A few of my friends from the CFTC have lived in or spent a lot of time in Kansas City and they really like it, so at their urging, I went slightly out of my way to see it. I stayed two nights, which gave me a full day in town.
The thing I liked best about KC was its architecture. I didn't take a formal tour or anything, just wandered around downtown. But even just doing that I found some great stuff:
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| Some government buildings |
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| The U.S. Courthouse |
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| The public library |
Kansas City, MO prides itself on having more fountains than any city in North American (and maybe only Rome(?) exceeds it world-wide). I only saw a handful, so I'll have to assume the rest were where I didn't wander.
I was told that KC makes great BBQ, so I stopped at a BBQ place for lunch, at a farmer's market called the River Market. It's a lot like the West Side Market in Cleveland, only it smelled like cow pies. Not sure why, since it's right in the middle of the city and I didn't see any live cattle around. /shrug. The BBQ was good despite the suspicious odor.
The thing that made the biggest impression on me was actually a sad thing, though. While nearing the end of my walk around town, I wandered back past the public library and towards my car. Just as I reached the corner where the library is, a bird dropped straight down out of the sky next to me! Straight down! (After I told a friend about that a few days later, he suggested maybe the bird flew into a window, which was possible given its location and the design of the building.) The bird kind of rolled back and forth on its torso for a minute then managed to get up on is feet. He wasn't obviously injured (I mean, no blood, no crooked wings), but there was definitely something wrong with him. He just stood there, beak open, and not moving except for blinking his eyes. It was scary and sad all at once. :( He was sort of near a door and people kept walking past but he didn't fly off or walk away. I wanted to help but didn't know how or if even anyone could help. I found a couple guys who do maintenance for the business district and they came over to look at the bird, and started calling around to see if anyone could come help. I knew my continued presence wouldn't do anything to help the bird, so eventually I took off. I don't know if the bird recovered, or was put out of its misery, or if it just lingered around for a while then died. :( But it made me really sad.
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| /hug |
I'm sure my friends who told me to go to KC feel bad that my biggest impression of the city was an injured bird. That's not all the impression I got. It was pretty, clean, and the people were friendly.
I'm happy you found the River Market area, it's the place I was telling you about but couldn't remember the name.
ReplyDeleteIf you believe in omens, moving to Kansas City would be a stunning experience.
ReplyDeleteThe other Damon aka Omen grew up in KC. You missed the best BBQ joint, a place called Arthur Bryants which is in a not so nice neighborhood on the east side of down town. Its been there forever and is an experience. While life took me to Atlanta I could happily live in KC. It does get very hot in the summers and pretty cold in the winters but there is a lot to do both in the city and within an hour or two outside it.
ReplyDeleteAs for legal employment, it has a large active legal community. Between both my parents being lawyers I think I've stood in just about every corner office in all the skyscrapers downtown at some point. Then again, I think growing up with two lawyers is what pushed me to math. Y'all are nuts :P
Well I didn't expect this particular post to get many comments! :)
ReplyDeleteI didn't stay in KC long enough to know how much I'd like it, or if I'd like living there (although by all accounts it would suit my personality and I liked my short experience there). But it has one big thing going for it: Jobs that I am actually qualified to do. There are government offices and a futures exchange, which are both in my background.
I haven't written much about what kind of job I'll look for when I'm done traveling, but most likely it will be attorney positions, or jobs that use similar skills. Obviously, wherever I settle down will need a job market that can actually use me. If I'm lucky, the place(s) I want to live will need people like me. If not, I'm either looking at a whole new career or a life of destitution! I'll write a lot more about this at year's end when I'm done traveling.