Kansas City, Missouri - Kansas/Missouri Trip Trilogy Part 3

In the words of Oscar and Hammerstein in the musical OKLAHOMA........

"Ev'rythin's up to date in Kansas City

They've gone about as fur as they c'n go!

They went and built a skyscraper seven stories high,

About as high as a buildin' oughta grow.

Ev'rythin's like a dream in Kansas City,

It's better than a magic lantern show!"

This is the view of Kansas City, Missouri taken just before we left Strawberry Hill in Kansas City, Kansas

Ok Sweetie (navigational wonder)....Take us to the Central Library in Downtown KC!

A good example of the words in the song above are found at the Library.  I had been there once before but the trees that had planted were covered with leaves...and you'll see why that won't work. :)  The reason why I was so anxious for Deanna to see the Library was because for many years she was the Librarian at Memorial High School in Tulsa.  It's not the actual library one sees first....it's the parking garage...no....I'm not kidding you!  :)

The parking garage is a block long and the bookshelf attached to it is also a block long...with books that stand 22' high and 9' wide.

This is the majority of the left side of the bookcase.

This is the right half of the bookcase...then stairs in the garage 
The Central Library is housed in the First National Bank, built in 1880 and what a FABULOUS  job they have done!  A theater in the vault, a coffee shop, books, books, books and on the top floor the genealogy and a terrace to hold special events

        

We still hadn't eaten lunch and I looked on my Guy Fieri Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and decided to give KC BBQ another try (see 7/8/15 blog).  We order the same thing as the first...Burnt Ends....at least the sauce was on the table for our option.  However, I likedthis better....she didn't...thought it lacked smoked and tasted like an oven roasted pot roast.  OK...so...we really didn't like KC BBQ....give us Oklahoma/Texas BBQ!  After lunch, we back tracked to a place we'd found just before lunch.  We were looking for a place to view KC, Kansas from this side.  

The place we found was call Quality Hill and it the oldest, continually inhabited neighborhood in KC.  First, we went to the park that was on the edge of the cliff with a great view of the confluence of the Kansas River and the Missouri River.  Judy and I had seen the headwaters of the Missouri in Montana a few years ago 

The Kansas River is coming in from the left and the Missouri is coming from the right.  Then we explored Quality Hill.

These are four buildings that really give you a sense of Quality Hill.  As they build new condos and apartments, they build structures that blend in like they've been there a very long time.  The two photos in the center are just buildings I liked; the one on the right is the Catholic Diocese for Kansas City and St. Joseph, MO. and the one on the left....while it is now a YMCA (it's hard to even write that without standing up and doing the song)....it was originally a Jewish Gentleman's Club.  ;)

Next of our tour was Union Station and it was a treat!!  Like Tulsa, KC has various 'districts' and Union Station is in the Crown District...which explains why the Hallmark Crown is above the main entrance.  

The photos are self explanatory....except the BEE!  I inquired of  Googles as to whom sculpted it...why is was a Bee....nothing...but it is HUGH and quite interesting.  We also enjoyed the gift shop.  Speaking of 'gifts'....We still had shopping to do.   :)   There were a couple of things we want to see the next time (probably prior to Christmas).  1) the National World War I Memorial & Museum.  People told us that was a must...that it is 360 and you feel like bullets are flying over your head  2) the Hallmark Center where they have some sort of tour.  Oh yes...and we were told that KC is the City of Fountains and has more than any other city....I only knew about the one at Country Club Plaza...so we want to see some of 'em!

On the way back to the motel we stopped on the MO side at Trader Joe's where Deanna bought some olive bread and I bought 4 or 5 bottles of 3-buck-chuck wine.  Then we stopped at Costco...looked at bit and I bought some double creme brie....we had dinner in our room  :) :) :)  

We started shopping early at World Market and IKEA.  When I cautioned Deanna about time restraints at Ikea  (we still had to go back to Trader Joe's and drive home) she said she had been in one before and she just wanted to quickly walk through.....Have you, dear reader, been to Ikea???..well, as it turned out she hadn't and if you have been to one you know there is nothing quick about it...they have laid out the pathway throughout the store.  It's always a lot of fun and she found several Christmas gifts for babies on up.  We did make it back to T.J's because the bottle of Pinot Grigio I bought for $3 was great and I wanted to bring back a case. ;)

When all was said and done we  put down  the back seats in my car, filled it up with all our goodies and started home.   However, the most exciting time would come on the way home. We decided to go home on the Missouri side because it was dark and the highway would be divided all the way.   About 45 min before reaching Joplin a tornado touched down just West of Tulsa and was heading East (think Joplin) and reports said  alarms were sounding all over Tulsa.  After many phone calls and discussion we decided to stay the night in Joplin.                                                        

I took a total of 152 photos in Fort Scott, Kansas City, Kansas,

and Kansas City Kansas....I sure Deanna took more. 

If GOOGLE ever figures out how to allow photo placement that will

stay where one puts it, I won't have make collages.