Action-packed KC staycation

Let me first start with how this week came about. PlattForm's fiscal year begins April 1 and we lose any current fiscal year PTO (paid-time off) days after that. Having been employed at PlattForm for nine years, I have a lot of PTO days and instead of planning a vacation somewhere I decided to stay in KC and see some sights. One of my good friends, Jennie, also had some days to burn so the week was born from there. We spent a good month or so creating a list of all the places we wanted to go and then finalized about a week before and yes, a spread sheet was involved. Jennie is a KC native, so she was a great person to tour KC with. We were so excited about our week of fun and had it jam packed with activities. Jennie and I have very similar personalities, so even though we had our days planned we were also flexible depending on our mood and the weather. We also had a few guest appearances by Patrick Lewallen, John Pfortmiller and Danny Pumpelly.

Pre-yoga coffee pic

What better than to start the week off at a little, cozy, coffee shop, Oddly Correct. With some caffeine in our system, we were ready to start our first official day of KC tourist week. Note there is also nothing better to do than start the week with some yoga. Maya yoga  specializing in ashtanga yoga , which I have recently fallen in love with. Wade and his wife Kathleen, own the studio and it was the first time I had been there. We went to Wade's intro to ashtanga class and as Jennie said “It was the most relaxing ass kicking you'll ever get.” We can't wait to go back!

The Kansas City Boulevard Brew  tour was the main attraction for Monday. We found on the web site they offer free tours. It was first come, first serve for tickets so we got there right when they opened at 10am for tickets to the 2pm tour. It was a nice, 45-minute tour of the facility and since we went on a week day we got to see the bottling assembly, really neat. Then we got to sample six beers. I'm glad Jennie's friend, Patrick, joined us as he helped with the beer selection. The 80 acre and Tank 7 were my favorite.

I was slightly tipsy after the beer sampling and in much need of food. We went to a great Thai place, Lulu's,  to fuel our body as next on the schedule was a pole dancing class.  This was more of the try-anything-once side of me coming out. I actually wasn't as impressed with the class, maybe it was the instructor, but we did have some fun trying some moves and taking pics. We learned the fireman, martini, pinwheel and floating knees. My favorite quote from Jennie, “It's like we are on a carousel and we are the horses.”

That evening we went to the Melting Pot for everyone's favorite, cheese and chocolate! We savored each morsel as we dipped the little bits of food in to the melted concoctions. We opted for the spinach,artichoke cheese dip and yin yang chocolate. Divine. (Also, FYI, Monday is ladies night and you can get cheese, salad and chocolate for $16 each.) All in all it was a pretty fantastic Monday.

Yin Yang dessert (dark and white chocolate)

 

I was so excited for Tuesday that I got up super early, not by choice. We had aerial silks lessons with Rachel from Voler Aerial Academy. By far the highlight of the week. It was freeing, invigorating, a little scary and just plain fun. I loved being upside down and flying around. We wanted to go join the circus right then and there. It is very complimentary to yoga as well. I'm ready for my next lesson!

After that we stopped for lunch at Cafe Gratitude, which happens to be a favorite of the singer, Jason Mraz. They specialize in local, organic, vegan food and love! I ordered the “I Am Transformed” (tacos) and Jennie the “I Am Magical” (veggie burger). I think the names of the dishes also sum up how we felt after aerial silks. Next, a coffee break at Mildred's to warm up and then some shopping in the Power & Light district, where I got a really cute dress. This rounded out our second day of KC tourist week.

Wednesday was a day of rest, which was much needed after the two full days we just had. We were both quite sore from the pole and aerial classes. A little restorative yoga for me and then we met for dinner at UrbanTable. The bruschetta and wine were delightful and props to John for selecting the wine, Wild Horse.

The KC Zoo  was on the agenda for Thursday. I'm glad we went this day as the sun was shining and it was a nice day for some fresh air. We almost had the zoo to ourselves too. Not all the animals were out as there was still snow on the ground, but here's a brief run down of what we did see:

• Polar bear diving
• Monkeys playing
• Lions napping
• Cheetahs pacing
• Elephants standing
• Alligators floating
• Meerkats scurrying
• Lemur meditating

We met Danny for the new movie “OZ the great and powerful” that night at Union Station. They had the Station lit up like the Emerald City. We were one of the first to see it as it officially opened on Friday. A very visually appealing movie, especially in 3D.

Friday was the last day of KC tourist week. We walked around the Plaza a bit before spin class with Albert Lee at Woodside Health club. Albert was the lululemon run ambassador and we met him by going to their complimentary run group each Tuesday at 6:30pm. He is a great mentor for running and has completed multiple marathons and triathlons and did his first ironman last year. Albert is one cool dude.

Another highlight of the week was visiting the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. A magnificent building and we found on their web site they offer tours for only $5. Well worth it. We took some stunning photos of the architecture and saw both theatres, Helzburg Hall and The Muriel Kauffman Theatre. The organ in Helzburg Hall is made up of 5,000 pieces and it took six months to assemble. I really want to go back for a performance.

KC Tourist week ended the same way we began with coffee (okay Jennie got a snow cone). We went to Little Freshie. The macaroons were quite good too. As we sat in the coffee shop, we started our list for the next KC tourist days (after our bank accounts and eating habits are back in balance). There is still a lot KC has to offer and many coffee shops to visit!

I'll leave you with this quote and maybe you'll find something right in your backyard to try.

"One way to get the most out of life is to look upon it as an adventure." ~William Feather