Kansas City
 

Some buddies and I are planning a Memorial Day weekend trip to KC centered around catching a baseball game. In addition, what would be some highlights of the city, especially in regards to restaurants, bars, and nightlife? Also, is there cheap, safe hotels near the ballpark? Thanks for your help.

Tim - I live in KC. Some highlights of the city would be The Plaza and the casinos. Definitely check them out. The Plaza is very nice with elegant restaurants and great lounges and bars to hang out. If you're looking for hardcore nightclubs, go to an area called Westport. It will have every kind of bar/nightclub you're looking for. Also, if any of you like Italian food, definitely go to 'Anthony's Restaurant and Lounge' located in downtown KC, simply fantastic food and atmosphere. Hotels right next to Kaufman stadium and Arrowhead are the Adam's Mark, Holiday Inn and the Drury Inn, all within walking distance. The Adam's Mark is a more upscale luxury hotel, but the other two might be what you're looking for. Also, there are many other nice hotels in Downtown KC and The Plaza. If you'd like to stay at a casino, you can stay at Harrah's hotel & casino or the Ameristar hotel & casino. Both are about 15 minutes from the stadiums. There are also 2 other casinos, if you'd like to try your luck. They are the Argosy Casino and the other is the Isle of Capri casino. All 4 casinos are very nice. That's about it. Enjoy KC!

KC's pretty much covered the basics: Westport is where the under 30, aggressive partying crowd hangs out. It basically starts at 39th Street and Broadway. Live music, bars, small shops, restaurants, etc.<BR>The hotels around the ballparks are pretty generic. I can't call the Adam's Mark "upscale" or "luxurious" though. It's like a well maintained Holiday Inn or a typical Radisson.<BR>The ballparks aren't in one of the more interesting areas of town, so you'll need to drive somewhere before/after the game to seek entertainment.<BR>The Plaza is KC's one unique highlight. The ballgame crowd sometimes gathers at the Granfalloon, which just moved into a large new space facing Brush Creek (the waterway in the middle of the Plaza area)last year.<BR>Downtown KC is not very active after business hours and is dead on weekends, so staying in a hotel down there wouldn't be advisable.<BR>If you don't need to walk to the game your best bet might be to stay at one of the basic hotels next to the Plaza, like the Hampton Inn (which is only a year old) or similar.<BR>Most of KC's upwardly mobile population lives on the Kansas side of the state line, well south of the main metro area. But there's not much out that way that a group of guys going out for the weekend would want to do, unless you have an interest in nicer restaurants or more conservative bar scenes.

Tim, Don't stay out by the stadium. You will be on the interstate and within walking/driving distance of nowhere. Stay on or very near the Plaza. Hotels are not expensive here. There is an Embassy Suites, Sheraton Suites and Holiday Inn near the Plaza. Just share a room! Almost all nightlife, restaurants are in this area. Have fun!

Two other places on the Plaza, with a bit more charm, are the Raphael and the Fairmont (the old Ritz). I say this because when I do a guys weeknd, we always pick a place to stay that has a decent lobby lounge to hang at. Hampton Inn, et. al, doesn't give you that.<BR><BR>Otherwise, I absolutely agree that you don't want to stay by the stadium. Also, have a cab take you to the Velvet Dog one night(~ 31st & Main). Great neighborhood bar w/ a new cool place across the street. I always take out of town guests there, and everyone wants to go there again when they come back.

Don't be disappointed if the Royals game is D-U-L-L. Sometimes the stadium can resemble a morgue, particularly on those days when 10,000 people are scattered in a 50,000 seat stadium!

Hi Tim - I also live in KC. If you interested in exploring the BBQ scene in KC at all, check this out:<BR>http://old.jccc.net/~rmoehrin/gas.htm<BR><BR>Also, www.pitch.com is the alternative paper which comes out weekly on the net and in print - lots of ideas there about what is going on around the "funkier" parts of town.<BR><BR>Enjoy!<BR>anj

Why Kc? I would think STL is a better town. I have been to KC--old and rundown IMO. Definetly a blue collar town with beer taste.

