College Basketball Experience

Written by Matt Rosenfeld
The College Basketball Experience is a unique activity for visitors to Kansas City.  It is located within the Sprint Center downtown and allows visitors to try their hand at various basketball games, from a full-court matchup, to trying to sink as many 3-pointers as you can within a 1 minute time limit and more.  This makes it fun for people of all ages. (Definitely come wearing comfortable shoes!)

You can also compare yourself to some of the great college basketball stars, including your jump, your wingspan, your height, even your shoe size. In addition, on another floor, you can view the history of collegiate basketball in America, as well as view the College Basketball Hall of Fame.

This interactive museum also gives aspiring sports reporters the chance to "call the highlights" and, reading from a teleprompter, to be the sports anchor during some of the best college basketball games. The experience is recorded and you can e-mail it to yourself for free - a great souvenir of your trip.

We spent about an hour and a half here, most of the time spent competing against each other in games sections. This is a fun museum, and a great rainy day museum for children and families.

Oz Museum

Written by Leann Pettit
"You're not in Kansas anymore." Well, actually, you're very much in Kansas, but if you want to be transported to Oz, the only place to go is the Oz Museum in Wamego, KS. The museum is comprised of one man's Wizard of Oz memorabilia collection that has grown and grown over the years.

Expect to spend an hour or so here, as there is a lot to look at and a lot of Wizard of Oz history. The museum begins with re-created scenes from the movie, including the scarecrow and the wicked witch being smooshed by Dorothy's house. Then learn all about the Munchkins and how they were cast and how many of them there were on set.

The museum goes through each of the characters and actors, with memorabilia for each of them.

About three-quarters of the way through the museum, there is a very touching display of these very large stuffed Wizard of Oz toys. The display explains that the toys were ordered from a store that was in the WTC towers on Sept. 9, 2001 and sent out on Sept. 10, 2001. Just past that, sit down and enjoy the movie, which runs on a loop in the museum's theater.

As you exit the museum, there is a display of variations of The Wizard of Oz, including the hit Broadway musical and book by Gregory Maguire, "Wicked."

This museum is perfect for anyone who wants a taste of nostalgia, wants to learn something new about Oz, is a fan of the movie, a fan of pop culture, or, really, anyone.

Make it an Oz-themed afternoon! Just a block away from the museum is the Oz Winery, who does free wines tastings of their fun Oz-themed wines, including Squished Witch, Flying Monkey, Yellow Brick Road and more.

The Money Musuem at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

Written by Matt Rosenfeld
The Money Museum, located inside the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, and due to the large sums of cash on hand at the museum, there is pretty tight security to get inside.

However, once you get past security, you'll learn about the inner workings of how money is printed in the United States, as well as destroyed.  You'll get a good idea about the inner workings of our economy and how it is decided how much of each denomination to print.

There is also a neat exhibit on how the various coins and bills we use have evolved and changed over the history of the United States.  Another neat thing to see is how the money we use today is removed from circulation and destroyed.

A few other not to be missed exhibits include a 23 lb., 99.999 percent pure gold bar, that you can lift, and a display that shows you what a million dollars looks like.

As a free gift upon exiting, you'll also receive a bag of destroyed shredded money (which unfortunately has no value any longer). While this is a small museum, it is definitely enjoyable for adults, and would be a fun place to talk children for an afternoon to learn about money and how currency is made and destroyed.

Boulevard Brewery Tour

Written by Matt Rosenfeld
When in Kansas City and the surrounding area, at all places that serve beer, you'll notice Boulevard on tap. This local brewery has grown leaps and bounds over the years and is a pride of this community.  There are a few free public tours throughout the day on weekends (and some, but more limited tours during the week). These are popular with locals and out of town visitors, so be sure to get there early to ensure your spot on the tour!  We saw a few people get turned away because of all slots being full.

