Assistance Needed: 17 year old niece coming to town

[staubio]

Wizards are away to New England that weekend after the 4th.

[shinatoo]

For the Warcraft group I suggest at least a stop at Tapletop out near 99th and Metcalf. Phil has got a great gamers shop and there are usually a few rounds of Warhammer or DnD going on. Plus he has all kinds of guides and miniatures.

But in reality, if they are horde side, they are probably going to be lucky if they can get it together long enough to leave the house. Horde sucks. 

Take them up to Jagers for paintball. That would be freakin awesome.

[ChandraNH]

Just a thank you to everyone and a conclusion to the niece visit.

She had a great time here in town.  she arrived on Tuesday afternoon and we took her to Lidia's for dinner which she enjoyed.

On Wednesday she and my husband checked out the River Market, ran errands, went to the Oz exhibit (kucer was correct, mostly aimed at small children) and had dinner at the Vietnam Cafe on 39th. 

On Thursday we went shopping all over the city (husband got some great deals on dress shirts at the Dillard's clearance center, check it out).  We also explored some neighborhoods (Valentine, Ward Parkway, Brookside, Waldo, Northeast).  We had a late lunch at Cho Ga (Korean restaurant on Metcalf, great kimchee, bulgogi).  We also hit up D'Bronx and she left her signature (she loved the 39th street location).

On Friday we ran more errands and had lunch at Blue Koi (and she fell in love with Bubble tea).  We went down to the Plaza for shopping and she took pictures with most of the fountains (and the samurais) on the plaza.  We then went downtown to the grocery store (this may have been the most exciting thing for her).  She took photos of everything at the grocery store, loved that she was below-ground and could see people walking by, all the prepared food stations and eat-in atmosphere as well as the beauty of the place. 

Saturday we got up and went to Lawrence (my first trip there as well).  There appeared to be something going on at the stadium there and she (and I) fell in love with Lawrence and the university.  She took a photo with the jayhawk at the Kansas Union and immediately started thinking that she might like to attend KU.  We went down to Massachusetts (street/avenue) and shopped.  She purchased a KU t-shirt for herself and mugs for her sisters.  We had lunch at the Mad Greek and had what may be the best gyro meat I've ever had, ooh and the hot feta dip.  Excellent service at that place.  I'm looking forward to going back there for more shopping (and to try the ice cream place we didn't get to).  There were tons of people out and about the day we were there.  She and I went (and waited in line for 35 minutes!) to Oklahoma Joe's (the line was all the way to the door when we got there and when we left).  It was very good (including the onion rings).

Oh, she and my husband also went and had airbrush tans done that morning in OP (135th and Quivira in some salon, looked very good and only $15).

When she told her friends that she was headed her for spring break, they gave her a hard time about coming to Kansas City as they thought it was just like in the Wizard of Oz.  She (the neice) really enjoyed herself, thought it was a beautiful area with a ton of things to do.

[PumpkinStalker]

Changing perceptions, one 17 year old at a time! 

[chrizow]

wow, great report!  sounds like you showed her a good time in KC.  i think it's hilarious that teenagers in ogden, UT would think that kansas city is Oz/bumpkin/etc.

[trailerkid]

wow, great report!  sounds like you showed her a good time in KC.  i think it's hilarious that teenagers in ogden, UT would think that kansas city is Oz/bumpkin/etc.

A lot of people don't know what Kansas City is and just hear the word Kansas so they dismiss it. I don't blame them and it's the city's own fault for not trying to nationally shift the negative perceptions.

[chrizow]

I don't blame them and it's the city's own fault for not trying to nationally shift the negative perceptions.

i'm not saying more couldn't be done, but it seems like KC has been in the national media for good reasons several dozen times over the last few years:  the crossroads, restaurants, power and light, nelson expansion, PAC, urban revitalization generally, etc.  short of changing the name of the city (which GRID would love), i think people will associate kansas city with "kansas" and by extension "backwoods" even if we built 500 new condo towers and had a cable network devoted to showing off KC. 

[trailerkid]

i'm not saying more couldn't be done, but it seems like KC has been in the national media for good reasons several dozen times over the last few years:  the crossroads, restaurants, power and light, nelson expansion, PAC, urban revitalization generally, etc.  short of changing the name of the city (which GRID would love), i think people will associate kansas city with "kansas" and by extension "backwoods" even if we built 500 new condo towers and had a cable network devoted to showing off KC. 

national media = ?. Stuff like NYT or the New Yorker have zero impact as those crowds likely will never visit here to begin with. It's just anecdotal information for the East Coast so they can feel more informed about the Midwest. The movement needs to start with local and regional marketing. Get some of these suburbadroids off the highways and back on the city sidewalks for leisure trips into the city. If we could get Main Street as busy as Strang Line we've won a major battle.

[NDTeve]

I'm sure the Spring Football Game was what you noticed in Lawrence. Sounds like she had a great time. Can't even comment on Worlds of Warcraft because I don't know what that is. Sounds nerdy  but at least they spent their money here!!

[kucer]

She took a photo with the jayhawk at the Kansas Union and immediately started thinking that she might like to attend KU. 

Smart kid! 

Glad she had a good time in KC. Thanks for the follow-up report!