I'm Going To Kansas City - Kansas City Here I Come

From 1918 on - Harry Truman lived here

The was Bess Truman's home her whole life

The number one question we get asked - Why Kansas City? When I was a kid - I loved the Kansas City A's baseball team. They were the first team to wear colored uniforms when all the other professional teams wore white or gray. They just didn't stay between the lines. I would stay up late at night - and listen to their games on the radio. In those days - few games were on TV - and those games were usually the Yankees and the Phillies. So my imagination would travel through the ether on radio waves. I am 73 years old - and I never got there to meet "the crazy little women there and I'm gonna get me one."

In 1964 - the Beatles played at Municipal Stadium and brought the house down with their version of "Kansas City."

Lulu and I were itching for a trip. We want to make it a short 5 day trip and we wanted to go free - using Delta FF Miles. Lulu had been to Kansas City for conventions two times - so she tacked on a couple days in Branson MO for good measure.

Thursday at 6 am - we headed to Atlanta - then Kansas City. We were upgraded to first class because the plane was half empty. Our flights were swell - and by 10 am - we were in our Sheraton Suites hotel in Kansas City. All 5 nights that we were in Missouri - the skies were clear and sunny. Just a few miles over in Kentucky tornadoes were tearing the state apart. One tornado touched down for 250 miles - killing lots of people and destroying buildings. We saw none of that. 

Our first attraction was the Negro Baseball Hall of Fame. Then later we went to the College Basketball Hall of Fame.The next morning it was National Toy and Miniature Museum - followed by the National World War I Museum - and the Union Station Museum. In between these attractions - we enjoyed lots of steak dinners and barbecue joints. Kansas City was relatively empty - we had most of the museums to ourselves. That does not discount the quality of the museums - they are all top shelf. 

The third day we picked up our rental car - and headed to Independence MO - to see the home of President Harry Truman. We also toured the library and museum in his honor. It is about 15 miles east of downtown Kansas City. Harry Truman is one of my favorite presidents. He was strongly for integration. He became president when Roosevelt died in the middle of World War II. They used to call him "Your Accidency." He became famous for dropping the Atomic Bomb on Japan. That immediately ended the war. One interesting note - when Truman was Vice President for Roosevelt - they only met twice! Harry was picked to be Vice President - and he was often called "The Missouri Compromise."

Next was the drive to Branson MO - about 3 hours away. My son says - Branson is Las Vegas designed by Ed Flanders. It sure is different. We enjoyed seeing it in the middle of December. The place was pretty empty. We stayed at the Lodge of the Ozarks. We went to 2 shows. The first night we saw the Presley Country Jubilee. The second night we saw a Christmas Show at the King Theatre. Both shows were within a mile of our hotel. The Presley family show was the first theater on the strip and has been run by family for 55 years. 

Downtown Branson is a time warp. They have Dicks 5 & 10. It reminds you of the Newberry's of your youth - just aisles and aisles of kitsch. Lulu loved it and spent hours inside. In the days it was super crowded - at 7 pm we were alone in there. We enjoyed the outdoor music - water - light show. I cannot imagine it in the summer. It has 60 theaters - all on a two lane winding road in the mountains. It seems to have no planning at all - but it is a big success. 

On Monday - we started our drive early back to the Kansas City Airport. We crossed the famous Route 66 in Springfield MO - the home of the Simpsons. On our flight home both of our planes were full - we rode Comfort Plus home. As the clock struck midnight - we walked into our cozy home in Tallahassee. We had a great time - and it certainly puts one in the Christmas Spirit. 

The Negro Baseball Museum

The Negro Baseball League - 
Kansas City Monarchs ruled

Every black boy wanted to be a Monarch

Josh Gibson may have been the best hitter ever

Finally the Brooklyn Dodger let Jackie Robinson play

Satchel Page was a great barnstorming pitcher

We ate at this backstreet barbecue in KC.

The stadium is gone. 

But the memories remain

This is the site of my favorite boyhood teams stadium

Union Stadium has a Christmas village in it

Lots of trains in Union Station

Old wall mural when trains were king

Big tree inside the station

The City Market north of town near stockyards.

World War I Museum - tall open air tower
On top you were out in the open - it was windy

Toy Museum - Viewmaster

Alamo Set

Erector set

Barbie House

Nancy said Lori had this doll

Funny story - one of my teacher buddies - after a big party - 
in the dark - mistook this for a toilet

Jackie Doll

Lincoln Logs

Tinker Toys - a favorite of mine

A working steam engine

Cootie

The original Teddy Bear

In the 50s - Lionel Trains were king for me

Atari game machine

this tool made toys for kids

Miniature doll houses

Lincoln's Cabin

This was a miniature classroom in a doll house

We were enjoying the Christmas spirit in
Missouri

This was a well endowed museum

We were the only ones in this Toy Museum

Most famous product of Kansas City
They make the Ford F-150 there

We went up the tower at the WWI Museum

We saw the Union Station from up the tower

Display at WWI Museum

The College Basketball Hall of Fame is user friendly

The Kansas City Kings of the NBA played here - gone now

In the basketball museum

In 1966. Texas Western - a black school
shook the basketball world.
The next year everybody wanted black players.

We split that steak

The Kansas City Plaza from our hotel

Entrance to Truman Library

Harry Truman only bought 2 cars in his life on the same day

They cost $2700 total for 2. 
Notice one is a coupe - one is a sedan

Truman's grave

I remember them burying. him there. His wife
and daughter are there too. 

Truman loved libraries. His quote. 

Truman would only give press conferences during his walks. 
The reporters had to jog along to keep up. 

