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

Cutest and I recently returned from Puerto Rico, U.S.A.'s 51st want-to-be state. (Actually the island’s population is about evenly divided on that subject.) Moving on. We enjoyed escaping the cold, gray and near lifeless landscape of KC for a month. Unfortunately we came home too soon. As I sit in our office trying to keep my fingers warm enough to type this blog on my iPad, snow swirls outside my window which struggles to keep the 0 o air temperature on the other side. All

It’s a raging battle. A huge dispute. People aligned on separate sides, violently struggling for the truth. National bragging rights are at risk. However, the majority seem to favor one of two contenders. Only in the pursuit of historical truth I, Cutest, have so far sampled three of these controversial concoctions. Today we walked to the Caribe Hilton, where I was determined to research piña col adas in a city and country (well, commonwealth) famous for them. This loca

Cute here for my 2025 blog wrap-up edition. Let me say up front that I do enjoy the Christmas season. I listen to the carols, and much to the chagrin of Cutest, I attempt to sing/howl along. We watch a broad spectrum of holiday themed movies, from Miracle on 34th Street to Die Hard and The Ref . Sorry, Hallmark holiday shows haven’t made the cut. Since we're not having snow this Christmas . . . And here's a puzzle for you: which picture doesn't belong? We drive through the P

On what was the coldest night of winter I hope, Cute and I decided to discover the lit wonders of Christmas. This was not the first time we deliberately set out to gaze at the splendors that people create on the outside of their homes for the holiday season but it was the first time we took snacks and warming fluid. We stayed relatively close to home and we didn’t have a list of best neighborhoods to review, but somehow we managed to see impressive and homey displays. We’

A CHRISTMAS HOMES TOUR TALE Some decorations require an explanation. Here is one: "This is Buster. He was acquired on 46 and Troost in 2021. He then endured major surgery on his tail and teeth. He got a makeover by a man named Tommy who paints mortorcycles locally." Many a way there is to add to the Christmas experience. Giving to charities, taking a child to visit Santa Claus, inhaling a REAL fir tree, making sugar cookies and going on a Christmas homes tour! Now admit

Not ours. Lakewood Country Club's. As many of you are aware, Cute and I moved in together about a year ago just before Christmas. Our lives together in our new place began with the sheer and utter chaos that moving and combining two old(er) lives involves. There was really no Christmas at home, just (unfun) boxes and weariness. So we feel like this is our first Christmas together in our own place. Cute determinedly and repeatedly made trips to the storage unit, hauling u