i returned to KC this weekend for various reasons: father's day, my mom's birthday, and to go to the dentist.
things started off great. the drive on i-70 was amusing, as i demonstrated Road Rage Chrizow to a wily Chevy Avalanche. in short: no one is going to ride my ass for 10 minutes then try to blaze around me. no sir. i will push the Honda to 125mph for the sole purpose of not letting a vehicle pass me, if said vehicle's driver is being an asshole. thus, Avalanche got a nice look at my bumper (and my raised middle finger) for the 50 mile stretch from Concordia to KC.
arrived home at 8 friday. greeted by dogs. my neighborhood smelled like barbecue. dad and myself went to waldo pizza and brought back 3 delicious pies. i of course consumed an entire pizza myself (olive, red onion, mushroom on regular crust). the rest of the evening was spent conversing with my mother, playing with my dogs, and watching While You Were Out.
saturday morning, dad and i went to Pastry Goddess in Independence to get a birthday cake for mom and pastries for ourselves. if you are ever out in independence in that plaza with the Ultimate Electronics and Dress Barn, do visit Pastry Goddess. trained pastry chefs run the place, and their delicious treats are the utmost in quality. bonus: they serve Roasterie coffee. this suburban strip mall establishment gets a very enthusiastic thumbs up from me.
saturday evening, i heeded the call of high school friends to "go out." we piled into the Honda and set off down Gregory to "the city." there are more efficient ways to get to the plaza area from raytown than gregory, but i always take gregory to main (not Brookside - Main) so i can drive north through all the glorious leafy neighborhoods and picture myself in the sunrooms, porches, alcoves, and attics of each home. i think these neighborhoods are my favorite part of kansas city. it isn't a destination. not showy. just people living their lives in beautiful homes. it was a nice cool night saturday, so people were out in sweatshirts walking their dogs, playing tennis, watching kids go down the street on a trike, etc. Americana.
after this bit of urban/suburban reverie, we went to westport. we got a table outside at Harry's Bar and Tables and just chilled out with a few Blvd Wheat drafts. per usual, Harry's was playing a calm mix of reggae and late 60s singer-songwriter stuff. we were easily the youngest people there when we arrived. i must extend props to the ballsy gentleman in the white Jeep Grand Cherokee (with 20" gold spinners), who parked his ride in the street as he ducked into Harry's to pick up a cigar. i guess when you need a cigar, you need a cigar - traffic flow be damned.
as the sun set, it became too cold to sit outside at Harry's anymore, so we headed over to Teadrops so i could check it out. very cool place. i had a small jasmine tea to offset the Beer Burn i was having. had a beer at AC's Garage, which is a cool down-to-earth spot. it reminds me of a place Drew Carey would drink. no frills, no posturing, and good beer. the open garage door is a cool touch.
we decided not to do the "Westport 'Til the Cops Come" sort of night and headed to the Plaza, where we consumed more intoxicating libations and other various and sundry substances. i stepped into George Brett's momentarily, only to verify i didn't want to stay. if i were a bit older and a sports fan, i think GB's would be a great place to hang with friends. classy.
BIG props to the dozens of folks on the sidewalk who spontaneously heckled two 20something douchebags in a Viper convertible as they slowly crept down 47th, showing off their ride. people just yelled stuff at them, indicating that, at the end of the day, a red Viper doesn't really make up for a bad haircut and wearing sunglasses at night.
we went to Mi Cocina, which is now my favorite "cool" bar in Kansas City. the crowd was primped and pretty, which was a nice change from the more laidback Harry's and AC's, but i didn't get the impression that anyone was pretentious or snobby. just well-dressed folks out getting schnockered in a cool setting with cool music. very nice. we stayed there for a while, then headed to Sidney's for coffee, toast, and conversation. nothing better than toast with strawberry jam and crappy diner coffee at 2am after a night at the bars. with that, we sobered up and headed back to Raytowna Beach. naturally, i drove down Main with the windows down and sunroof open and breezy brazilian flavors on the cd player. very cool to drive down an empty Main Street saturday night.
sunday afternoon was Father's Day bidness. nothing cool there.
sunday night a longtime friend and i went out for some beers and strolling on the Plaza. things started off great as he picked me up in his new Saab, which made for great cruising. we went to Canyon Cafe because my friend said it was Happy Hour. WRONG. Blvd. Wheats for $3.75 ain't too bad though. after a few of those, we strolled around the plaza. it was a great night to be out and about on the plaza, even though the only things open were a few restaurants and B+N. it was warm and breezy and lots of people were out just enjoying the night. friendly folks, too - we engaged many a fly honey in stimulating conversation. after walking around a bit, we headed to Westport to have coffee at Broadway Cafe. once again, and much to my delight, Starbucks was nearly devoid of people (i counted 3) while Broadway Cafe was overflowing out onto the sidewalk. Broadway is such a cool place to hang with a true melting pot of people. homeless people, goths, asian kids talking in their native tongue, indie rock hipsters, Garrison Keiler-types: all sip on their respective hot beverages in harmony in this cool setting. definitely a KC landmark IMO.
i guess that's it for my weekend in KC. it was pretty low-key (like me), but with just the right touch of debauchery and tomfoolery thrown in to make it cool. i'll probably be back a lot this summer.
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