For the tour, you'll be treated to a sample of Boulevard's pale ale to start off the tour, and hear the history of beer and brewing in Kansas City and the US.  You'll then view a video on the history of Boulevard, followed by a tour around the facility seeing where they make the beer, as well as how the bottling process works.  At the end, you'll be given the opportunity to sample a few different Boulevard beers. This is definitely worth the time for any craft beer aficionados.

Arrowhead Stadium Tour

Written by Matt Rosenfeld
Are you a football fan?  If you're in Kansas City, a visit and tour of Arrowhead Stadium is a must. This classic NFL stadium offers 2 tours; the standard Arrowhead Tour and the "Sea of Red" tour.  We decided to go for the more deluxe "Sea of Red" tour and were happy we did.

After watching a welcome video explaining the passion that the region has for their Chiefs, the tour guide shows guests around the various lower level clubs/suites.  Most people would never be able to afford tickets to games in these clubs/suites, so being able to view them on this tour is quite nice. After spending some time in a number of the stadium's clubs you'll be able to get on to the field itself and even throw a few footballs.

Another highlight is getting into the Chiefs' locker room and press room - the perfect opportunity to find your favorite player's locker for a snapshot, and check out the pretty nice locker room bathroom.  One of the final stops is to get up to the Penthouse and Signature Suite. While tours can't actually go into the penthouse, you can peek in and get a good idea of where guests of the team owner will watch the game.

Our tour guide showed us into one of the Signature Suites, which holds 32 guests and includes food and drinks and are mostly occupied by large companies from the Kansas City area.

This is a highly recommended tour by us for any football fan!

Holiday Inn Express & Suites Kansas City KU Medical Center

Written by Matt Rosenfeld

The Holiday Inn Express & Suites Kansas City KU Medical Center is a very clean and modern hotel.  During our stay, the staff was very friendly and willing to give suggestions of places to go and things to see in the city.

The breakfast was very good and consisted of cinnamon buns, bagels, sausage, eggs, cereal, pancakes, etc. There was plenty of parking available in their lot.  The hotel was within a 10-15 minute drive of basically everything in the Kansas City area.

Housekeeping didn't clean our room the first day, which was disappointing, but after pointing this out to the front desk, someone came to take care of it that night.  Apparently if you have a "Do Not Disturb" sign up before 8:30 a.m., housekeeping takes this to mean you shouldn't clean all day.  They need to re-train their housekeeping to re-check these rooms in the afternoon as some people do sleep in past 8:30 a.m., especially on weekends.

We also found that if you get a corner room above the gym area, you may feel the vibrations from people running on the treadmills and elliptical machines.  The shower in the room is also very tight and may be problematic for people of larger sizes.

Overall, we do recommend this hotel to visitors of Kansas City, as the pricing is much better than those downtown.  However, the hotel has a few areas to work on in housekeeping scheduling as noted above.

Address: 3932 Rainbow Blvd., Kansas City, KS

Wifi: Free

Parking: Free

Restaurant: No

Bar/Lounge: No

Smoking: Non-smoking

Hidden Fees: None

Breakfast: Free

In-room safe: No

Hallmark Visitors Center

Written by Matt Rosenfeld
Right in the center of Kansas City, MO, the Hallmark Visitors Center gives people a chance to see the history and some of the inner workings of the company.  You can even see how certain cards are made and get some free keepsake items.

A great point of interest is seeing some of the Christmas ornaments that have been designed through the years by collection and by artist. Also, be sure to stop by the printer to watch the process of making Hallmark cards and take a look at what the cards what look like at various stages of printing. Just beyond that, you can see what cards look like for the holidays in various languages and for other countries.

It takes about 30 minutes to go through the entire center, and it is free of charge.  Definitely worth your time if you're in the Kansas City area.

Gates and Sons Bar-B-Q

Written by Leann Pettit

One of the barbecue joints in Kansas City that was highly recommended to us was Gates and Sons Bar-B-Q, which has six locations in Kansas City.

