Turning 30 and trip to Orlando

September was a very busy month for me! I turned the big 3-0 on th 13th.

 

I had a great party that night with a few friends. The picture above is of me and my bestie, Bree! I felt very honored to be able to share that important day with so many great friends. It really meant a lot to me!

 

 

The last weekend on the month, I got to visit a dear friend, Mary Jane, who lives in Orlando! Since I had never been, we went on a whirlwind tour of Disneyworld and Universal Studios.

 

 

In front of the Aerosmith Rockin' Roller Coaster

Darth Vader! in front of the Star Wars ride

Miss Piggy Fountain

Entrance to Magic Kingdom

The famous Cinderella castle

 At 3:00, the do a big parade with all the characters. It's so neat. It really brings you back to childhood and reliving all the fun movies and songs. I even got a little teary-eyed!

Minnie Mouse

Pinocchio

Jafar!

Aladdin, what a classic movie!

Alice in Wonderland and the Mad Hatter. He was my favorite dancer.

Step-mother of Cinderella

Beauty and the Beast

From my favorite Disney movie, Sleeping Beauty and Prince Phillip

Genie

Epcot



On Saturday, we went to the Mizzou football game at the University of Central Florida, where MJ works. It was miserably hot and humid out! But at least Mizzou came out with a victory!

 

 

The next day we went to Universal Studios. I have always wanted to go here and it was pretty awesome! Here are some highlights:

 

 

Entrance to Jurassic Park

Harry Potter world. Overall, the best ride!

Myself and MJ at entrance to Universal

 At Universal, they were doing a special Halloween event that night. So we got to go through some haunted houses. The best one was a 3-D house, which had some pretty cool special effects.

Alice Cooper Haunted House sign

 

So, of course I had a blast. Disneyworld was so big and there was so much to see. I would like to go back the explore the other parks and go through Epcot a little more. My favorite ride was Toy Story. The first ride we went on, "Tower of Terror" was one of the scariest moments in my life! I really liked all the shows we saw, including Indiana Jones, and taking an animation class where we drew Donald Duck.

 

Universal was awesome, too. Definitely Harry Potter was the coolest ride. Overall, just a great trip! 

 

Fountain Update:

 

No. 95- American Century building on Main St at 46th
 

All-Star Week in KC

Last week, a pretty cool event happened in KC. Kauffman Stadium hosted the MLB All-Star game. For the whole week leading up to the event, there were all kinds of happenings around town. I was lucky enough to get to participate in a few of those fun events!

The Convention Center hosted FanFest. Anyone could go with a ticket and there were tons of games for kids like batting practice or stealing a base. Tons of companies that were giving aways free stuff and several exhibits, including one with all the MLB trophies and about the Negros League (Kansas City is home to the Negro League Baseball Museum, too). It was a lot of fun!

I got to make my own baseball card!

Then I made a flip book!

On Monday night was the Home Run Derby! Thanks to my AWESOME friend Jessica, I got to go! We arrived really early so that we could tailgate with our friends and then we headed to the stadium. It was packed with fans! The opener was my friend MJ's favorite band, the Zac Brown Band.

I didn't take any pics of the Derby but you can read all about it here: http://royalicings.wordpress.com/2012/07/12/fact-if-you-lie-you-will-get-booed-a-lot-27-2/

I'll sum up the best part of the Derby. The captain of the Derby was a Yankees player who chose the players participating and he said a few days before the Derby that he would choose a Royals player, since it was in KC. Then, he went on to NOT choose the Royals player. So, this Yankees player got booed the entire night. Not because he didn't pick the Royals player but because he SAID he was going to, and then didn't. And since the Derby doesn't mean ANYTHING, why not pick a player from the home team?? The best part was then, the Yankees player got ZERO home runs. Talk about Karma!

So, I had a great time participating in the activities and am so blessed with great friends that allowed me to do it! I was also really proud of KC because the city did a great job hosting the event, even the weather was nice!

It also made me think about how Nashville has GOT TO get the NHL All-Star game, now that their new convention center is almost ready. People would have so much fun there!!!

That's about it for now. Here's another fountain I found at the Grandview Municipal building:

No. 94- Main St, Grandview

Alright, more adventures to come!  Laura

Bruce and Laura: 2005-2012

Today was a very bittersweet day for me. I said good-bye to my faithful bff, Bruce. Unfortunately, the cost of repairs and gasoline was just getting too high for me to justify keeping him on the road with me. While I am excited about my new ride, I wanted to take this opportunity to remember my wonderful 100,000 miles with my bff, Bruce.

 For a long time, I had always wanted a Jeep. I thought they were so cool, ever since I saw the movie "Clueless" and loved Cher's white jeep! As I neared my college graduation, I was able to get this beautiful 2001 Jeep Cherokee. My dad was the one who saw Bruce at the car lot in Lee's Summit and wanted to show me. I was so nervous taking that test drive! I never thought I would get a Jeep, because they were a little more expensive than getting just a regular car. But thanks to my wonderful family, Bruce became mine in April of 2005.

