September 30 The Best of Kansas City

Happy Anniversary Karen and David!

Bill sounding the steamboat whistle
to start off our tour



A sample of the dishes recovered



The Arabia's paddlewheel

Since we were heading into Kansas City today we didn’t want to leave too early and be caught in the traffic so we didn’t leave until 9:30. It was an easy drive in but we did have to turn and re-turn to find the Arabia Museum. This was my favorite thing so far this trip. Totally amazing! The Arabia was a Steamboat carrying over 200 tons of cargo to be delivered to shops and stores along the Missouri river as far north as Nebraska. When the ship docked in Kansas City it didn’t leave any cargo but only picked up fuel. Just up river the Arabia was snagged and hit a tree trunk under water and quickly sank 15 feet. The only life lost was that of a mule what was bridled, saddled and tied and not able to swim ashore. No crew or traveler lost their life, but all lost everything they had brought on the ship. Over time the ship continued to sink in the silt of the Missouri and since rivers are notorious for changing course, the ship ended up 45 feet underground in a cornfield. Five men spent 1.5 million dollars to excavate the ship and found the mother lode. Almost everything on the ship was salvaged except for cotton items. These men have millions worth of 135 year old Wedgewood china, 5,000 boots, tools, guns, food, jewelry, clothing, and medicinal supplies, everything you would find at the time in a General Store. They decided not to break it all up and sell it but to keep the collection together. So we went on a tour and watched a video about the excavation and after it ended one of the owners came out and thanked us for coming and answered questions. Then we proceeded into the touring area where there is room after room of artifacts. The volume is like a museum, the fact that so much has survived for over 135 years is astonishing. I just wanted to take a photo of everything. They have the boilers on display in the center of a room the size of the main deck and one of the original paddle wheels working on the side. In another room is the first 10 feet or so of the hull that they spent years spraying with preservation chemicals twice a day to make it permanently preserved. These men could have all been extremely wealthy but chose to spend 10 years after the opening of the museum paying back the loan and now earn their living running the museum in addition to having 10 more years of work cleaning and preserving the rest of the artifacts. What a place and story!

Liberty Monument atop of
the WWI Museum

Skyline of Kansas City from top of
Liberty Monument

Our second stop for the day was the National World War I Museum at the Liberty Memorial. According to the AAA book they had food available so we decided to eat there instead of stopping and going again. The food was excellent and freshly prepared. Reminded me of Panera. I had the soup and half sandwich and Bill had a ham and cheese ciabatta sandwich. The Liberty Memorial is a 217 foot tower that you can take the elevator up to the top and go out on the observation deck and see the skyline of Kansas City and the old Union Station. I thought it was awesome but Bill didn’t really want to go up there. You ride up then climb up 45 stairs. They have a little buzzer on the elevator door that you ring to go down and Bill rang it twice and couldn’t wait to get back down. Under the tower is the actual museum. They have 2 movies and 2 huge exhibit halls. One covers 1914-1917 and the other 1917 – 1919. I really think this was really a world war more so that WWII was. It was a major chain reaction of countries declaring war because of their alliances, so eventually it pulled everyone into the fray. At least I’m learning or maybe relearning a lot on this trip. I’m sure we studied WWI in school but I don’t remember too much about it. The exhibits weren’t just about the US, as we got in pretty late, but it was about all the countries involved, with uniforms, guns and equipment used by all countries. They had a unit on the women who served.

Kauffman Stadium

Bill with George Brett

By now it was time to head home and feed the girls and get ready to go to the Kansas/Tampa Bay baseball game. The campground manager gave us simple directions that took us right to the field in maybe 15 minutes. We were plenty early and it was still light out so I was able to get some photos of Kauffman Stadium and also Arrowhead Stadium beside it, where the KC Chiefs play. It wasn’t as cold out as I had thought it would be once the sun when down. The stadium is really nice but the food selection, at least on our level wasn’t the best. We were sitting in center field and liked our seats. Not full at all but a good crowd to watch our Rays go down in defeat!

When we got home we prepped the RV for leaving in the morning. Our campground tomorrow night is water and electric only so we have to empty all the tanks. I worked on my journal and photos since we had unhooked the TV.