My Neighborhood! — Patti Part Two

I believe I live in the absolutely coolest neighborhood in Kansas City, and one of the best in the entire country!! So I am feeling a little like Mr. Rogers - and would like for you to take a walk with me around my neighborhood and let me plead my case! We'll start right in my building - and take the elevator up to the roof and check out the views!!

Liberty Memorial, Kauffman Center, Bartle Hall and the Sprint Center in the Power and Light District - pretty impressive!

So now I'm heading down to the end of my block and here are the bikes available on the bike share program. I haven't used them yet but vow that I will this summer. They have locations all over town and you take a bike and ride it and drop it off back here or in another location - sweet!

I live in what is called The Crossroads, and it is the main art gallery district and center for visual arts. There are numerous buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places - including the one I live in! Let's keep walking! Next up - a couple of my favorite restaurants! There are so many awesome unique restaurants, coffee shops and bars in my neighborhood. I'm determined to try as many as possible.

LuLu's Noodles! Just behind it in the yellow building- The J. (Jacobson) A great patio! Cafe Gratitude - delicious vegan food and Pezzettino's Italian Deli.  They make me mad because they're not open on Sunday! — LuLu's Noodles! Just behind it in the yellow building- The J. (Jacobson) A great patio! Cafe Gratitude - delicious vegan food and Pezzettino's Italian Deli. They make me mad because they're not open on Sunday!

Around the corner and up Broadway to the KC Ballet! Love this place - and the professional company is excellent. I take classes here sometimes in their studio division. Not ready to give up my day job yet and go professional - but maybe after a few intensive classes this summer!

The light low building on the left is the National Archives. Bulding to the right is the new Federal Reserve. Tower behind it is the Liberty Memorial.

Coming around the corner we walk right by Union Station. Such a beautiful and historic place. Just celebrated 100 years and it is our still functioning train station, science center, IMAX theater and has special exhibits on an ongoing basis.

That's my building off to the left in the top picture - Western Auto!!!

Right across the street is the Liberty Memorial and National World War I Museum and Memorial. If you are interested in the history of the war this is worth a trip alone to KC. Extremely well done and very interesting. Your ticket to the museum includes a trip to the top of the tower - what a view!!!

Views from the front overlooking Union Station and the entrance on the opposite side.

Now I think I will head a little east and walk by my most favorite coffee shop. It's called The Filling Station and you guessed it - housed in an old gas station! Great coffee and food and a wonderful outdoor patio. Plus a cool sculpture on the lawn!

Sorry Keeley - I love Starbucks but this place is just a little cooler!

Now heading back home I pass Children's Mercy Hospital - one of the best children's hospitals in the country. It's actually huge so this picture doesn't come close to showing you the size of it. A few celebrities do a huge fundraiser every year and raise millions of dollars to support it. They are local guys - Paul Rudd, Jason Sudeikis, Eric Stonestreet and Rob Riggles and they bring in tons of BIG name friends and host the Big Slick Celebrity Weekend. It's in 2 weeks so keep your eyes open for FAMOUS PEOPLE!!!

One more quick stop at Crown Center before heading home. Crown Center is home to the corporate headquarters of Hallmark, Crown Center indoor shopping mall, and lots of good restaurants along with Sea Life Aquarium and Lego Land.

The white tent covers an ice skating rink in the colder months.

So that's just some of the great places in my neighborhood! There are also lots of great weekend events that happen here - like First Friday's. The First Friday of every month is a big night - and it just happened this past Friday for June. All the art galleries are open along with lots of pop-up galleries in the various warehouses and store fronts. The restaurants and bars have lots of specials and there are street vendors and entertainers - especially in the warmer weather. This past Friday was huge because the weather was great and it was also Food Truck Friday. In the old KC Star parking lot there were at least 20 food trucks - and all the food looked great!!

The view from my roof with my friends Joe and Cynthia. They came for a pre-drink and trip to the roof prior to our heading out to First Friday!

The theme for this First Friday was Car Art. Check out these vehicles!

Dumb and Dumber! Back to the Future! There were lots of cars all over the area - vintage and others beautifully painted. And then some art work in the galleries I thought was interesting.

Food Trucks! So hard to decide. We ended up at KC Crave and got the Asian Fusion Chicken Taco's. They were fantastic! They had a Cream Brûlée truck! Next time going to try that. Why can't every Friday be Food Truck Friday!

Yes there is a bite out of one of my Taco's!!! I couldn't wait!

Saturday morning was another great event in my neighborhood - The Hospital Hill Half Marathon! It's been run for over 40 years and is considered to be one of the toughest halfs in the country. Consequently runners come from all over for the challenge. It starts right in front of my building so while I wasn't running it this year I was up early to wave to my friends as they ran by! And to host a post-race brunch!

Now don't you wish you were my neighbor???

Since this is technically a travel blog - a BIG shout out to my son Tom who is in Buenos Aires Argentina for 2 weeks for work! I'm so excited for him and hoping to convince him (or bribe him) to be a guest blogger when he returns and share some thoughts and pictures of his time there.

Last but not least - a new Cheesecake tasted!!! And this is a good one!!! Hershey's Chocolate Bar Cheesecake - I rate it a 4!!!! Two delicious chocolate cake layers with a cheesecake layer in the middle with chunks of chocolate topped with a rich chocolate frosting and chocolate chips - Yumm!!

My friend Gary sent this to me and said it reminded him of me - thanks Gary!!! I love it so thought I would share the thought! Hope you make it a Good Day too!