24 hours in Kansas City ~ where to stay and what to see?

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Latest question re our trip planning...

We will arrive from Los Angeles on the SWC and take a day out in Kansas City to check out a Mid West city in the 'off' season (early March 2015). We move on a day later early morning so will have around 24 hours in KCY.

We are looking for a few suggestions as to where to stay (medium price) and what to see and do. We are in our 60's but are open to most things, but of course we aren't kids anymore. We like interesting eateries and live music is good too, we are also interested in American history and culture. Our best is just meeting people.

Have seen the Riverboat and the WW I museum advertised but of course first hand experience is always the best guide.

Have been inspired to ask these questions by favourable comments made by justinslot in the Hertz at Flagstaff thread.

Thanks again
 
We very much enjoyed Arthur Bryant's (great barbecue) and the World War I museum. The latter is a modern-style museum, with lots of explanation, not just fetishistic displays of weapons. Not that they don't have lots of weapons: I remember a particularly artistic arrangement of trench knives,
 
If you take a cab over to the old Vine Street Black Entertainment District you can tour the Jazz Hall of Fame and the Negro League Baseball Museum, they are in the same building! The original Arthur Bryant's Bar-B-Q( as Ispolkom said) is just up the street!Also lots of music clubs, bars, restored theater, old buildings etc in that area!

Also the historic, nicely restored Union Station is really a great place to tour, it has a Train Museum, Post Office, Movie Theater, Stores, a couple of eating places etc. Check it out in the daytime, most of the places close before dark!

As for Hotels, The Crowne Plaza has really nice Hotela, (Westin,SheratonCrowne Plaza)Restaurants etc and is connected to Union Station by a covered walkway! For Hotel deals I like booking.com or Kayak but there are lots of sites to book hotels!
 
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JimHudson has some great suggestions. I'll add three: Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art; Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art; and Thomas Hart Benton Home and Studio State Historic Site. I'm more of a fan of Gates Bar-B-Que. There are several around the city.
 
Stay at: the Ambassador, which is right in the middle of downtown.

Eat at: the Grunnauer (German food) and the Rieger Hotel (kind of upscale American food, old school cocktails.)

Be depressed by: how big and empty Union Station is. Makes you remember that both rail travel and Kansas City are not in their heydays. (Both are a lot of fun despite that.)
 
I absolutely loved the Arabia Steamboat Museum. Awesome! You can get there by MAX bus from the station.

As to hotels, if you are there on a weekend, the ones near the station offer good rates with senior and/or AAA discounts.

The WWI museum is a short walk from the station and the hotel right near it.
 
Crown Center (home of Hallmark) is right across the street (as mentioned previously). There is shopping and restaurants there (including a restaurant that delivers your food via a model train-Fritz's Railroad Restaurant), as well as a Lego Land and a Sea Life Aquarium. In the winter-time, they create an ice skating area there as well. Here is a link: http://www.crowncenter.com/.
 
I was going to recommend riding the brand new Streetcar around downtown, but you'll be visiting a few months before it's finished construction, unfortunately.
 
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Take a short cab ride to The Country Club Plaza. About 10 mins from Union Station. Just a fabulous area to walk around in. Google it and read all about it.
 
Should be a great visit! Everthing's up-to-date in Kansas City -- they've gone about as fur as they can go.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum
 
Thanks for all the suggestions, we'll certainly look forward to going to some of these places, but we can always return to Kansas...

Haven't found anything such as a museum connected to the cattle drives or the push west during the 19th C and thought that Kansas played a big part in that along with St Louis. Anybody know of anything?

Also, does early March have a type of weather pattern or is it changeable. Looked up Wunderground weather reports so have an idea what this last March was, but is that typical? We are trying to travel light (famous last words!) but of course Chicago in February to southern California and across the Mid West ending up in southern Florida is quite a range of clothing. We'll buy some things along the way and leave other things as the weather warms, just wondered if we still need our Winter coats for Kansas?
 
