Paris of the Plains

It is another hot, stormy night in Iowa.  We have been very busy since coming back from vacation.  We have been sick, and Sarah and I are both taking on new roles at work. Tonight, we just got home from the ice cream social / carnival at the daycare.

As I mentioned, we spent a few days in Kansas City on the way back from Maine, after flying out of KC.  As soon as we landed, we were hungry for some legendary Kansas City barbecue.  Our favorite place being closed on Sundays, we started heading all the way across town to Gates BBQ, a reliable alternative.  Our hunger prompted us to stop near the airport, though.  We ate at the Smokehouse, located in a swanky shopping center.  That's where it happened... we found terrible BBQ in Kansas City!  It was overpriced, oversauced and just tasted bad, a major disappointment. 

That night, we went to the Legends, out by the Kansas Speedway.  We did some shopping, Asher played in the fountains, and we went to T-Rex, an over-the-top dino theme restaurant.  This was our third try eating at T-Rex.  The first two ended with Asher too terrified of the gigantic animatronic T-rex inside the front door to go inside.  This time, he was psyched up!

He was still a little nervous, but he loved the place.  There are lots of different rooms, with lots of special effects and robotic dinosaurs.  It's a little kid's dream!  He had a blast.

The next day, we went to the phenomenal Kansas City Zoo.  It really is an amazing zoo.  Everything is so spread out, you can really feel like you are exploring different habitats.  Unless you take the trains and trams, you have walk several miles to see it all.

After the zoo, we went to my favorite KC BBQ place, Oklahoma Joe's, which is located in a gas station in Kansas City, KS.  Oh my, it was good!

The next day, I went for a tour of the Harley Davidson motorcycle plant (no kids allowed). The KC plant is the one where they build the Sportster, Dyna line (my favorite Harleys), and the V-Rod.  It is the only Harley plant where they build motors under the same roof as finished bikes.  It was a great tour!  I toured the Harley plant in York, PA a few years back.  The KC plant was even more interesting to me.  After the tour, and lunch at Five Guys Burgers and Fries (I know they have those all over the country now, but it was our first experience with their amazing burgers), we started heading north to Des Moines.  Overall, it was a great vacation. 

Well I might take a train
I might take a plane, but if I have to walk
I'm gonna get there just the same
I'm going to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come
They got a crazy way of loving there
And I'm gonna get me some.