandt, van Gogh, to name a few. What was new to me was the Bloch building. It's where they moved the modern, African and sculpture exhibits. I forgot to take a picture of this building, so here is a picture of it from the website:

Bloch building, named after the found of H&R Block

 I'm honestly not sure how I feel about it. It's cool looking for sure, but it's right next to the original building, which is totally classical.  So it kinda looks weird right next to each other.

Traditional, original building.

The famous shuttlecocks at Nelson-Atkins. These never get old to look at!

So, maybe my favorite part of this visit was what happened when I checked in to Foursquare. First, I got the TLC Summer badge for unlocking a TLC hot spot! Very exciting. Then, I saw that Nelson-Atkins was offering a special- free notecards for Foursquare check-ins! So, check out the five designs I got (all prints done by an 11-year old class at the museum).

Aren't those great? I am going to get some frames and use as wall art.

So, great day for sure!

Couple more fountains from today:

Fountain No. 2: 63rd St and Ward Pkwy

Fountain No. 3: inside Nelson-Atkins

Til next time...Laura

Sidebar: a few months ago, I emailed Netflix saying to please get an iphone app so I can update my queue on my phone. Several times, I'll be talking with someone about a movie and if I'm not at my computer I would forget about it. Well, what do I see today? A Netflix app!! And you can also watch any of their instant movies on your phone! Amazing! So, yes, I'm taking credit for this.

What I'm watching on Netflix right now:

Wait, there are parts of Kansas that are nice?!?

Founders of KC!

 The other day I took a drive to familiarize myself with the area. First, every neighborhood I drove through was amazing. I mainly drove from 75th St up Ward Parkway (very ritzy/plaza area always impresses), went to Westport (historic chic), took Broadway up to downtown (can't wait to see the completed performing arts center) and back down Main, past UMKC (so cool makes me wish I went to school there), through the Brookside neighborhood (had no idea this existed and it's soo cute!) and back to Waldo (which is also very cool).

POP QUIZ: Who is named the founder of Kansas City?

Hint: He actually founded Westport and his statue can be found on Broadway, right in heart of Westport, along with two other influential men from KC's history.

So, as you probably know KC is known as the "City of Fountains." With over 200 fountains, it's my goal to get a picture of every one! I'll randomly post them as I find them.

First off:

Near Convention Center downtown, maybe 10th and Main??

Another KCMO fun fact: all major pioneer trails begin in KCMO: Oregon Trail, Santa Fe Trail and California Trail!

Today, I had two interviews in Overland Park, KS. I know, Kansas! Gross!! But since I'm keeping an open mind regarding the job situation, I went. Overland Park is only a 20 min drive from Waldo. So it was very easy to get there. And I have to admit something. Overland Park is like super nice!! That is, for a suburb! It's like the Cool Springs of Kansas, only a lot more spread out and with bigger roads!

In between my interviews, I stopped at a great little Chinese restaurant, Hunan Magic Wok, at 11729 College. It was very quiet, only a couple other customers but the food was delicious! And my server was super sweet. 

Delicious!

I also had time to try out a cute little coffee shop, Scooters, at College and Antioch.

I had a peanut butter/chocolate smoothie and it was to die for! The place was really busy, good for them!

OMG- Amazing smoothie!

Finally, to make up for a stop I forgot before, we went to McCoy's Public House Sunday night for dinner. Another great restaurant in Westport with the best root beer (brewed locally). Food was great (they don't call it comfort food for nothing), and the company was great. I would love to try the patio next time but it was pretty crowded.

Think you know the answer to my quiz? No google cheating! Another hint may be found in this post somewhere! 

Til next time...Laura