Tuesday, May 21, 2013

OUT AND ABOUT IN KANSAS CITY: WESTSIDE AND THE CROSSROADS

This weekend we celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary.  5 years?! Crazy how time flies.  On our honeymoon in Jamaica we had visions of going back there to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary.  Well, that didn’t quite work out, but we did have a great time exploring parts of Kansas City that we haven’t been to before as well as some old favorites that bring back a lot of memories.  First things first, though, time to enjoy delicious margaritas in our backyard.
There is a cool new district in Kansas City called Westside.  Our friends just bought a house over there, and I’m so glad they did because it made us aware of this up and coming neighborhood.  I’d dare to say that it is the new hipster gathering place.  It’s on the west side of downtown KC, and I’d add it to your list of places to go if you’re ever in the area.  While the neighborhood is cute, the real reason I was drawn to the area was to visit a shop called Little Freshie.  The lady who owns it used to travel around KC in the summer in a renovated airstream serving hand crafted snow cones.  The flavors always sounded so interesting, but I never made it to buy one last summer.  So when I looked her up I found out that she had opened her own little shop.  It’s adorable inside and delicious!  We tried the lemon prickly pear snow cone and a macaron.  (Ok…I have to digress from the story for a minute.  Is it macaroon or macaron?  The store had them labeled macarons, but every time I write that spell check pops up and says it should be macaroon.  Never mind, just looked it up in Google, and macaroon is something completely different.  We had a macaron.  Either way, it was delicious.)  This was my first macaron.  I felt that it was a right of passage, because I have seen them all over the blogosphere.     
The next place we went was in the Crossroads area of KC.  It’s just down from Union Station amongst all the train tracks.  It’s called The Manifesto and is modeled after a Prohibition-era speakeasy in the basement of an old hotel.  It only has one entrance, which is through the back alley via a call button.  When we went to the back of the hotel, we thought we were in the wrong place.  There was a cook from the bar and grill in the upstairs part of the hotel that was enjoying his cigarette break.  He was not very helpful, and we almost turned to leave until another couple walked up behind us and buzzed the back door.  I’ve read online that this place is really difficult to get into, but we happened to squeeze into two seats at the bar.  It only seats about 40 people!  When the hostess led us down the steep stairs to the underground bar, I couldn’t believe how dark it was.  They really took the atmosphere seriously, because there were no electric lights anywhere.  They depended only on candle light.  It took forever for our eyes to adjust, but this was a truly unique experience.  The drinks are very interesting.  Not a flavor I’d crave regularly, but the experience could not be beat. 
After our drinks, we walked across the street to the old freight building that has been renovated into restaurants.  We actually had our rehearsal dinner at Lydia’s.  We really wanted to go there, but it was all booked up for the night.  We hadn’t counted on it being that popular.  So we went next door to Jack Stack, one of the more upscale barbecue dining options in Kansas City.  Kansas City is known for its barbecue, and there are many options to try if you ever visit.  Jack Stack has a few locations around the city, and is really good if you want more of a sit down nicer dining experience with a good drink menu.  However, my favorite barbecue place in KC would have to be Oklahoma Joe's.  The original restaurant is in a gas station, but it is so good you won’t notice the ambience. 
It was a great night.  We had a lot of fun just exploring our city and visiting old haunts and new to us places.  Maybe next year we’ll head to Jamaica…

10 comments:

  1. Happy anniversary to you two. What a great way to celebrate!

    p.s. your dress is darling

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  2. Your hair is so beautiful! You haven't changed a bit in the last 5 years! I'm glad you and Wade had fun!

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  3. Happy five years! How exciting! It looks like you guys had a great celebration (nothing says "celebration" like macarons, right?!).

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    1. Thank you, Amanda! You're totally right--they are delicious:)

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  4. Great photography! What camera do you use? Your blog is so lovely and refreshing I'll definitely be following it (:

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    1. Thank you so much for your sweet comment, Jen! These are actually the first pictures I took with a new camera I just got. I bought a Canon 60D at the recommendation of some fellow bloggers who have awesome pictures. I kept fighting my husband that a DSLR wouldn't be any different than my iPhone, so I'm excited that you noticed a difference:) I did buy a lens to go with it, but I can't remember right now what type it is. If you're interested, e-mail me at thisisfoundhere@yahoo.com, and I'd be happy to find out and tell you:) Have a great day!

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  5. Happy anniversary! Looks like you guys had a great time. That snow cone place looks SO cute. We have friends who live not too far from there so someday if we get out to visit them I'll definitely have to check these places out:)

    Josie
    FineandFeathered.com

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    1. Thanks so much, Josie! I hope you do get to check them out! A fancy snow cone is always delicious:)

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  6. Hi Kari, and happy anniversary!
    Thank you so much for your lovely comment on my blog. It certainly helped to make an already great day even better :)
    You're right, it can get disheartening when you feel you're doing all this work for nothing, but as you could see from the post you replied to, I had decided that this was something I wanted to do, and that it was going to be worth doing, and done as well as I could. So I pulled myself together and continued striving. Comment like yours, or any at all, but especially the thoughtful ones, make the whole thing so worthwhile.
    Im so glad what I have to say interests people, because I enjoy saying it :)
    I'm just having a nosy round your blog now and I must say I love it! Keep up the good work and so will I :)
    Sound like you had a really lovely day.

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  7. Happy Anniversary (belated)! Your wedding day was so fun. I cried so hard when you walked down the aisle. :) Love all the pictures! Especially the one with your hair flying - beautiful!

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I truly appreciate each comment! I love hearing from you guys and treasure every one. I respond to comments via e-mail if you have yours enabled. This is going to be a great day!