KC MO

          

Over to Kansas City today, Missouri's second largest metro area. This is an archive photo of the stunning Kaufman Center for the Performing Arts.

We like KC and regularly stop there on our way to see Mrs. C's family farther out in Kansas. The regional population is smaller than STL's but the city proper holds a much larger share of the metro population, leading to better regional government. The City of St. Louis itself has a population of about 350,000 in a metro area of 2.6 million. The suburbs are terribly Balkanized and regional cooperation is weak.

KC has a part-time symphony. We have one of the best in the country. Both have decent regional art museums but I think KC's Contemporary Art Museum beats the hell out of ours. IMHO, our restaurant scene is richer. KC has the Country Club Plaza, a Spanish fantasy that was the first real shopping center in America. We have the Arch, which nobody else has. It is said that the only city that has more fountains than KC is Rome. We have a lot of water fountains. Both areas have vast, soulless suburbs.

We will meet some of Mrs. C's family for dinner there tonight, then out to the farmland where she grew up on Saturday. The forecast is for moderate temperatures and rain, which could lead to some beautiful prairie vistas.

Everything's Still Up To Date In Kansas City

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We spent last night in Kansas City, Missouri, on the way to Carolyn's mother's home in Marysville, Kansas. Superb dinner at the Webster House restaurant, which we found on Zagat. It's in a schoolhouse built in 1885 and is full of old fashioned charm. There's a brilliant hand at work in the kitchen and some strange, lonely putti around the outside.

The restaurant is adjacent to the Kauffman Center For The Performing Arts, which was seen on these pages just last month. It may be even more spectacular at night than during the day. There were no performances and the surrounding streets were dead empty.

Happy Thanksgiving to all our American friends. On to Marysville today.

Some Kansas City Filler: Kauffman Center

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A few last images from Kansas City. This is the Kauffman Center For The Performing Arts, a remarkable piece of architecture. It is the home of the Kansas City Symphony, Lyric Opera and Ballet. The building contains a theater and a large concert hall, presenting a variety of musical acts and stage shows.

It was nearly empty when I stopped by last Saturday but the lobby was open. Views from different perspectives don't quite look like the same building.

Arch photo tomorrow, then a day or two of something local. On Sunday maybe a pic from beautiful Dallas - Ft. Worth International Airport, where we change planes Saturday. Then we got a problem. We will be in the black zone, really out in the wilderness for a few days.