What KC Wants to Be

Last weekend Terri and I spent some time in St. Louis. While Terri became a better hair dresser, I became a better relaxer. She was busy going to classes all day on Sunday and on Monday morning. I used the time to explore St. Louis.

We stayed at a downtown Holiday Inn. I was a little concerned when we arrived because the hotel was one block from Martin Luther King Boulevard. One of the great sages of our time, Chris Rock, once said "You know what's sad? Martin Luther King stood for non violence. And I don't care where you are in America, if you're on Martin Luther King Boulevard, there's some violence going down."

But it turned out we were near Martin Luther King Boulevard and not on Martin Luther King Boulevard. I walked everywhere. Early on Sunday morning, I walked to the Arch. I visited the free museum under the Arch and spent some time watching the Mississippi River from the adjacent park. The weather was perfect and the relaxation was severe.

I began to notice that my ever enlarging forehead was starting to burn, so I began a quest to buy a hat. I have all but given up on the KC Royals and being in St. Louis, I decided that my forehead would be best protected with a St. Louis Cardinals hat. The new Busch Stadium was just a few blocks away, so I walked over to the fan shop that was part of the facility. They had a lot of Cardinal's hats. They wanted $35 for the least expensive. If you know me, you know that I am cheap. Not prepared to spend $35 for a hat, not even a Kentucky hat, so I left and continued my walk. A few blocks later I found myself at the finish line of a marathon run. Bands were playing, food was being cooked and consumed, adult beverages were flowing, it was a party atmosphere. I hung around a few minutes and watched the poor suckers who run 20 some miles for exhilaration as they stumbled across the finish line. I will never understand runners. All that pain, and only a few received any recognition.

My next stop was Union Station. Terri and I had been there many years ago and always wanted to go back. It was a cool facility, nicely restored, and full of shops and restaurants. I was disappointed to see the recession had taken its toll on the place. About a third of the shops had gone under. However there were several sporting goods stores that remained opened. I continued my pursuit of a Cardinal's hat. Three stores later, I resigned myself to the fact that licenced Major League Baseball stuff commands a stiff price. Each store wanted at least $35 for my coveted hat.

Then I spotted hope. A store named Lids was just down the hall. They have hundreds of hats. Maybe a few can be obtained for less than $35. To my surprise, Lids also carries shirts. And everything in the store was buy one, get the next for half price. I found a Cardinal's hat for $24, and a Cardinal's shirt for $20. I brought both to the register and paid $35 after tax. What a deal. My forehead is protected and I also have a shirt. I guess I taught those high priced hat places a lesson.

The rest of the afternoon was sent with the husbands of Terri's co-workers who were also in St. Louis to relax. We met at a Hard Rock Cafe on the Union Station property and spent the next couple hours relaxing and watching the Masters. At around 3:00, I noticed that we were the only people left in the Hard Rock. I had never been in a quiet Hard Rock before and asked the waitress when they would start dancing on the tables as I have seen in other locations. I was sad to learn that after one employee had fell off the table and became paralyzed for life, Hard Rock had prohibited any of their employees from dancing on the tables. Another self-improvement lesson learned: Don't hire clumsy employees.

Kansas City is trying to be just like St. Louis. Twenty years ago you could go to downtown KC when you wanted alone time. Since then, Union Station, Liberty Memorial, the Power and Light District, Sprint Center, and a proliferation of lofts binging grocey stores and other necessities has revitalized KC. Still, KC is nothing like St. Louis with it's football and baseball stadiums collocated with so many other attractions. I was a fun weekend, and we will go back for more.