Kansas City: History, BBQ, and Tattoos

Ah, Kansas City.  A town well-known for...umm....what is it well known for?  Well, to be honest, when I was growing up there, I had no idea.  It was the World Champion Royals, but that was in, like, 1985, so I can't really go on that.

BBQ
I think the first thing that comes to mind when I think of KC (outside of my awesome family, of course) is Barbeque.  As far as I'm concerned the BBQ in KC is the best in the world and that's not just because it's my hometown.  Believe me, I would tell you if it sucked.

There are more than enough BBQ joints in KC but probably the 2 most famous and popular ones are Arthur Bryant's and Oklahoma Joe's.  First, Arthur Bryant's.  The original Arthur Bryants is near the historical 18th and Vine area in what can be described as Not the Best Neighborhood in Kansas City.  But, despite its location, it is always popular for lunch and has enjoyed celebrity diners such as Stephen Spielberg, John McCain, and Jimmy Carter.  The format is pretty simple: pick a meat and get it on a sandwich or on its own.  That's pretty much it.  It's not the kind of place to ask for wheat bread, either.  Your choices are Wonder Bread and Wonder Bread, which I believe is a wonder because it will be the only food substance to survive a nuclear blast.


Oklahoma Joe's is famous for being the BBQ restaurant in a gas station.  And it is.  If you don't look fast enough, you might just pass right by it.  The format at Oklahoma Joe's is pretty much the same, although they have some dinner and lunch plates as well.  But basically the order of the day is meat with BBQ sauce.  But really, what else do you need?


So, if you want my opinion on which is better, I am going to say Arthur Bryant's.  The meat quality is fairly similar but Arthur Bryant's BBQ sauce blows away anything I have ever had.  If there was ever a perfect sauce made, I think it is at Arthur Bryant's.

History
In the remodeled 18th and Vine historical district just outside of downtown KC, there are 2 interesting and informative museums: Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and the American Jazz Museum.


The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, as the now non-PC name implies, traces the history of the black baseball leagues in the US.  The museum is full of tonnes of information and history, but the real impact here is hearing about the blatant descrimination and racism that existed 40+ years ago.  It's hard to believe that those times existed, especially considering that we have a black president now, so if nothing else, hopefully people my age and younger can go and read about a bad part of US history, within the non-threatening context of baseball.

The Jazz Museum, should be renamed the History of Jazz in Kansas City museum.  From a historical standpoint, it goes through the major players that came through KC in the 20s and 30s including Charlie Parker and Duke Ellington.  It does a decent job of also explaining the different styles of jazz and how they came to be, but the real reason to come is the interactive portion near the back.  There you can play drums, piano, saxaphone or with a track as it is playing, mixing and matching styles to see how they sound with the rest of the group.  You can also practice mixing a jazz track and compare your results to the professional recording.  Pretty cool!

Tattoos
Well, I don't know if KC is known for tattoos, but we got tattoos there to commemorate our 1 year journey.  Mine is a compass rose, for obvious reasons and Bessie's is the tree of life, for non-obvious reasons.  Basically, she got obsessed with taking pictures of trees while we are traveling, so for her tree=1 year trip.  Plus, hers looks really, really cool.  And maybe now she can take less tree pictures!


Maybe we'll get kimchee tattoos after Korea?  Just kidding!