Bruce helped me move several times. 7 times, in fact, in 7 years. From Warrensburg, to Nashville, to my current home in Kansas City. He also loved helping my friends move things, giving rides and of course, going off-road. He was an expert at driving in the snow and ice. I always felt safe and secure.

An especially fun memory is when Bruce took several friends from Joplin out into the country to see the Ghost Lights. Bruce also transported my new kitten, Itsa, when I first got her and welcomed her into my little family. He loved it when I let Itsa loose and she would crawl around on our road trips to see Grandma.

Bruce also loved how everyone knew his name. Just a few weeks ago, some friends at small group asked me how he was doing, and we just had to laugh at the fact that by asking "How is Bruce?" everyone knew who we were talking about!

Bruce, thank you for always getting me to where I needed to be and being a loyal companion on our many trips together. We've seen a lot of this beautiful country together and spent many wonderful years as bff's. Love you and will miss you! Laura

P.S. A special thanks to my friend, AmberZon, for naming Bruce. It was perfect.

KC Food Wars: Ribs...and the Winner is!

Our fifth and final stop in Ribs Wars was to Quick's in KCK. I had heard good things about this place and was really looking forward to trying it out. After first going to the WRONG Quick's, we found the right place and immediately were encouraged by the decorum and service. They knew all about the Ribs Wars and honored the BOGO ribs deal. The decorum was just as you would expect a hometown, bbq place to be. Friendly and casual.

So, let's cut to the chase. Quick's ribs were by far, the clear WINNER in Rib Wars!!!!!

Scores (best out of 20):

Atmosphere- 19

Flavor- 18

Tenderness- 18

Value- 20

Sauce- 18

Grand total: 93 out of a possible 100

I'm so glad Quick's was in this competition, because now I know of a great bbq place that may be off-the beaten track, with terrific service and price. Our server was so wonderful, Judge Jessica said "I want our waitress to be my mom." Whoa, Jessica! That's quite a compliment. The food also came out really fast and was fresh and delicious! I appreciated that it was quiet- they had on sports on the tv with the audio on low, no music was playing. It really makes for a great place to actually converse with your fellow dining companions.

The ribs were awesome! Really delicious flavor and the most tender we've had. The meat was definitely falling off the bone! The value was great too. I think it $8 or $9 for a half slab (which was more than enough for one person). We also noticed that they did great daily specials where you could get a sandwich, side and drink for about $7. The sauce had wonderful, sweet flavor. It would have been perfect, if it had been just a smudge thicker.

So, congratulations to Quick's BBQ for winning our Rib Wars!! We can't wait to go back!

Quick's

1007 Merriam Lane

KCK 66103

Review of previous ribs:

Second place w/ 77.5 pts- Johnny's in Mission, KS (great flavor, great service, just a bit too greasy)

Third place w/ 65 pts- Winslow's in City Market (good enough flavor to not need sauce, service needs work)

Fourth place w/ 64 pts- Zarda's in Lenexa (awesome sauce but ribs were way too fatty)

Fifth place w/ 0 pts- The Rub in Olathe (were out of ribs, terrible atmosphere)

More adventures to come...Laura



KC Food Wars: Ribs Part 4

Last Sunday, we decided to go try our fourth stop on our rib wars, which was the Rub in Olathe. The judges were myself, Jessica and Adam. We loaded up in the car and drove waaaaaaaaay out there to the restaurant. The restaurant is located in a newer-looking strip center in the middle of nowhere. So, we should have known this was not going to turn out good.

We go inside and see a big poster advertising the ribs promotion. Ok, they know about it! I eagerly place my order of ribs. The server says, "Oh, we're actually out of ribs."

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????


We drove all the way out there for nothing! I was so disappointed! A REAL barbecue place does not run out of ribs! A REAL barbecue place isn't in some suburban strip mall! A REAL barbecue place does not participate in a contest and then not have the food ready!

We decided to stay and eat anyways since we were out there. I got the pulled pork and fries.

The meal was fine but I seriously think they just use KC Masterpiece as their sauce and put it in their own bottles. The atmosphere was so generic and bland. I mean, if you want barbecue you want to go to some hole-in-the-wall. This place was almost too clean, and just no character whatsoever.

It really makes me question the integrity of KC magazine, who is doing this contest. I CANNOT BELIEVE that this place was in their Top 5 ribs in Kansas City.

Overall, just a complete disappointment! We should have known better based on the location alone. As Adam put it, "Suburan barbecue is a little risky." So, don't go to the Rub in Olathe, there's DOZENS of better barbecue choices out there, this is the BARBECUE CAPTIAL OF THE WORLD.

