Goin' to Kansas City

As the weather cools, the City of Fountains comes alive. Come join us, and see all she has to offer.

TRAVEL

SOUTHWEST

A misty rainbow hangs in the air around Nichols Fountain and colors the edge of Kansas City's Country Club Plaza. The light spray cools our faces as we walk by, reminding us that autumn is just beginning to break summer's tiring hold. The season revives the city and saturates it with such a merry attitude that you'll find a festival here just about every weekend of the month. It is the perfect time to experience this vitality for yourself through K.C.'s offerings of delicious dining, artistic jaunts, and shopping excursions.

Playing in the Plaza

One of the most popular destinations in the city is Country Club Plaza, a shopping and dining district south of downtown. In 1922, J.C. Nichols built the plaza as the country's first suburban shopping center. Inspired by his European travels, Nichols modeled the buildings' architectural design on those from Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Morocco. Ornate towers rise from redtiled roofs, and ceramic mosaics wrap many of the walls. Fifty outdoor sculptures dot the paths among the plaza's 150 stores.

The fourth weekend of the month (September 24-26 this year), the city blocks off several streets for The Plaza Art Fair. In its 73rd year, the juried show invites 230 artists to share their paintings, sculptures, pottery, fabrics, and other visual arts pieces. Four stages host jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock 'n' roll musicians. Half a block is dedicated to children and features the Kids Art Workshop and the Kemper Street Museum, both full of hands-on activities. You'll also be tempted by the aromas emanating from vending booths set up by the plaza's restaurants.

From Bistros to Barbecue

Among the dozens of restaurants in the plaza, be sure to request an outdoor table at Classic Cup Café. With the feel of a European bistro, this is a great place for lunch or dinner. Ease the sweet heat from the signature spicy Thai chicken pizza ($10) with a glass of wine while you watch passersby.

Closer to downtown, Blue Bird Bistro serves up a menu featuring dishes made from organic and all-natural ingredients. "We are mainstreaming organic," says owner Jane Zieha Bell. "When people come here, they realize it's not some far-out concept. They say, 'It's like my grandmother used to fix years ago, because I can taste all the flavors.'" Start with the grilled polenta with herbed goat cheese mousse and arugula pesto ($7.50), and try the pan-seared salmon ($23) as an entrée.

Of course, you can't visit Kansas City without sampling the 'cue. One of our favorites is Fiorella's Jack Stack Barbecue, a near-fancy restaurant in a renovated freight house behind Union Station. Bypassing the soggy plates and greasy wax paper wrappers, Fiorella's opts for a more refined take on this city staple and is known best for their ribs ($13.45 half rack, $21.95 full rack). You'll want to start with a Burnt End Appetizer ($6.45)-end pieces of beef brisket seared on the outside and tender on the inside.

Venture into the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, and snag a table at the four-star Café Sebastienne. Your eyes will immediately find the 110-painting installation entitled The History of Art by artist Frederick James Brown. His work interprets artists and art throughout the ages and is sure to serve as a conversation piece during your lunch of crab cakes ($15) topped with zesty avocado salsa and served with roasted red pepper coulis.

Mosey Through Wonderful Museums

While you're at the Kemper, take a free tour of the museum. A giant skylight in the center of the building shines upon a large atrium, and the light flows into the galleries. The bright and airy environment suits the collection of contemporary art, including works by such noted artists as Jackson Pollock and Georgia O'Keeffe. Before leaving, you may want to try to cheer up the Crying Giant by Tom Otterness, an 11-foot-tall bronze with his head in his hands out on the museum's lawn.

Take a stroll back to your childhood with a trip through the Toy and Miniature Museum of Kansas City. Housed in an old mansion, the collection of antique toys and miniatures (exact replicas of real objects reduced in scale) spans 33 rooms. We were fascinated by the world's largest marble display, but had our wives been along, they might have preferred the 100 furnished dollhouses and room settings.

Something Sweet

All those toys will make you feel like a kid again, so logically, your next stop should be a candy store. Get ready, though, because Russell Stover's First Quality Stores offer so many wonderful chocolates and candies, we're not even sure Forrest Gump could handle it. Headquartered in Kansas City, the chocolate and candy company distributes the best off the line (no seconds) to these shops' shelves and cases (visit www.russellstover.com for locations). Some of the stores serve hand-dipped Blue Bell ice cream in homemade waffle cones as well as caramel apples (starting at $2).