KC's Frozen Fountain

I had heard that the Fountain up in the Northland, at Vivian and North Oak, stayed turned on during the winter and becomes an ice sculpture in the winter. You may remember this fountain as Number 54. This picture was taken in October 2010. So that's why the water is pink-for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Here's the fountain as of this weekend:

Isn't that crazy??? It's the only public KC Fountain that stays on during the winter. I can't believe it, though, because it looks like the weight of the ice would cause so much damage to the structure of the fountain. Pretty cool, though, to see!

I also found a nice Veterans Memorial at this park where the fountain is located.

Eagle sculpture

I found this verse to be quite moving as part of the memorial, it's from John 15:13. 

The names from all the fallen soldiers from Cass County from every war since the Civil War, including the most current Iraq war.

Hope everyone had a great holiday season and cheers to 2013!

Laura

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