Kansas City is usually cold, often bitterly cold in March; so be certain to have Winter Clothes with you. But of course much of the country is still in the hard grip of Winter during March.
 
On one late February trip we left Chicago at 50+ degrees. When we arrived in KC there was significant snowfall. I enjoyed it falling outside in the lighting which fronts the classic station building. Then I returned to the platform for a snowball fight with fellow passengers.
 
Coming in late, but I've spent a weekend in KCY the past two years with about three dozen frequent flyers eating BBQ. March will be cold and possibly snowy. May is better than April which is better than March.

24 hours isn't quite enough time to see everything, but you can definitely get a taste of the city. It all depends if you have a car or not.

No car (or don't want to use a car):

Stay at either the Westin Crown Center or the adjacent Sheraton. The Westin is about a 10-15 minute walk through KCY and then across a couple of streets on a covered (and heated, IIRC) walkway. The Sheraton is another 10-ish minutes to walk (again, completely inside). You can rent a car from Hertz in the Westin for a day if you need it.

Crown Center itself is kind of neat, but I wouldn't spend more than an hour or so walking around. I like the pen shop, which is really close to the Westin.

Eat at Jack Stack's at the Crossroads. You can get there from the train station; it's a walk on an elevated walkway across the tracks, down a couple flights of stairs, and then through a parking lot. You'll see it on the opposite side of KCY. Ask a station agent or a security guard how to access the stairs (difficult to explain in a post). Note that the stairs across to KCY close at 10pm (or maybe 11), but the hours are posted. Highly recommended if you drink: their Bloody Mary with a brisket-stuffed olive.

Breakfast can be had at Succotash, which is on East 26th and Holmes, about a 15-minute walk (uphill, sorry) from the Crown Center.

The WWI museum is about a 15-20 minute walk (again, uphill) from Crown Center. It is probably the must-see attraction in KC. Admission is something like $14 but you can go on two consecutive days. I'd normally recommend taking advantage of those two days, as it's chock full of stuff. You can get through in 4-6 hours but expect your brain to be completely baked and overwhelmed by the experience. Also note: it is cold and windy up on that tower, but your museum tour isn't complete unless you do it.

I would also recommend the Crossroads area if it's the first Friday of the month, since the area tends to do more stuff that night (it's more of a civic night).

If you have/rent a car:

You definitely have more options, though "better" is subjective.

For BBQ, you must hit up Oklahoma Joe's on the Kansas side. It's around 47th Street and it is located inside of the gas station. They open at 11am. Get there early, like around 10:30am. Otherwise your wait will be an hour or more. It's totally worth the effort to get there.

Other BBQ options that most of the people I was with liked: Brobeck's in Overland Park and LC's in Independence. Brobecks had good everything, and LC's is where you go for burnt ends. Note that LC's may appear a little sketchy from the outside, but it's worth the drive over.

The TWA Museum is excellent for a mid-day break from BBQ. It's not too far from the train station, and the volunteers that run it are a hoot. Allow 2 hours or so, and it's a $5 donation.

There are definitely more options than what I have listed, so shoot me a PM if you think you need more ideas or can think of something that you want to look for.
 
Ah, yes, Kansas City - what woderful memories. Used to date TWA stewardesses there in a former life, but wound up marrying a "down-home" country girl that I met in KC (we are still together 49 years later). As for food, my favorite is Gates BBQ and, if it's still there, the Stockyards for steak.
 
Looks as though many people have a lot of affection for Kansas City, we are really keen to visit now.

Thanks again for everyone's help and advice, this is a superb forum.

mikeschu, we wont rent a car as we are visiting a city and we do walking too so 15, 20 or 30 minutes walking is no problem unless it's artic weather. Thanks for such a detailed description too, I appreciate you taking the time.

edit: found a 'Western' museum in nearby Independence, the National Frontier Trails Museum. Bus runs from Union Station to within about 300 yards of the museum so perfect for us.
 
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