Flying into Kansas City, MO....would like to see Kansas....suggestions?
 

What should we see in Kansas...that's not too far from Kansas City, MO?
We're a family of 6 with teenagers. We won't have a lot of time but would like to do a little sightseeing.

How much time will you actually have, and what are your interests?

tprsrs6, a poster on this site,Kieth, has a great site with all kinds of things about what to see and do in Kansas: www.kansastravel.org (it's a hobby, not commercial). I found some cool things, maybe you will too!

Gosh I don't think you really can see much of Kansas going west from K.C. Especially with teen agers. That's ain't very scenic area. Only thing that comes to mind is a drive down I-35 into the Flint Hills which is different topography.
Better to visit town of Weston or St. Joseph with Pony Express museum in MO.

Ozarksbill
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You might also consider Leavenworth which isn't all that far from Weston.

The drive to Leavenworth is gorgous. Both sides of the Missouri River are nice.

Ozarksbill, you don't think the area around Lawrence is beautiful?

When will you be in the area? Do you want ideas for in Kansas City as well?

Keith

(Thanks Toucan!)

Thanks, everyone!

Yes, ideas for KC would be great too! Thanks, Keith!

Forgot to add....
we'll be there at the end of July. How's the weather that time of year?

Probably pretty hot.

For teens in KC: the Bodies Revealed at Union Station. Second is the College Basketball Experience in the new Power & Light District, a Royals or T-bones baseball game, Worlds of Fun and/or Oceans of Fun.

Keith

OK Keith, it's been awhile since we drove that route and most likely with fussing kids in the car! BTW, grandson just graduated fromn K State.

Yes, in KC itself there is much to see...we were just there a week ago for steak dinner and theatre before flying to Playa del Carmen. Union Station, Royals game (if in town), WW II memorial just S of downtown, Nelson Atkins Art Museum, side-by-side Jazz Museum & Negro Baseball Hall of Fame, etc.

July? Usually hot and muggy of course...but you might get lucky!

Ozarksbill

Lawrence. It's about 45 min. from KC, so it might be a farther drive than you had in mind. This is a really great college town (home to the University of Kansas). The downtown is great...lots of locally owned shops and nifty restaurants. Your teens might really like it, since most of the stores/restaurants are geared towards college-aged kids.
KU has an outstanding art museum (believe it or not!) and a natural history museum. The campus is quite pleasant and surprisingly hilly. :)

Here are links to a three part series on the best things to do in KC that ran in my college's paper. It's pretty thorough.

http://media.www.unews.com/media/sto...-2949380.shtml

http://media.www.unews.com/media/sto...-2938907.shtml

http://media.www.unews.com/media/sto...-2932711.shtml

There's the kansas cosmosphere in Hutchison, KS, which is supposed to be one of the neatest things around here to do.

In response to your question about weather, it's hot in KC in July. Hot and humid.

Also, I take offense to the person who said Kansas isn't scenic. I think it's one of the prettiest states I've ever been to. You don't need mountains or oceans to be scenic. We have fields wheat and corn and, if you go out far enough, a wonderful view of the stars at night.

That said, there aren't very many tourist attractions in Kansas. Kansas City, MO has a lot of stuff to do. Blues, bbq, the farmers market in river market on the weekends, the nelson-atkins, etc...

p.s. click on the part of these links that come after the '>, for some reason fodors adds extra linkage that doesn't work to the front end.

Nevermind on the link thing, they changed it on me!