We ate at the Main and Linwood location, the restaurant located at 4621 Paseo in Kansas City is the main restaurant.

One thing that makes Gates stand out compared to their neighbors is the order takers asking each diner, "Hi, may I help you?" And, while we found this warm and kitchy, we also had an issue while ordering. The counter worker misunderstood our order, which took slightly longer and wasted the cook's time.

In the end, we ordered the mix plate, which came with beef, ham, ribs, and fries. Gates was the only joint that we ate at that pre-sauced their meats before serving, which didn't give us the option to sauce it ourself or try the other sauces by Gates.

Of the meats, the ham was very juicy, and the beef was tender, and both were cut thin. However, the meats were just all right in comparison to other Kansas City barbecue restaurants.

The ribs served were spare ribs, and the short ends are not included on the mix plate. The ribs we got on our plate had a lot of fat on them and not a lot of meat.

We also ordered onion rings, which were fried fresh, but definitely had a heavy taste of fryer oil.

After Gates and Sons being recommended by a local, we had high hopes for this place. I hope that the issues and disappointment we encountered are site specific and not a true representation of Gates.

Arthur Bryant's Barbeque

Written by Leann Pettit

One of those staples (and giants) of Kansas City barbecue is Arthur Bryant's, on Brooklyn Ave. in Kansas City, MO (there's also locations at the Ameristar Casino and at the Kansas Speedway).

We ordered the pulled pork open faced sandwich and the burnt ends open faced sandwich, both of which came pre-sauced and were huge (three slices of bread for an open faced sandwich, and meat piled on).

The pulled pork was very tender and the sauce was on the sweeter side, a perfect compliment to the savory, smokey pork. The burnt ends were mega moist, but because of the sauce on them, lacked that crunchy exterior. The classic sauce was used on the burnt ends sandwich and, again, a perfect, succulent combination of savory, smokey and sweet.

RJ's Bob-Be-Que Shack

Written by Leann Pettit

A laid back joint in Mission, KS, is RJ's Bob-Be-Que Shack. 

We ordered a half rack of baby back ribs to share between two people (about 3 ribs per person). The ribs were incredibly meaty and super, fall-off-the-bone tender. The ribs had a lot of meat on them and the meat pulled right off the bone, and there was a fantastic smoke ring on the edges of the meat.

The atmosphere at RJ's is very laid back, especially in comparison to Kansas City's more popular joints. The menu is plentiful and diners get table service (as opposed to counter service). 

Plenty of televisions around the restaurant play whatever game is on, and on Sundays during football games, there are food and drinks specials.

Oklahoma Joe's

Written by Leann Pettit

If you're in Kansas City, you need to make the pilgrimage to Oklahoma Joe's, especially their original, super funky location on 47th Street.

If you are looking to eat at the restaurant, expect to stand in a very, very long line. When we arrived, the line was to the door (about a 30 minute wait), but as we were leaving the line was out the door and down the block. However, if you are willing to take your meal to go, call in your order in advance and save yourself the wait in line.

If you are planning on eating in, it can be tempting to send someone off to grab a table, don't! Tables turn over quickly and you're more than likely to find a table when you're order is ready.

I ordered the Z-Man sandwich, Oklahoma Joe's claim to fame. The Z-Man is a huge sandwich of brisket and provolone topped with two onion rings and their classic barbecue sauce. The sandwich is delicious - meaty and juicy and crunchy, and very, very messy.  It's the perfect combination of savory, fatty and crunchy to satisfy your cravings.

We also ordered fries and creamy cole slaw. The fries are seasoned with a house seasoning (that you can purchase in the adjoining gas station). The mix is absolutely addicting - a smokey, peppery taste that had me coming back over and over again for another. 

The slaw was super creamy and crunchy and I could still taste the individual vegetables in the slaw through the seasoning and sauce. There was also an amazing combination of seasonings on the slaw, which might have been a hint of the french fries seasoning.

