For many years, I have felt trapped while living in in the Kansas City area. Sure, Kansas City is a fairly up and coming city, but the hustle and bustle isn’t as prominent as in New York City, the sun doesn’t shine as bright as in California. Kansas City, to the average person appears to be nothing but a small midwestern city in the middle of cornville. It can feel like a jail cell for someone with an adventurous soul and a bad case of wanderlust. Adventures always seemed far away, and my desires to live my life as a city slicker seemed far and wide. However, if you dig a little deeper and look a little closer, you can find that one of the most interesting and beautiful places in the world can be found in your own backyard (or maybe more like 15 minutes away from it).

Over recent weeks I have been going out to Downtown Kansas City to take pictures and explore. My inner explorer definitely felt a good deal of satisfaction from doing it. The beautiful tall buildings scraping the sky, beautiful and warm coffee houses (that aren’t Starbucks!) One of my favorite places I have found was Westport. Westport is located by the Plaza and is an older, historic neighborhood in the urban Kansas City area. Westport is a neighborhood filled with coffee shops, restaurants, and shops. Some of my favorite places to visit include Joe’s Pizza, Korma Sutra, Tea Drops, Aquarius It’s a Beautiful Day, and the Bunker.
The Crossroads Art District is also a cool and popular spot in KC. Crossroads is in the center of downtown and the epicenter for visual arts in Kansas City. The first Friday of each month, known as “First Friday” is when the bustle happens in this district of KC. Art galleries have shows and debut new art, there are street performers, parades, and more! There are also many restaurants such as Grinder’s Pizza Lulu’s Thai and Noodle Shop, Nara Neojapanese, PT’s Coffee, and The Art of Pizza, and shops such as Ray Gunn.
Another favorite area of mine for explorations is the Historic West Bottoms District. This area is just a few minutes from Crossroads and is the oldest area of Kansas City. While this area may not be rich in restaurants, shopping, or entertainment, there are vintage and antique shops open every weekend, and being the the oldest district in KC, it is very picturesque, unique, and interesting. It is definitely one of the best places to go when you feel the need to just get away.
Kansas City is also very friendly towards those on a budget. If you are looking for free adventures, the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art and the Kemper Museum of Modern Art are definitely ways to go. But with the beautiful scenery, and so many places to explore, Kansas City’s best adventures are free.
If you are looking for something to get you in the holiday spirit, Kansas City covers that too, with the Plaza Lights and Crown Center ice skating.

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While Kansas City may not have quite the excitement of New York City or beaches of Los Angeles, it is a nice small city, completely oozing with character. Every time I cross the Bond Bridge, I fall in love with my beautiful city all over again and I feel so at home.

I fell in love with Kansas City, now it’s your turn

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