Potpourri

"Man, I am just flat worn out!" ~ Me

Since my new wife had never been to Kansas or Missouri, I wanted to show her some of my favorite sights and monstrosities located in Kansas City, my adopted hometown, and Wichita, my actual hometown. Most importantly, I wanted to treat her to some of restaurants that I used to eat at but don't exist out here on the east coast.

Unfortunately, our time was limited, and she was tired, so we didn't get to very many places. I managed to show her those ridiculous modern art "sculptures" (and I use the term loosely) mounted on the top of the pylons over Bartle Hall in KC, but only from a distance. I don't know if she got the full impact of them or not.

I wanted to treat her to Gate's Barbeque, too, but didn't have the time. All I could do is point one location out to her as we drove past. Gate's is famous as much, if not more, for the greeting one gets as soon as one enters ("Hi, Can I help you?")as their tasty barbeque.

We left our motel room early Sunday morning and I intended to take her first to Oklahoma Joe's Barbeque, which I think is the best in the world, but we were too early and it wasn't open for business yet, so we drove on southward.

Then, after visiting "The Kansas Sampler" a store that sells souvenirs of Kansas and Kansas City, and buying an armload for friends back home, I wanted to treat her to the absolute best frozen Custard anywhere in the U.S.A. (sorry, this was the biggest picture I could find, and this one is in Chesterfield, Mo. I should have taken a picture of it myself, but I explained why I didn't in my previous post)It's called Sheridans Frozen Custard, and the reason it's the best is because of the secret ingredient. I know the secret ingredient, because I was once a manager for Sheridan's, but I won't divulge it here.

Again, my intent was stymied, because on Sunday mornings, Sheridan's doesn't open until 2:00 P.M. The sign says they are "In church", and at the original location, I'm sure that's true, as I know Jim Sheridan, and he is a church-going man, but the one in Olathe is owned and operated by a Jewish man, and I doubt he is in church on Sunday mornings. Alas, it was closed, too.

So, disappointed, we drove on down to Osawatomie, Kansas, where my daughter and her family live. After a very nice visit, we left for Wichita, but I wanted to make a quick stop in Ottawa, Kansas, to treat my wife to Taco Tico, the closest Taco Tico location to Kansas City. Most are located in and around Wichita. Again, to my consternation, we found Taco Tico no longer in Ottawa, the building now occupied by a fish restaurant. So, we ate at Sonic, and continued on to Wichita.

After we arrived in Wichita, my wife at last got the opportunity to sample Taco Tico, and she agrees it is much, much better than Taco Bell. I was pleasantly surprised as well. It was even better than I remembered. Unfortunately, after eating Mexican food once, she didn't feel up to sampling "Lil Mexico", another of my favorites.

Oh well, at last we had the pleasure of eating at both Oklahoma Joe's (Yes, it is located in a gas station. I even got a T-shirt that reads, "My favorite Restaurant is in a gas station") and Sheridan's on the way back through Kansas City. She agrees they are both as good as I predicted.

Also, in KC, I tried to show her some more sights like the Country Club Plaza,
including the J.C. Nichols Fountain, (above) and other Kansas City tourist attractions, but she was so engaged in a phone conversation with AAA securing a motel room for the night, she totally missed most of what I showed her.

Upon arriving home to Virginia, I checked my e-mail and found this interesting picture sent to me by a friend: The caption said something like, "If you're going to feature the flag in a photo-op, you might consider holding the phone right" or something like that. I can't think of the words to describe what I think.

I'll leave it to my readers to decide what might be a better caption.