Murray's Ice Cream

Written by Leann Pettit

Murray's Ice Cream, located in Kansas City, MO, is a purveyor of homemade ice creams. We ordered the Cookie Monster Sundae, which comes with your choice of one of their homemade cookies, your choice of ice cream and topping and then topped with whipped cream and a cherry.

We ordered ours with the chocolate chip pecan cookie and Murray's One Drunk Monk ice cream, which has Frangelico (a hazelnut liqueur) and chocolate flakes in it. We also chose hot fudge as our topping, although they had a lot of tasty toppings, such as Jimmies, cookie crumbs, and even hot dark fudge.

Woodyard BBQ

Written by Leann Pettit

Woodyard BBQ was opened by the man supplying most of the Kansas City area with their woods for smoking. The restaurant, which is comprised of an outdoor patio, a biergarten, and a few tables indoors, serves your traditional barbecue fare.

We ordered the two meat platter and chose baby back ribs and pulled pork. The pulled pork was served dry and diners could add their own sauce. The pork was moist and tender, but I, personally, have had better pulled pork at other barbecue joints.

The baby backs were very, very tender. So much so the meat fell right off the bone while being moist and tender with a wonderful smoky flavor.

We also ordered the burnt end three-bean chili, which is a mildly spicy and fresh tasting chili that is topped with burnt ends. The burnt ends are cooked well and are not terribly fatty and very moist, and kept even more moist by the chili. The chili is served in a single (perfect for one person or as a shared side dish), a cup or a bowl.

Smokin' Guns

Written by Leann Pettit

Smokin' Guns, an unassuming, but amazingly delicious, barbecue joint has very fast service, friendly wait staff and very tasty food.

We ordered the "Triple D Platter" - which included turkey, brisket and burnt ends and is served with two sides (we ordered the mac and cheese bites and the potato casserole).

On the tables, Smokin' Guns provided their original house sauce, a spicy sauce (the spiciest of the spicy sauces we tasted in town) and a dry rub.

The turkey was very moist, but a little on the bland side, however, was delicious in the dry rub, which  brought out the turkey's smoky flavor.

The burnt ends were dark, incredibly moist without being overly fatty. They were delicious on their own, but also tasty in both sauces and dipped in the dry rub. The burnt ends at Smokin' Guns were the best we tried in Kansas City.

The brisket was on the drier side, I wouldn't order it again.

All of the meat at Smokin' Guns was served dry and diners could add their own sauce. The restaurant is also very well lit with lots of seating.

Jack Stack Barbecue

Jack Stack BBQ, with four locations around Kansas City, serves a varied barbecue menu with a high class restaurant feel, while also serving other specialities, such as shrimp, burgers, salads and more.

We ordered the sampler platter, which came with chicken, burnt ends, baby back ribs and polish sausage. The platter is served with coleslaw and fries, however, we opted to switch the fries for the cheesy potato casserole.

Our server brought us extra sauce, both the house classic sauce and their spicy sauce. We were also offered a "hot" sauce, which we decided not to try.

The chicken was moist and served on the bone - a half breast and a wing. It was a lot of meat on our chicken. The sausage was pretty typical of sausage, but the meat's flavor definitely got a pop with the spicy sauce.

The ribs, which were just short of a half rack, were meaty and the meat was very tender, with a nice, chewy bark which was a nice texture contrast to the moist meat of the ribs.

The burnt ends had a very nice smoke ring and were very moist, however, a little fatty compared to Jack Stack's neighboring BBQ joints. The burnt ends were very tasty all on their own, a perfect combination of beef and smokiness, but were also delicious in both the classic sauce and the spicy sauce.

For dessert, we tried the carrot cake, as it was highly recommended. The cake, a warm cake with a comforting flavor of cinnamon and nutmeg is topped with a warm cream cheese frosting and walnuts. While the cake doesn't look intimidating, it is very large and should definitely be shared.

Jack Stack serves very large portions, and the combination plate was the perfect amount for two people to share.