Squeegee-ing Sightseeing

We are deliberately flying in to Kansas City on Thursday for two reasons - to have dinner at Hereford House that night and to have Friday to ourselves as we don't have any reunion events until 4:30 Friday afternoon (meet, greet, have a belt.)

When I told an old friend about the trip, he said that we really must make a visit to the WW1 Memorial on the grounds of the Liberty Memorial which is a great tall tower to nowhere.  He went on to say that he'd seen it during a visit 12 years ago which puts it well ahead of the last time I saw the Memorial as a school kid.  The only "museum" then was in the tower base with glass cases around the walls with such as helmets, arms, Sam Brown belts and so forth.

But if it impressed Jimsie, I knew we would like it so I looked it up.  Oh, my!

How about the results when a 17 in. howitzer hit a French farmhouse?  Life-sized trenches that include the soil strata, items in daily use with appropriate ambient noise.  The Reflecting Pool that has 117 poppies standing in for the  1,000 male and female soldiers.   A glass bridge over a field of poppies.  I will cheerfully cross it because the steel support beams under this "glass" bridge are clearly visible.  Such is my terror at heights, that the all-glass one at Heathrow or Charles de Gaulle, can't remember, had me looking for any other way than That across.  After about 30 seconds, I gathered my nerves (mostly tattered ends) and raced across.

So we are really looking forward to this event.  Richie, who loves heights, will undoubtedly go up to the tower top which features a stunning view of most of Kansas City, Mo.  The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and seniors are $12. plus $5 to see the special exhibit of that time.

Jimsie also recommended a restaurant in Union Station which is down the hill from the Memorial.  It is Pierpont's and is very posh (and thus expensive) for lunch.   But given our tight schedule … why not?  "Museum trotting always requires a rest stop so why not a really good one?" asked the hedonist.