Dating in KC, 20th Century Style
Thanks to Cinema Treasures website -- a great location for old photos.
Oh, to be 16 again here in 21st Century K.C.
Cutest and I marvel at the variety of today’s choices for anyone at any age to go out and kick up their heels. Before nearing the tail end of the 20th century, fun and affordable places to take a date were thin pickings.
Just a few decades ago, if I really wanted to impress a girl, my go-to location was the Plaza. The fact that I even knew how to get there impressed many a date. Not until my late 20s could I afford to take a young lady anywhere at the Plaza but the Plaza Theater, home of many a Pink Panther movie. If I really liked her, on the way home, we would drive through Winstead’s for Cokes. If a few extra bucks were saved, then a visit to the Capri or the Midland theaters downtown was our target. At those glorious movie houses with lobbies adorned in gold leaf and towering roman columns, we watched first run classic films like Cleopatra or the Sound of Music. Of course the next two or three weekends I was back in the poor house.
Another economical, some might say cheap, date spot was the now named Charles Wheeler airport. There at the Tradewinds restaurant on the second floor, we could listen to recordings of Frank Sinatra while sipping coffee, very mature of us, share a slice of pie, very cheap of me, all while watching jet powered 707s roll down the tarmac.
Closer to my eastern Jackson County home in Blue Springs, there was Cool Crest miniature golf in Independence. For a few dollars I could challenge my date to see who could get their golf ball into the alligator’s mouth on the first swing. Smartly I always allowed the young lady to succeed, a custom I still reserve for Cutest.
And for an inexpensive night out with friends, one of us would drive a tired and rusty sedan to the 40 Hiway Drive-In, with two, three or four buddies “hidden” in the trunk. It wasn’t a bad idea until one night the usual ticket seller wasn’t on duty and his replacement thought he could impress his boss by busting our little caper. The drive-ins were where we watched all of the “beach” movies, especially those with ex- Mouseketeer Annette Funicello.
Even after reaching the milestone of 21, most bars were untouchable. Many were too sleazy, with makeup-heavy women and former lumber jacks inhabiting the bar stools. Others were more skewed for our parents with subdued atmosphere and high prices. The Levee with its wooden floors smothered with peanut shells, cheap but cold beer and Dixie Land bands were just what we needed. BTW, it's still alive and well.
Today, whether it’s downtown, east, west, north or south, varieties of restaurants, entertainment venues and drinking establishments abound, with price ranges to suit most anyone’s budget. Yes, the prices have gone up but so have the wages for many. The Power and Light district, The Legends, the Crossroads, the Rock Island bridge and many more are there to please those who yearn for a night on the town.
We failed to get there this season, but the last remaining local drive-in movie spot, the Boulevard, is on my list for the summer of ’27. This time I won’t have to hunker down on the back seat under a pile of blankets while Cutest drives. After we do that, I will take Cutest to a very nice restaurant.
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