We've got one more stop to go...let's hope it does better...Laura

KC Food Wars: Ribs Parts 2 & 3

Last week, we ventured out to City Market for Ribs Stop Number 2 at Winslow's. Our first impression was not a good one because there was not a customer or worker to be found! We did go on a Tuesday night, but you still don't expect to be the only people there. We eventually did find a server and sat out on the "debatable" city's largest patio.

Once again, our server knew nothing about Rib Wars and after about a ten minute wait while she asked her manager, we were finally offered buy one ribs, get the second half off. Not the deal we were originally promised, but we did it anyway.

Here we go!

Scoring:

Tenderness of meat- 16
Flavor- 18
Value- 9
Ambiance- 13
Sauce- 9

Grand Total- 65 out of a possible 100 points

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed these ribs because of the flavor. The menu boasted that the ribs stood on their own without the sauce and it was true, in my opinion. Which was also a good thing, because as Judge Jessica pointed out, "the sauce is a little too vinegar based for this KC girl."

Judge Dan commented that he "really enjoyed the patio. Sauce-wise, I also prefer a thicker molasses based sauce. I don't like the sauce to drip off my ribs."

So, besides being the only people there and the waitress not knowing about the promotion, I thought these were above-average ribs because of how flavorable they were. At $12.99 for a half slab of ribs, it's a lot of meat, but again, no sides come with it. So far, these ribs were better than Zarda's because they more consistently tender and much better flavor. However, none of us liked the sauce as well.


Third Stop: Johnny's (not the bar but the bbq place in Mission, KS).

So, our BOGO ribs promotion only lasts this month and we're kinda running out of time to hit up all the spots. We decided to get our third ribs to go and take them over to Bree's house for our weekly Bachlorette party. Jessica picked up the ribs and thought the place was pretty cool. It seemed fairly new, nice and clean. The best part was the staff actually knew about Rib Wars and was excited about it!

Scoring:

Tenderness of meat- 16.5
Flavor- 15.5
Value- 17
Ambiance- 16
Sauce- 12.5

Grand Total- 77.5 out of a possible 100 points


The value at $9.99 was by far the best we've had. Again, no sides but a much more reasonable price. These ribs were also beef which made them have a completely different flavor than that other two. They were the most tender we've had. Still a little fatty, though.  Overall, we all agreed they were the best so far based on flavor and tenderness.

We also got yummy fried macaroni bites, which were good. But basically, the ambiance and friendliness of the staff really set it apart.

Well, we've still two more stops to go! Can't wait! Laura

It's back- KC Food Wars: Ribs Part 1

We're back for another month of gaining weight, also known as KC Food Wars. This time, it's a pretty big challenge. Who has KC's best RIBS? I mean, we're talking barbecue, and this is serious.

Our first stop was Zarda's. Now, I've been to Zarda's in Blue Springs before and it's always been one of my favorites because I really like their sauce. Barbecue is judged by people in different ways. Some judge it by the meat. I judge it by the sauce. Zarda's has GREAT sauce. It's sweet with a kick of tang.

We decided to hit up Zarda's second location in Lenexa. Both restaurants are similar in that it's casual and family friendly. You order at the counter and then pick up your tray of food yourself. I asked my co-judge, Jessica, what she thought about that and she made a good point by saying it's a good method for a fast meal or if the restaurant is busy. Instead of waiting on service, you get your order in right away. Good point, JJ!

So, we are scoring the ribs much like how we scored the burgers. We have five categories and each judge will score on a 1-5 point basis. 5 being the ultimate best and couldn't be any better, 3 being average and 1 being awful. Our categories are: Tenderness of Meat, Flavor of Ribs, Sauce, Ambiance of restaurant and Value.

Since it was just the two of us today, we doubled our scores. For our remaining judging, hopefully we will have four judges.

So, at Zarda's the special was buy one rack of ribs and get a sandwich free for participating in Food Wars. So we ordered a full rack of short end ribs with a beef brisket sandwich. Please note, no sides were included, so we also ordered some fried pickles. Okay, actually I wanted those!

Right away, one negative thing was the cashier didn't know about the Food Wars special and had to ask a manager. Come on people, tell your staff what's going on!

Zarda's uses only locally sourced pigs for their ribs (bonus) and cooks them 17 hours over Ozark hickory smoked wood (another bonus)!

Here we go! (The Best score a category can get is 20).

Tenderness of Meat- 12
Flavor of ribs- 12
Sauce- 14
Ambiance- 14
Value- 12

Grand total: 64 out of a possible 100.

Ok, so tenderness. The cashier told us the short ends were less meat, but more tender. We scored these on the average side, because the tenderness was hit and miss. Some bites were truly tender and fell right off the bone. Then, you would get a bite that was really tough. JJ concluded that it was cooked well, but probably hadn't been the best quality of meat.

