Friday, June 19, 2009

Escape to Kansas City....


While in Kansas City we always have to hit the Country Club Plaza. The shops are exclusive and the buildings are amazing. There at one time was a building that was a dime store with it's Spanish facade. When it was closed the Barnes and Noble went into it they created a building with three floors of books and a basement for music. Escalators are at the one side of a wide opening in the floor actually four stories high. It is a neat bookstore with a large supply of art and garden books.
Gardeners would love the area as they have well tended landscaping and gardens all around the area. It is very formal styled planting that matches the Spanish style but they use common plants to create all of their borders. Begonias do well down there in close tight borders with their automatic watering systems. Japanese Maples are prevalent, and the sound of the fountains makes the whole area special. I became 85 degrees by noon and I didn't get a single close-up picture of the flowers, but we may return in another month as there was a special gallery opening at the Nelson-Adkins Art Museum that we want to see.
Notice in the above picture there is a bronze sculpture of a warthog. At one time when the McDonald's was there one could see Ronald McDonald outside done in bronze. There are sculptures in the fountains and free standing sculptures everywhere. I sound like a travel agent for this area but we do love it. I think it is far enough south from where we live that they have a climate that allows outdoor dining, a more laid back lifestyle and a lot of old buildings and history. Just above the hill from there is the town of Westport, a couple blocks away is where people bought provisions before they took off on their covered wagons to head west. Thanks for reading.....

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