Can't beat the Peanut!

I live in KC and would give the following advice (assuming it's a guy trip):<BR>1. Stay near Westport / Plaza area (numerous hotels listed above). This is the bar / party scene and definately the place to go before and after the game. <BR>2. Do not miss going to Bryants barbeque (about 1/2 way between Westport/Plaza and stadium)<BR>

It's all relative Calli.<BR>People from Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas go to KC for the restaurants, shopping and what some might call "culture".<BR>To most people from NYC, SF or Miami Kansas City is culturally challenged.<BR>And, yes, St. Louis has some of what KC lacks, but on a scale of one to ten, it's still only a 6 or 7.

Conde, you are so smug. Maybe people from the coasts might enjoy something different. I love to travel in the midwest, and I live in a glamor town. It's fun to get a slice of middle-America.<BR>No one has mentioned the Nelson Art Gallery, athough it might not dovetail with a baseball game. Barbecue, Westport and casinos, however, are right in there. Thanks for all the ideas above, folks. <BR><BR>BTW, there used to be some unique steak houses near the stock yards. Are those still around?<BR>

Oh sure thing, coaster. You're referring to the Hereford House.<BR>Unique, all right. Complete with 1960's decor and ultra greasy midwest style cuisine. A must visit for all connoisseurs of haute cuisine of the midwest. All the saturated fat without any of the smugness.

Well you certainly know a lot about it. So what if I was last there in the '60's?

You'd be too old to consider a visit to KC a "fun slice of middle America".<BR>(And your gallbladder wouldn't appreciate the visit, either).

C'mon Con. I'm looking forward to the Westport scene. Fun for the arrested development crowd, might just have to pull out some plaid and find the best sports bar. Hate to tell you but you are at least a decade off on your age estimate. But there you go again knowing a lot about arcane stuff. <BR><BR>What middle America has going for it is a refreshing lack of pretense. <BR>Have you ever considered the fat grams in a typical cassoulet or a buttery croissant?

Arrested Development crowd as in culturally displaced, once relevant rap groups from the early '90's (your early twenties), or as in geoculturally underpriviliged Footloose refugees (you see, everyone in the midwest is only one or two degrees separated from Kevin Bacon in a sense)?<BR>Ask around while in KC, but your chances of finding the taste tempting French fusion food you seek are pretty slim. They closed the last White Cassoulet last year.<BR>Good luck searching for your inner midwesterner in Westport's finer sports bars....you know what they say, "Best laid plaids..."

When in KC, I go for steaks and barbecue. Your arcane information, my friend, never ceases to amaze me. I would have enjoyed the White Cassoulet, I'm sure, and I am sorry to hear of its closing. <BR> <BR>Tell me you wouldn't recommend the Plaza, the Nelson Art Gallery and its environs to visitors. If so, then it's your own sense of style that's lacking. <BR><BR>Right now I feel I'm channeling Steve Martin circa 1978, just a wild and crazy guy. But I'm more of the Brad Pitt school, another American heartlander. I'm sure he enjoys his steaks and ribs when he visits.<BR>

Brad seldom visits.<BR>He grew up just 3 hours down the road from KC in Springfield, MO, you know, Kickapoo HS grad and Mizzou alum.<BR>I think his digs and environs in SoCal make the Plaza an unnecessary blip within what my SoCal relatives call "flyover country" (the territory roughly bordered by Denver, Dallas, Minneapolis and Chicago).<BR>But all smugness aside, the Plaza is a unique little gem within a rather mundane midwestern city. And the Nelson-Atkins and environs are local treasures as well. I'm only being snide out of boredom.

Yeah I know, and it's hard to get back....get back....to where you once belonged. <BR><BR>Now I've gone and done it. Lawrence High Alum, class of 19__; UH, class of ____. <BR><BR>Go Jayhawks! <BR>