This past Sunday, for the third year in a row, Cutest and I strolled about the neighborhood known as Union Hill. Each year in June, folks are invited to purchase tickets and tread the sidewalks, absorbing the beauty of more than fourteen flower gardens nestled in front of, beside or behind eclectic homes. Bucolic Union Hill is bounded by Main to the west, Gillham to the east, 31st street to the south and 27th street on the north. A quick history lesson. Union Hill was establi

(Thanks to Discover Kansas City for this and a few other photos.) The other night I was reminded how cool it would be to buy a bridge. Cute and I were attending an event sponsored by his alma mater, the University of Central Missouri (Go, Mules) at the new two-level “entertainment district” on the Rock Island Bridge. It was a Thursday night and the event was on the top level with the lower level devoted to the public – families, couples, groups, all mixed. I can’t speak to

Cutest and I can really get into the holidays. In my book, Christmas and the 4th of July, for different reasons, tie for the top spot. However Memorial Day has recently become a close contender. Kansas City is the home of the world’s only nationally recognized museum and monument for WW1. This is the 100th anniversary of the completion of the memorial. Recently more space has been added to properly display artifacts that had been in storage. Hundreds more still sit unseen bu

As our faithful readers learned last week, Cutest and I, emphasis on I, drove to Bloomington, Indiana for Cutest's granddughter's college graduation. The following day, after much celebration the night before, and a too short of a stop in Indianapolis, we motored north to Chicago. Chicago, home of the Cubs, have the dubious distinction of being the only other professional baseball team that loses more than the Royals. However this city by the lake has many redeeming qualities

First time ever (maybe last, too) . . . Watch, don't give up, and then read below. It's all speedy. “Oh the fun we will have,” I exclaimed when Cute told me that we would make time for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum. He knew I was being facetious as he is the car lover of our coupleness. We were on our way to Chicago From Bloomington, Indiana where my smart and gorgeous (grandparents you know the drill) granddaughter had just gone through IU’s intimate 8,000+ person

Probably no new restaurant in town has been greeted with such fanfare, such PR, and such gosh I don’t know, anticipation, as 1587 at Lowe’s Hotel in downtown KC. I say at because it is not actually in the hotel; you have to go outside where there are at least two “greeters“ to make sure that you are at the right place. We were finally able to see and taste what the hype was all about due to a lovely and extravagant gift certificate from Cute’s kind daughter and son-in-law.

Rick Steves, familiar to many as the PBS host of his travel series and author of many informative travel books, recently visited Kansas City. Rainy Day Books, one of the few independent book stores remaining, hosted Steves at the Plazas’ Unity Temple. Unfortunately this was a solo adventure as Cutest had a prior commitment. Rick was on the promotional trail, whipping up interest in his New York Times anointed best seller, On the Hippie Trail. In 1978, Rick and a close frien

Not a surprise to their fans: The Back Alley Brass Band Sometimes the simple excursion can turn into the nicest experience. Cutest here. I will cite two quick examples. The first was on this past Saturday when we went to the Anita B. Gorman Nature Center on Troost because they were having their very popular plant sale. I didn’t look at the plant description too closely, but if I had, I would’ve noticed that it was mostly native plants and mostly by extension, great plan

Cutest and I live within walking distance of the Kansas City Art Institute , or KCAI, whose campus lays just west of the Nelson art gallery. Being so near, we have had the opportunity to visit many of their functions. KCAI welcomed their first students in 1885 and now nearly 600 attend the four-year college, guided by 75 faculty members. The latest event we observed was Roadroller Art Day! We didn't know what it was, really, but off we went. Senior artists were in charge of

While the phrase "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" is helpful in relationships, I (Cutest) got to wondering if it should apply it to art also. What makes something good or even great when you’re talking about artists and their works? We go to lots of galleries, art shows and fairs, and museums. Some art I tend to walk past quickly. Some I recognize as great but I wouldn’t want to own them. Some I sniff at and wonder why anyone would want it. That’s probably the mos

