City of Fountains!
Kansas City is a beautiful city, and one of the things that makes it so special is the hundreds of fountains in and around the entire metro area. In fact Kansas City has more fountains than ANY city in the world except for Rome, Italy - that's a fact!! The first fountain was built in 1899, and it served a practical purpose - to provide water to horses, birds and dogs. In 1904 the Humane Society of Kansas CIty built the first memorial fountain - and the City of Fountains began. In fact there is a special foundation here that is committed to the restoration and preservation of the historic fountains and sculptures, and they do a great job! The last two years when the Royals made it all the way to the World Series the water in ALL the fountains was dyed blue from the start of the playoffs through the World Series - so fun!!
The Country Club Plaza is a beautiful area of the city with architecture modeled after it's sister city Seville, Spain. It is full of wonderful restaurants and upscale shopping. So I thought it would be interesting to find out more about some of my most favorite fountains that are there.
JC Nichols - best known fountain! Sculpted in 1910 and installed in 1958. 4 Heroic Horsemen which represent the 4 Rivers of the World - the Mississippi, Volga, Seine and Rhine.
Seville Light Fountain - an exact replica of the Plaza de Los Reyes fountain in Seville, Spain. I love the faces!!
Neptune - Roman God of the Sea. 8,000 lb. cast lead created in 1911 and installed in 1953. His chariot is pulled by the trident, dolphin and sea horse. Made in England.
Mermaid Fountain - installed in 1930 and restyled in 1968. White marble mermaids rest on either side of a curved basin. Each statue blows into a shell sending a single stream of water. The center has a small bronze statue of a kneeling praying child surrounded by a spray of water. Coins from this fountain are donated to Children's Mercy Hospital.
Pomona - Roman goddess and protector of vineyards and orchards. Imported from Italy and installed in 1969. The life-size bronze figure of Pomona is elevated on a shallow saucer resting on a polished marble pedestal.
Fountain of Bacchus - the Greek god holding court. 10,000 lbs. of lead purchased in 1960 and installed in Chandler Court right outside The Cheesecake Factory - where I buy all my cheesecake!!
Allen Memorial Fountain - Imported from Italy and dedicated in 1962. Purchased to remember the Allen family that perished in a fire.
Four Fauns Fountain - four children of the Roman spirit Faunus. Purchased in Brindisi, Italy in 1928. A very peaceful spot on the plaza.
Boy and Frog Fountain - one of my favorites! An original bronze and Verona marble fountain by Raffaello Romanelli. Purchased in 1929 in Florence. A frog showering a boy - not the opposite!!
On a nice day it doesn't get much better then taking a walk around the plaza and stopping for a coffee or a glass of wine with a friend. Makes me feel like I'm on vacation!
And speaking of stopping for a glass of wine - I met up with some of my running friends at a great place in the Waldo area of town one night this week. Not a new place - but somewhere I had heard good things about and wanted to try. Louie's Wine Dive - and as usual we had a great time!
Not sure what the pig symbolizes but it's kind of cute!
We were celebrating the July birthdays - out of the 10 of us 4 have July birthdays! That just demands a party!
Birthday girls - Cheryl, Amity, Deidre and Ashby!! Great and very fun friends!
Why not try everything on the appetizer menu?? I think we will!
Wings, deviled eggs, margarita flatbread, birthday cupcakes and tacos! All excellent!
Louie's has another location on 119th St in Overland Park and I hear it's great too. I will definitely be back!
I saw a good movie this week - Captain Fantastic. It's an Indie movie and those are pretty much my favorite. An interesting story about a Dad raising his 6 children out in the woods. They live off the land and he home schools them along with training them physically as if they were in boot camp. If you ever saw Little Miss Sunshine it kind of reminded me of that - quirky but good.
Really a talented cast!
I tried another cheesecake! This week was Lemon Meringue.
Lemon cheesecake topped with lemon mousse and meringue. It was a warm day so on the drive home the meringue slid a bit - but still delicious!
I like lemon and that is necessary to like this cheesecake. I would rate it a 3. Delicious but not making me wish I had more right now. Now that Tiramisu one is STILL on my mind!!!
In my "pursuit of happiness" I came across a quote I thought worth sharing. Something I want to remind myself of often. I was reading an article about the biggest happiness mistakes that people make, over and over again.
"One lives in the naive notion that later there will be more room than in the entire past." - Elias Canetti
He goes on to say "I continually remind myself of this truth. Too often, I tell myself, "I'll have time for this when summer comes," "Things will slow down in the fall, and I'll be able to tackle this," "Next year, I'll do it."
No. Now is the time to do the things that are important to me. It's false to believe that there will be more time in my future than there has been in my past.
I am getting much better at this, but it's something I focus on. Living up to my responsibilities but also living without regrets. Do more of what makes you happy. Make it a great week!