Truman House was closed for covid
but the guard took our picture.
Independence MO is small. 

Our Lodge of the Ozarks - it was pretty empty

We sat by the fire alone at night

The 5 & 10 in Branson

Veyr busy in the day. 

5 & 10

Titanic Museum in Branson

The Stairway in the Titanic

Jews of the Titanic

Nancy alone in the 5 & 10 at night

Just like Tamaqua Newberry's

At night - plenty of parking

This theater in Branson was empty by our hotel

Route 66 in Springfield MO

Just a winding little two lane highway - Route 66

It winds from Chicago to LA

In those days you pumped the gasoline up to the jar by hand.
Then gravity let it run into your car.

We were once in Springfield IL - it also 
had Route 66 run through it

Our final lunch Monday was in Clinton MO

Ladies and Gentlemen - The Rolling Stones

Only 3 left - The Rolling Stones.

 

When I first met Lulu in 1969 - I was a big Rolling Stones fan. I went to a concert at the Spectrum in Philadelphia to see them on November 26th 1969. I had won a radio show contest and got two free tickets. The price of tickets then were $7.50. 

Last week - since we were already traveling to Richmond to see the kids - Lulu decided we were going to see the Stones one more time. Only 3 of the Stones are left rolling. Mick Jagger - Keith Richards - and Ron Wood. Jagger and Richards are 78 now. The drummer - Charlie Watts - recently died.

The first time I saw them - I was 21 and a senior in college. I had just purchased a brand new 1969 VW for $1600 and met the love of my life - Lulu. This time the concert cost us $860 for tickets! Either the Stone or I will be gone probably before the next one. 

First we flew to Richmond to stay with the Everhart 4 there for a week. Then we took a short flight to Atlanta for the concert. We got to meet two of Lulu's students before the concert for supper - and then walked to the Mercedes Benz Arena. Our seats were very good - but in an arena of 70,000 - most of the night the band members were specks on the stage. Thanks to the big screens we saw lots of action. The sound was great along with the light show. 

The most amazing part of the show was seeing and listening to Mick Jagger prance and sing for a solid 3 hours. In my opinion they are still the greatest rock and roll band ever. When I was a kid - they symbolized the counter culture. In other words - they really peed your parents off. They used to concentrate heavily on doing blue-eyed covers of American blues artists. They introduced me to Little Richard - Robert Johnson - Muddy Waters - BB King - and Howlin Wolf. They even covered a few Buddy Holly tunes. Eventually they became a more middle of the road rock and roll band. 

Today - they are sort of a tribute band to themselves. As ever - there is nothing like the gunfire sound of the applause at a Rolling Stone concert. This crowd was equipped with iPhones to record the history of the event. 

They did 19 songs. What was conspicuously missing was "Brown Sugar" - a tune about slave owners sexually assaulting their slaves. I wonder how it would have played in Atlanta?  Songs I liked best were - "Street Fightin Man" - "Honky Tonk Women" about prostitution in New Orleans - "Gimme Shelter" about being in the grasp of heroine - "Sympathy for the Devil" an anthem to old Lebda himself - and the finally "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" for all the English teachers everywhere. 

"Gimme Shelter" reminds me of Merry Clayton. She was the original female singer on the hit. She was as old as me - born on Christmas Day in 1948. She started singing professionally at age 14. The Rolling Stones called her in the middle of the night to sing the high voice wails. "It's just a shot away." She was in pajamas and curlers and pregnant. She later played the Acid Queen in the London production of Tommy by The Who. An entire career was built from one song. 

The show ended at 11:30 pm - on Veterans Day 2021. We walked to our hotel - in a little bit of shock at what we just saw. These guys did the sound track of my life. Thanks Lulu for insisting I go. 

The lips are lined in black to 
honor dead drummer 
Charlie Watts

 

Our view before the show

The warm up band did an hour - then the Stones 3 hours.

In downtown Atlanta - Mercedes Benz Arena

My Three Ladies - Lulu - Lauren - Missy
Three library science professors from FSU.

Our tickets were on our iPhones

Keith Richards - some call walking death

Mick Jagger - sang - danced - played guitar - harmonica 

Our plane tickets 
were in our iPhone

Lights shows and fireworks - indoors

No one dared say it was - The Last time

Front row was $1800.

Mick Jagger is 78 and still about 120 pounds

1965 Volkswagen - I Sold It for $8900

I just sold this lovely little Beetle for $8900. It was a fully restored 1965. My very first car was a 1956 VW Beetle Convertible just like this but it was green. Mine was a rolling rust bucket I bought for $100. 

My friend JP built this car over the last 20 years. He spent a lot more money on it - but he loved the joy of owning it and working on it. I also sold a Jaguar V12 for him. 

https://youtu.be/vagvzx11ZvI

 

Nikola Tesla - Picture on Serbian Money

Last week my friend and neighbor - George Dawson - traveled to Serbia among other countries - on a river cruise. He gave me this 100 Dinars note. One Dinar is equal to one US Cent. Nikola Tesla was born in Eastern Europe. He was a great scientist in the study of electricity. He came to the USA in 1882 to work with Edison's companies. Today Tesla is credited with inventing the alternating current system of electricity transfer. At the time - politics did not give him the credit he deserved. Thomas Edison favored direct current transfer of electricity. Thanks to Tesla's system - we can send electricity many miles from where it is produced. Elon Musk named his Tesla automobile after Nikola Tesla because he invented the AC Induction Motor - which is used in the Tesla Cars. Tesla died in debt in 1943 in New York. His name lives on in the car.