Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Never a Dull Moment: Kansas City

If any of you out there actually expect a new post from me at least once a week, I apologize.  I've been waiting to blog about my trip to Kansas City, and now I finally have time to do so!  So here it goes.

On Friday afternoon, I left for Kansas City, Missouri, with 21 other students and two faculty members.  We could only stay until early Sunday morning, but we sure did pack a lot into the time we spent there!  This is what our trip looked like:

Friday
3:51 PM: Two white, unmarked vans pull out of my school's parking lot.  In the back seat of one of them sit my roommate, our friend and me.  It's Kansas City or bust.
5:30ish: We stop at a rest area.  This is the only reason I will remove my headphones from my ears during a road trip.
8:30: We arrive at the hotel we made reservations at.  Unfortunately, the hotel forgot to save enough rooms for us, so we had to relocate to its sister hotel down the street.  Luckily, there was room for us there, so we didn't have to sleep in the vans.
9:00ish: We're finally allowed to get out of the van, set up in the hotel dining room, eat some pizza, and start a game of Apples to Apples.  Sleep follows soon after.

Saturday
8:15 AM: My alarm goes off so I can get up and go to breakfast.  I neglect to wake up my roommate, who later questions my motives.  My bad.
9:30: We hop in the vans and head off to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.  There we see The Thinker, the world's four largest badminton birdies (my personal favorite), and more than enough nudity.
12:15 PM: We sit in the outdoor part of of the museum and enjoy Kansas City's best barbecue.  This is a beautiful moment for a carnivore like myself, but more of a side-salad-and-bread moment for my vegetarian roommate.
2:00: We arrive at the World War I Museum at the Liberty Memorial.  After walking through the first half of the war, my friend and I decide that the second half is probably not any more cheerful, so we head off to the tower of the Liberty Memorial.  We make it to the top.  Mission accomplished.
4:45: We finally make it to Grinders, our dinner destination.  Here I find the best Philly cheesesteak west of the Mississipi...and a pink toilet.  I'm not sure which fascinates me more.
6:56: We arrive at Legends, which is by far the coolest outlet mall I've ever seen.  Sadly, we only have 24 minutes to shop.  Good thing I'm a professional power shopper.
7:45: This is the beginning of the show we are seeing at a comedy club in Legends.  I am not pleased with the acts, but hey.  When in Rome, right?
10:00ish: After a long, tiring day, we are back at the hotel.  Do we go to bed?
11:30ish:  No, we do not go to bed!  Since my friend (and hotel roommate) is from Kansas City, her awesome mom stops by the hotel to bring us two shopping bags full of snacks.  Instead of sleeping, we play with Twizzlers and make jokes that would not be funny, or even comprehensive, if we weren't so incredibly tired.

Sunday
7:00 AM: All 24 of us are in the vans.  Adios, Kansas City.  You've been a lovely little break from reality.  :)

If that doesn't give you enough of a taste of what my weekend in Kansas City was like, check out these pictures from my trip.

The Thinker.  Apparently there are several "original" versions of this guy,
so it's probably not as big of a deal as I though it was.  Oh well.

One of the four giant birdies that graced the art museum's
lawn.  My high school gym teacher would be proud of me, not
only for taking this picture, but for remembering that back in the
olden days, birdies used to be called "shuttlecocks."

The Liberty Memorial.  You bet I climbed to the top of that thing!
(Ok, technically, I took an elevator.  But hey.  It was a long ride.)

The pink toilet at Grinders.
"No, I'm definitely not taking my camera to the
bathroom or anything..."
Shout-out to my best friends back home.  I'll see you soon.  :)

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