A quick disclaimer for the following blog. This will not be X-rated. However, the headline may bear some truth. On Truman Avenue, the main north/south roadway in Key West, on a prominent corner stands a dark maroon one story building with very dark windows and with a sign over its entrance proclaiming “BETTER THAN SEX.” Now that caught Cutest’s and my attention. As dutiful investigative bloggers and knowing that our faithful readers would want to know more, we whipped our s

Good grief. Cute got us tickets the other night to the sold-out performance/game of Drag Queen Bingo at (The Original) Key West Theater. Other than a charity night at Proud Mary's, I haven’t played Bingo for a l-o-n-g time and certainly not exactly this kind. I know many people play at churches and other places for charity and I’m pretty sure this was not that. For starters, it took nearly two hours to play six games. If the “host(ess)” had not been reminiscing about things

A visiting opera singer quickly taught this cockatoo the joy of the human voice! Cutest here, taking my every other week turn at putting my slant on some of Cutest’s and my adventures told in blog form. Today a closer look at birds, flowers and more that make Key West a tropical paradise. Birds must absolutely love this place. Most mornings Cutest and I, along with traveling four-footed companion, Sola, whom I’m renaming Cuter, sip coffee or munch treats on the back deck as s

Kansas City does not have that many restaurants featuring conch on their menus. Obviously, the reason for that is that conch is not readily available in the Midwest. Cows are. It is also not on every single menu in Key West, Florida, due to the fact that it’s difficult to harvest. Divers use masks, snorkels and fins often from a small boat to find conch in shallow but increasingly deeper waters. Extraction of the meat has to be done by hand as well. Particularly popular in

A little over a year ago, Cutest and I merged our lives and homes, probably to our grandmothers’ horror for surely we were living in sin by moving into a condo on the Plaza. Before and since, many of our friends have wanted to know why we chose that location. Here’s why. One evening as we walked toward the Sister City bridge that spans Brush Creek, I spotted a lady standing at midpoint, draped in a flowing white cape. Gathered at the bridge’s base were eight others, snapping

The other night, Cute and I went back to the 60s for an evening. Our dinner club hosts decided that the theme for the night was to be those glory days of the 1960s, maybe stretching into the 70s. We were reminded of the old saying that if you can remember the 60s, you really weren’t there, but there we were anyway. It seemed like a short trip back although none of us were able to wear any of our 60s gear or even still had it. Cute and I went out thrifting but we started at

Here I sit, happily munching squares of chocolate that I selected from one of Christoper Elbow’s fine Valentine Day boxes, courtesy of Cutest. “Love Day” has passed but not without lingering thoughts about how fortunate we Kansas Citians are to have our very own Valentine district. Let me expound. Often Cutest and I have motored up and down Broadway, paying little attention to the Valentine neighborhood. It is bordered to the west by Southwest Trafficway, to the east by Bro

I think our thousands of longtime readers would agree that Cute and I are pretty positive people. Our whole purpose in our blogs is to amuse you, often by trying to point out new places for you to try, whether they are experiences or venues or even museums. Recently in an effort to head off the February blahs, we went to Atlas9, knowing virtually nothing about it, except where it’s located, near the Legends. None of our friends have been, at least not that they’ve told us. W

Long time readers of our secret blog, secret in that only a handful of our friends know about it, no doubt have observed that Cutest and I prefer to seek entertainment that is not always front page news. Entertainment can be grouped under dining and beverage consumption, which we don’t usually write too much about, and events and assorted observations of both regional and long distance travel. It doesn’t take much, as you know, for us to enthusiastically write something. As

Cutest here. (Not pictured above) You may not be aware of this exciting news but TODAY is “National Plan for Vacation Day.” Created in 2017 by the U.S. Travel Association via its "Project: Time Off" initiative, this day is supposed to remind you to map out your vacations for the entire year. I’m suggesting you add Puerto Rico to your list for this year. You’re probably aware we just came back from there, too early, and we recognize that nobody really wants to hear about