Another big factor that I did not like, were the chunks of fat located throughout the ribs. It was a huge turnoff for me to take a nice bite of the meat, only to have to spit out these gross fat bits.

Flavor. This again was judged average because it was good, but fairly smokey flavor.

Sauce. As I noted before, I love Zarda's sauce but JJ thinks it's a bit spicy.

Ambiance. Typical barbecue joint. Casual but nice, even partly rustic with nice wood paneling. The best part was the smell as you drove by. It just entices you to come inside. The biggest downside, to me, is the mere fact that it only has two locations, one in Blue Springs and one in Lenexa. So, neither is very convenient for us and let's face it, I hate Lenexa.

Value. A rack of ribs was $13.95. Now, you got a lot of ribs but it doesn't include any sides, which is disappointing. To get sides, you would have to order a platter which was around $20. That's on the high-end for a casual restaurant, in my opinion. However, I do disclaim that I'm not too familiar with the costs of ribs.

Here's our fried pickles (they were pretty good) and the brisket sandwich.

So, overall, the ribs were good because of the flavor and sauce but overall somewhat disappointing because of the inconsistency of the tenderness and the chunks of fat within the meat. I would definitely go back to Zarda's because of the sauce, but I would stick with brisket, ham or pork.

Our next try is coming soon...can't wait!!

I'm also tacking on another fountain that I found this week. It's number 93!

Behind UMB Bank at 49th and Main.

 Okay, it may not technically be a fountain but I'm still counting it!

More adventures to come! Laura

Celebration at the Station

Last weekend I enjoyed a really cool Kansas City tradition- Celebration at the Station! Every Sunday night of Memorial Day weekend, for the past ten years, the KC Symphony plays a free concert in front of Union Station and everyone sits on the big hill at Liberty Memorial. People listen to the music, bring a picnic and just have a great time!

I love stuff like this and had so much fun!

Then it gets dark and out come an awesome fireworks show! Who doesn't love a good round of fireworks?!?

I had a very busy week (like usual!) and ended the week going to my first First Fridays in the Crossroads district. All the art galleries stay open and all kinds of cool people walk around, checking it all out! On our walk, we discovered the old Kansas City Star building at 18th and Grand. And right out front, a beautiful fountain!

No. 92- 18th and Grand, KC Star building





A little KC Star history. First of all, let it be noted that I look at their website kansascity.com every day and check out what's going on. The Star began publishing in 1880 and has won 8 Pulitzer Prizes. One of its claims to fame is Harry S. Truman once worked in the mailroom for two whole weeks. The other claim to fame is it employed Ernest Hemingway as a reporter for a short time.

Another busy week ahead for me...and more adventures to come! Laura

Money Museum, Central Library and more!

Lots of things to blog about today. This summer is shaping up to be a very fun one-- even if I don't get to take a vacation!

Yesterday was a super fun start to the summer. JJ and I had a wonderful lunch on the patio at Cafe Trio. The patio has a great view of the Nichols Fountain on the Plaza (minus the parking lot-ha!)

I had the Mac Daddy and it was DELICIOUS! The salad was also wonderful, it had the best dressing. Maybe my favorite part of the lunch were the two guys sitting at the table next to us. Both had the most adorable Australian accents!  It was impossible not to eavesdrop! :)

Then, we went to the Money Museum, which is just inside the Federal Reserve Bank at Main and Grand. This is a nice little museum with free parking and admission. We learned that the Federal Reserve bank is like the supervisor of all the banks in the region. They make sure all the banks have plenty of cash. We got to see part of the cash servicing area and watched workers package up millions and millions of dollars. They also had some robots that carried around the money and they were named Huey, Dewey and Louie!

Of course, this big, important building in KC, which was built in 2008, has a beautiful fountain right out front! Here's Fountain No. 91!

The Museum had lots of old coins and examples of different currencies, from what they used as colonies to Confederate money. They even had a real gold bar valued at over $688,000!

Every visitor to the Museum gets a free bag of cash!

Today, I visited the Central branch of the KC Public Library, right downtown. It is beautiful! Even the parking garage is cool!

Here's the entrance to the children's section.

The building used to be a bank. Here's a picture of how it was as a bank and now the beautiful library lobby.

Downstairs, instead of a vault for the Bank, it's a vault full of movies to rent!

There was an exhibit of wood-carved pictures from Missouri native, Fred Geary. Mr. Geary was an artist who worked for the Fred Harvey Company, designing postcards and book covers and all sorts of things for the hospitality company. He also did all these beautiful woodcuts in the 1930 and 40s. Many were Missouri landmarks, like this picture below of Jesse James' house.

Here's one more fountain to add, No. 90. This is a beautiful fountain right on the Plaza on 47th St. It's pretty cool how the water shoots out of the horses' noses.

That's all for now, more adventures to come! Laura